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.

U.S. Rep. Altmire To Vote Against Health Care Bill  —  PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― Congressman Jason Altmire will vote against the latest version of health care reform when the U.S. House of Representatives votes on the bill this weekend.  —  Altmire confirmed that he has decided to vote …

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 …

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 …

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.

Notes on CBO skepticism  —  My colleague Neil Irwin has a very good piece on the difficulty the Congressional Budget Office has predicting the cost of something complex like the health-care reform bill.  But because his piece is coming in the context of a coordinated conservative effort …

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.

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?

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 …

Exclusive: Kosmas to back healthcare reform  —  WASHINGTON — After days of fence-sitting, U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas of New Smyrna Beach said Friday that she would support a sweeping Democratic plan for healthcare reform that has divided the country even as it aims to bring health insurance to 95 percent of Americans.

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 …

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.

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.

Federal Reserve Must Disclose Bank Bailout Records  —  The Federal Reserve Board must disclose documents identifying financial firms that might have collapsed without the largest U.S. government bailout ever, a federal appeals court said.  —  The U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled today …

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.

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.