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.

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 …

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 …

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.

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?

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …