Top Items:
The Politico:
GOP plots Senate health roadblock — Democrats might like to think that health care reform is all but a done deal if it clears the House, but the Senate is where Republicans have been plotting for months to sentence it to a painful procedural death. — Republican aides have been mining …
RELATED:
Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:
CBO numbers — House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) just released the first set of Congressional Budget Office numbers to reporters this morning. — The bill would cost $940 billion, and reduce the deficit by $130 billion over the first 10 years and $1.2 trillion in the second 10 years.
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Breaking: CBO releases the actual report; Update: Almost all $940 billion incurred in just six years; Update: Preliminary — It's much as advertised. Thanks to its spending provisions mainly starting in 2014, the reconciliation bill combined with the Senate version has a total cost of $940 billion …
Discussion:
The Corner on National …, The New Editor, IMAO, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Sister Toldjah and Maggie's Notebook
Ezra Klein:
CBO: Health-care reform bill cuts deficit by $1.3 trillion over 20 years, covers 95% — Washington has spent the past week or so waiting for the Congressional Budget Office to release its preliminary estimate of the Senate bill with the reconciliation fixes.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Cato Institute, Hotline On Call, The Plum Line, The Daily Dish, Newsweek Blogs, Daily Kos and MyDD
Glenn Thrush / The Politico:
Obama's pitch: Fate of presidency on the line — President Barack Obama had exhausted most of his health care reform arguments with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus during a White House meeting last Thursday when he made a more personal pitch that resonated with many skeptics in the room.
The Hill:
CBO: Health package costs $940 billion; Hoyer says vote will come on Sunday — Democrats are lauding a CBO report that found their healthcare package will cut the deficit by $130 billion. — House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer hailed the figures from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office during …
Matthew Continetti / Weekly Standard:
Preliminary CBO Numbers Are In (BUMPED & UPDATED, 11:30 a.m.) — House majority leader Steny Hoyer has informed his colleagues of the CBO health bill score. Politico reports: … Keep in mind that the second decade estimate is incredibly speculative. Overall, though, this score may move …
Discussion:
Confederate Yankee
Fox News:
President Barack Obama Talks to Bret Baier About Health Care Reform Bill — This is a rush transcript of “Special Report With Bret Baier” from March 17, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. — BRET BAIER, “SPECIAL REPORT” HOST: Welcome to Washington.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Power Line, Hot Air, Mediaite, Salon, The Republican Heretic, Althouse, American Thinker, NewsReal Blog, YID With LID, Commentary, Weekly Standard, Political Punch, Indecision Forever, National Review, Scared Monkeys, Michelle Malkin, Jules Crittenden, Fausta's Blog, Another Black Conservative, IMAO, Left Coast Rebel, Political Byline, Swampland, Washington Wire, Gateway Pundit, Prescriptions, Hit & Run, Real Clear Politics and NO QUARTER
Laura Rozen / Laura Rozen's Blog:
Should Obama cancel his Indonesia trip? — Barack Obama has already pushed his trip to Guam, Australia and Indonesia back a few days to bird dog the health care vote, and the First Lady and daughters are no longer coming. — But as the health care vote is backed up until at least Sunday …
Fox News:
Fate of Health Care Bill Rests on Looming Budget Office Estimate — The fate of the Democrats' health care reform effort hinges on a report expected Wednesday morning from the congressional budget scorekeepers — an estimate of what a follow-up bill could cost that already is running into trouble.
Washington Post:
Obama postpones overseas trip to focus on health-care debate — Bowing to public and private complaints from lawmakers, President Obama decided Thursday to delay his overseas trip to Indonesia and Australia so that he can be in Washington for the culmination of his year-long effort to pass health-care legislation.
Washington Post:
CBO: $940 billion health bill would help cut deficit over 10 years — An emerging compromise on health care between House and Senate Democrats would cost $940 billion over the next decade and expand insurance coverage to an additional 32 million Americans, congressional budget analysts said Thursday.
Discussion:
Hit & Run
Dave / Breitbart.tv:
PUZZLING STATEMENT: OBAMA SAYS ‘LOUISIANA PURCHASE’ …
PUZZLING STATEMENT: OBAMA SAYS ‘LOUISIANA PURCHASE’ …
Discussion:
National Review
The Hill:
No CBO score released Wednesday; Saturday healthcare vote unlikely
No CBO score released Wednesday; Saturday healthcare vote unlikely
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, Think Progress, Townhall.com, Washington Monthly, Washington Times, Swampland and The Other McCain
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Waxman: CBO numbers ‘go a long way’ toward winning undecided votes
Waxman: CBO numbers ‘go a long way’ toward winning undecided votes
Discussion:
The Page
The Hill:
Stupak: Health fight has been ‘a living hell’ — Leading a revolt against President Barack Obama's healthcare legislation over abortion has been a “living hell” for Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.). — The telephone lines in his Washington and district offices have been “jammed” …
Discussion:
Townhall.com, The New Republic, Weekly Standard, Politics Daily, Boston Globe, The Politico, Newsweek Blogs, Moonbattery, Maggie's Notebook, Hullabaloo, Washington Monthly, Left Coast Rebel, Another Black Conservative, TBogg, Washington Post, AMERICAblog News, Michelle Malkin, Pundit & Pundette and Daily Kos
Erin McPike / Hotline On Call:
Rules Panel Dem To Vote Against Bill — A key House Dem has begun informing party leaders he plans to vote against health care legislation both on the House floor and in the rules committee, on which he sits. — Rep. Michael Arcuri (D-NY), a sophomore Dem who had a tougher …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Weekly Standard, Hot Air, The Corner on National …, National Review Online and TPMDC
Jennifer Rubin / Commentary:
Don't Be Morose! Get Even! — David Brooks says he's out on the ledge, morose, and about to have a “Howard Beale” moment. Just last week he was telling us that Obama was a misunderstood moderate. Now he confesses that Obama is aiding and abetting unlawfulness of the worst kind. He explains:
Discussion:
Pundit & Pundette
RELATED:
Rosalind Helderman / Virginia Politics Blog:
Cuccinelli's office confirms Virginia will sue over health care
Cuccinelli's office confirms Virginia will sue over health care
Las Vegas Now:
I-Team: DOJ Serves Subpoenas in Senator Ensign Investigation — LAS VEGAS — Nevada Senator John Ensign is in the crosshairs of a Department of Justice criminal investigation. — The criminal probe stems from a romantic affair Ensign had with the wife of his key staffer and close friend …
RELATED:
Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
Steve Levy Plans Switch to G.O.P., Stirring Governor's Race — ALBANY — A governor's race that seemed all but settled is about to be upended again, by a popular Democrat from Long Island who is set to announce that he is switching parties. The move is certain to excite Republican leaders pessimistic …
Jake Gibson / The Speakers Lobby:
Rep. Stupak Dismisses Letter from Nuns — Congressman Bart Stupak, D-Mich, responded sharply to White House officials touting a letter representing 59,000nuns that was sent to lawmakers urging them to pass the health care bill. — The conservative Democrat dismissed the action by the White House saying …
RELATED:
Jodi Jacobson / RHRealityCheck.org:
Bart Stupak: I Don't Listen To Nuns
Bart Stupak: I Don't Listen To Nuns
Discussion:
Associated Press
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Has Rahm's assumption about progressives been vindicated? — Politico's Ben Smith yesterday suggested that one important aspect of Rahm Emanuel's health care strategy — to ignore the demands of progressives on the ground that they would fall into line at the end no matter what — has been vindicated.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Ben Smith's Blog, TalkLeft, FiveThirtyEight, The Huffington Post and Open Left
Natasha Chart / Open Left:
He Took My Lunch Money, Or, Why Women Need Full Health Care — Once more, with feeling ... I'm not the only woman in the country who once had a partner who took my paychecks and deposited them in an account that I had no access to; not by debit card, not by checkbook.
Dan Savage / The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper:
Savage Love — (662) 862-3104 by Dan Savage My husband and I have been married for one year, but we had been dating for 10 years prior to that. I thought we had a very understanding relationship. In the last couple of days, I have found out that he has a serious obsession with females wearing running shoes.
Discussion:
The Bilerico Project, Pam's House Blend, Towleroad News #gay, Open Left, Good As You, AMERICAblog Gay, The Gist and Joe. My. God.
Dave Itzkoff / ArtsBeat:
Alex Chilton, Rock Musician, Dies — Alex Chilton of the rock band Big Star performed at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple last November. — 10:48 a.m., March 18 | Updated Alex Chilton, the mercurial if influential rock musician, whose work spanned an eclectic gamut from the soul songs …
Wall Street Journal:
Madoff Was Beaten in Prison — Ponzi Schemer Was Assaulted by Another Inmate in December; Officials Deny Incident — The Butner federal prison in July. A man who served time with Bernard Madoff there says the financier gave him investment advice. — Bernard Madoff, who is serving …