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New Health Care Whip Count: 193 Yes, 208 No (with Leaners: 203-211); Update 2x: 195 Yes — Update: John Boccieri has just confirmed that he will vote for this bill-that brings the Yes column to 194. — Update 2: Dina Titus gets us to 195 “yes.” — Here's the last one.
Discussion:
Riehl World View, Washington Post, Open Left, Repository, Daily Kos, TPMDC and msnbc.com
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Shoots Down Rep. Bart Stupak's ‘Fix’ — ABC News' Jonathan Karl reports: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was asked about Bart Stupak's suggestion that there could be another bill to address abortion funding and she said, “I haven't heard any of that.”
The Hill:
Anti-abortion Democrats working on a vote deal with Senate on bill — At least six anti-abortion Democrats are open to supporting the healthcare bill if they can get a guarantee from the Senate that it will move separate legislation containing the House abortion language, one of those Democratic holdouts said Friday.
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Caterpillar: Health care bill would cost it $100M — A worker at Caterpillar's plant in Mossville, Ill. (José Moré/Chicago Tribune) — Dow Jones Newswires | Caterpillar Inc. said the health-care overhaul legislation being considered by the U.S. House of Representatives …
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Mark Silva / The Swamp:
Obama: ‘Something historic this weekend’
Jay Fitzgerald / Boston Herald:
Stephen Lynch strong ‘no’ on health bill despite talk with President Obama
Stephen Lynch strong ‘no’ on health bill despite talk with President Obama
Discussion:
Salon, Matthew Yglesias, TPMDC, Indecision Forever, TPM LiveWire, Guardian and FiveThirtyEight
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Rep. Boccieri flips to support healthcare bill
Rep. Boccieri flips to support healthcare bill
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
Bruce Bartlett / Forbes:
The Misinformed Tea Party Movement — For an antitax group, they don't know much about taxes. — On March 16 the Tea Party crowd showed up for yet another demonstration on Capitol Hill in Washington. Curious about the factual knowledge these people have regarding the issues they are protesting …
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Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
CONFUSION-BASED RAGE, CONT'D.... Former Bush speechwriter David Frum enlisted some interns this week to survey Tea Party activists protesting in D.C. earlier this week. The goal was to get a sense of the activists' understanding of taxes — ostensibly, the “movement's” raison d'etre — and factual knowledge.
Yossi Verter / Haaretz:
Haaretz Poll: Most Israelis see Obama as fair and friendly — U.S. President Barack Obama's popularity may be declining in American public opinion, but a sweeping majority of Israelis think his treatment of this country is friendly and fair, according to a Haaretz-Dialog poll conducted this week.
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A Viewer's Guide to This Weekend — Sarah Binder is a professor of political science at George Washington University and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. She is the author of several books on Congress, including Stalemate (Brookings 2003) and Politics or Principle?
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William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
Kristol: Reconciliation “Fixes” Make Health Care Reform MORE Politically Toxic — Nancy Pelosi and Louise Slaughter have come up with a parliamentary maneuver — “deem and pass” — reeking of evasiveness and trickery that Democratic members are going to have to embrace. But it gets better!
John McCormack / Weekly Standard:
Read the Bill: Senate Plan Would Pay for Abortions at Community Health Centers
Read the Bill: Senate Plan Would Pay for Abortions at Community Health Centers
Discussion:
AmSpecBlog, PostPartisan, The Corner on National …, Weasel Zippers, The Foundry and nrlc.org
Aaron Blake / The Hill:
Boccieri is a ‘yes’ — An almost somber Rep. John Boccieri (D-Ohio) said Friday that he will switch his vote to ‘yes’ on the health care bill. — Boccieri is in the swing district of swing districts in the swing state of swing states. His vote was a big get for the Democratic leadership …
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Aaron Blake / The Hill:
Boccieri decision at 10:40 — Freshman Rep. John Boccieri …
Boccieri decision at 10:40 — Freshman Rep. John Boccieri …
Discussion:
The Page
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
SEIU To Yank Support For Arcuri, Will Search For Challenger — It appears SEIU is dead serious about this business about yanking support for House Dems who vote No on the health bill. — The SEIU bluntly informed Dem Rep Michael Arcuri of New York yesterday that it's pulling support …
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Now for the Slaughter — On the road to Demon Pass, our leader encounters a Baier. — Excuse me, but it is embarrassing—really, embarrassing to our country—that the president of the United States has again put off a state visit to Australia and Indonesia because he's having trouble passing …
New York Times:
After a Bitter Campaign, Forging an Alliance — WASHINGTON — On a snowy Thursday shortly before her weekly meeting with President Obama last month, Hillary Rodham Clinton got a distressing phone call: her husband, Bill Clinton, was in a hospital with chest pains and needed an urgent heart procedure.
Jamison Foser / Media Matters for America:
Conservative blogger accuses Hannity of deceptive fundraising practices — I'm hesitant to take anything Debbie Schlussel says seriously, given her track record. That rather large disclaimer aside, Schlussel has posted what is, on its face, a potentially damaging investigation of Sean Hannity and the Freedom Alliance charity.
Discussion:
Joe. My. God.
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Deal Near on Gitmo, Detainee Trials — The White House is nearing a deal with a bipartisan group of senators to close the Guantanamo Bay prison and pave the way for more detainees to be tried before military commissions, a move that would reverse a signature Obama administration security policy.
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Andy McCarthy / The Corner on National Review Online:
The Sell-Out on Gitmo Is Nigh — By: Andy McCarthy
The Sell-Out on Gitmo Is Nigh — By: Andy McCarthy
Discussion:
Hot Air
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State of the health care debate: Talk radio attacks an 11-year old — WASHINGTON — Conservative talk show hosts and columnists have ridiculed an 11-year-old Washington state boy's account of his mother's death as a “sob story” exploited by the White House and congressional Democrats like a …
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Fact Sheet: The Truth About the Health Care Bill — click for a PDF of our health care reform fact sheet … The Firedoglake health care team has been covering the debate in congress since it began last year. The health care bill will come up for a vote in the House on Sunday …
Charles Mahtesian / The Politico:
The Undecideds — While the varying whip counts remain inexact and the outcome unknown, one thing is certain as the health care reform drama hurtles toward its conclusion: The last two dozen or so votes for the bill will come at considerable cost to the undecided House members who cast them.
Jon Ralston / Las Vegas Sun:
Ensign's refusal to resign harms many in his circle — It's no longer a question of “if” but of “when” between now and January 2013 that John Ensign's short, previously happy, suddenly unhappy life as a senator will end. — One week after I told you about Ensign's breathtakingly obtuse statement through …
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Op-Ed Columnist: Closing Arguments on Health Care — One way or another, the fate of health care reform is going to be decided in the next few days. If House Democratic leaders find 216 votes, reform will almost immediately become the law of the land. If they don't, reform may well be put off …