Top Items:
David Dayen / Firedoglake:
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:
Boston Herald, Weekly Standard, Salon, TPMDC, Open Left, Swing State Project, Riehl World View, Hotline On Call, Washington Post, Matthew Yglesias, Repository and Daily Kos
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ama-assn.org:
AMA Supports House Passage of Health System Reform — Will work with Congress and the administration to make critical changes that cannot be addressed through the reconciliation process — For immediate release: — Washington, D.C. - After careful review and consideration …
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, Washington Monthly, Little Green Footballs, Liberal Values, D.C. Now and Political Punch
The Note:
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 rights Dems working on a vote deal with Senate on bill — At least six anti-abortion rights 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.
Chicago Breaking Business:
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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Fox News:
Ohio Democrat Flips to ‘Yes’ on Health Care
Ohio Democrat Flips to ‘Yes’ on Health Care
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, Prescriptions, Hot Air, msnbc.com, Minneapolis Star Tribune, The Strata-Sphere and The Political Carnival
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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Chris Frates / The Politico:
Democrats challenge authenticity of ‘doc fix’ memo — An earlier post in this spot detailed what was purported by Republicans to be an internal Democratic memo regarding the upcoming health reform vote Sunday. Democratic leadership has challenged the authenticity of the memo.
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, Townhall.com, Ben Smith's Blog, iOwnTheWorld.com, Conservatives4Palin.com, Riehl World View and Hot Air
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Christina Bellantoni / TPMDC:
Dems: Memo On Medicare Changes Isn't Ours — It's A GOP ‘Hoax’ — Democrats today are accusing Republicans of circulating a fraudulent memo that claims to be sent to “Democratic health and communications staff” and which suggests the majority party leadership wants to make big changes to Medicare next year after health care passes.
Capitol Confidential / Big Government:
The Heat is On: Congressman's Office Says Constituent Calls Are ‘Harassment’ — Yesterday, I decided to call Rep. John Garamendi's (CA-10) office in Washington, D.C. He's my representative and I wanted to voice my opposition to the Senate Health Care Bill. I spoke with a female staffer …
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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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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 …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, TalkLeft, Washington Monthly, The Daily Politics, Daily Kos and msnbc.com
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Josh Gerstein / Josh Gerstein's Blog:
Holder: lawyers for unpopular are ‘patriots’ — Attorney General Eric Holder delivered a forceful rebuttal Friday to suggestions from some conservative activists that lawyers who formerly worked for Guantanamo detainees shouldn't be trusted to work in the Justice Department.
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog
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Sarah Binder / The New Republic:
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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Wall Street Journal:
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 …
Discussion:
JOSHUAPUNDIT, Maggie's Notebook, Salon, Mediaite, TPM LiveWire, Wonkette and The Corner on National …
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.
Suzy Khimm / Mother Jones:
Lynch: Why Obama Didn't Convince Me on Health Care — Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass), who switched from “yes” to “no” on the health reform bill, is insisting that his vote will not kill the legislation, noting that the House Democrats have the votes to pass the measure this weekend without his support.
Ezra Klein:
Twilight of the interest groups — Think back to 1994 for a second. The insurance industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the American Medical Association, the hospital industry and the major business groups ferociously opposed Bill Clinton's health-care reform proposal.
kff.org:
Kaiser Health Tracking Poll — March 2010 — The March Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds the public still divided on health reform legislation, with 46 percent of Americans backing the reform proposals on Capitol Hill, 42 percent opposing them and 12 percent saying they aren't sure.
Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
Fact Sheet: The Truth About the Health Care Bill — click for a PDF of our health care reform fact sheet — I'll be on the new CNN show with Jon King that premieres at noon ET, available for live stream here — jh — The Firedoglake health care team has been covering the debate in congress since it began last year.
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 …
Les Blumenthal / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
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 …
Ezra Klein:
Discrediting the legislative process itself — So far in the health-care debate, Republicans have attacked the legitimacy of private negotiations, parochial dealmaking, the budget reconciliation process, self-executing rules, the Congressional Budget Office's analyses, and even the constitutionality of the legislation.
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.
Matea Gold / Los Angeles Times:
Bill O'Reilly's indie instincts — In a time of political turmoil, can the Fox News commentator be seen as a moderate? — Fox News' top-rated host Bill O'Reilly has helped to make the network a ratings leader. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) — Reporting from New York