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WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- President Obama prepared to rally Senate Democrats Sunday on a healthcare bill bogged down by abortion, a public option and a Medicare panel, officials said. Obama was to meet with Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and other Senators in a rare Sunday session ahead of possible debate Monday on key amendments. Conservative Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., has threatened to filibuster reform legislation unless it contains restrictions on abortion coverage and the Senate has yet to find common ground on a government-run public option for health insurance. Also up for discussion is the scope of an...

At this point, at least, it appears that Nevadans are heartily sick of Harry Reid and want someone to replace the three term incumbent. Politico's Scorecard: "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) continues to face weak support back home, and trails both of his leading Republican opponents, according to a new Mason-Dixon poll released today. Even as Reid has been airing a number of television ads highlighting his clout in the Senate and work saving jobs back home, the poll shows a near-majority of Nevada voters still view him unfavorably. Reid holds just a 38 percent approval rating - the...

WASHINGTON — Americans can't take weekends off from worrying about health care and the Senate shouldn't either, Majority Leader Harry Reid said today as he opened a rare weekend session to debate President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. With Democrats preparing to vote on an amendment targeting tax breaks for insurance executives' pay, Reid lashed out at "greedy health insurance companies" that he said make profits by neglecting consumers' health needs. Reid, D-Nev., called the weekend session as he races the clock to complete action on the 2,000-page remake of the nation's health care system by Christmas. With both sides...

By Kelly L. Goodridge and Oscar De Los Santos It’s official: If the massive government takeover of health care goes through, Medicare spending will shrink. The Democrats are busy building a 60-vote consensus for government-run health care and on Thursday (Dec. 3), the Senate voted to pass its projected $400 billion-dollar cut to Medicare. Yep. Sarah Palin was right. They’re planning “Death Panels” for senior citizens and those who plan to benefit from Medicare in the future. Mark Levin calls the bill a “runaway train” and challenged Republicans to stop making amendments to the bill, especially when they don’t like...

A new poll suggests even more trouble for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in his home state. Only 38 percent of the 625 registered Nevada voters polled had a favorable opinion of Reid in the poll released by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research that was commissioned by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Forty-nine percent of respondents had an unfavorable opinion of Reid in the poll with 13 percent remaining neutral. The results follow an aggressive early advertising campaign by Reid.

A few Democrats are seeing the light: Democrats, having defeated a Republican attempt to block proposed Medicare cuts, now face an even bigger headache: concern among members of their own party over the program’s future funding. President Barack Obama wants to cut spending on the federal insurance plan for the elderly to help fund his health-care overhaul. Part of that proposal would cut more than $100 billion from Medicare Advantage, through which the government hires private insurers such as Humana Inc. to deliver Medicare benefits to 11 million seniors, including extras like reduced co-payments and even gym memberships. Should Congress...

Most Mormons have long suspected what three political science professors have confirmed: Increased knowledge about Mormons and their faith helps remove stigma attached to them. That news comes as the nation's highest-ranking Mormon risks his political future on heath care reform. Writing in USA Today, Professors David E. Campbell, John C. Green and J. Quin Monson, wrote "Americans still have a bias against Republican Mitt Romney, according to a study conducted during last year's election. Not a political bias, but a religious one. The good news: When people understood his Mormon faith, the bias melted away. The trio teach political...

The Senate moved forward yesterday on debate of H.R. 3590, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify the first-time homebuyers credit in the case of members of the Armed Forces and certain other Federal employees, and for other purposes. You read that right.   The bill being used as the shell for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) first attempt at a government takeover of health care is in the form of H.R. 3590, an unrelated tax bill.  The House-passed health care bill (H.R. 3962) is still sitting undisturbed on the Senate Calendar should Reid need it...

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats face deep divisions within their ranks as they begin debate Monday on President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, with the recent all-hands-on-deck coalition frayed over abortion and the option of government-run insurance. While majority Democrats will need 60 votes to finish, some in the party say they’ll jump ship from the bill without tighter restrictions on abortion coverage. Others say they’ll go unless a government plan to compete with private insurance companies gets tossed. Such concessions would enrage liberals, the party’s heart and soul.

As Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid struggles to pass a health care bill in Washington and his polling numbers in Nevada continue to tank, there’s another aggravation he can’t seem to escape — the Las Vegas Review-Journal and its publisher, Sherman Frederick. Frederick has called Reid a “political corpse,� said a visit by President Barack Obama to Nevada earlier this year “was only to try to stop Nevadans from bouncing their unpopular senior Sen. Harry Reid in 2010� and suggested that “Reid’s power so far has done more for Reid personally than it has for Nevadans as a whole.�...

It’s obvious by now healthcare reform is not reform at all. The latest votes cast in the Senate opens the door to “debate” on the bill, but will do little to change it. We know that Congress is up to its comfortable tricks stuffing pork in every piece of legislation it passes. The biggest obstacle Senate Majority Leader Reid faces is how much it will cost to bribe a few of his members to vote favorably in the end. He needs every single Senate Democrat plus two Independents. Will there be any holdouts among them? Probably not – government officials...

The 60 votes aren't there any more. With the Senate set to begin debate today on an overhaul of the nation's health care system, the all-hands-on-deck Democratic coalition that allowed the bill to advance is fracturing. Yet majority Democrats will need 60 votes again to finish. Some Democratic senators say they will jump ship from the bill without tighter restrictions on abortion coverage. Others say they will go unless a government plan to compete with private insurance companies gets tossed overboard. Such concessions would enrage liberals, the heart and soul of the party. No clear course exists for Senate Majority...

WASHINGTON – The 60 votes aren't there any longer. With the Senate set to begin debate Monday on healthcare overhaul, the all-hands-on-deck Democratic coalition that allowed the bill to advance is fracturing already. Yet majority Democrats will need 60 votes again to finish. Some Democratic senators say they'll jump ship from the bill without tighter restrictions on abortion coverage. Others say they'll go unless a government plan to compete with private insurance companies gets tossed overboard. Such concessions would enrage liberals, the heart and soul of the party. There's no clear course for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to...

If you think Cap and Slave and WealthShare will become the legacy of the 111th Congress, the wealthiest bunch of elected officials to occupy the District of Criminals in history, you’re overlooking today’s good news: Food stamp use is soaring, and the personal stigma over being on the government dole is waning. Now, that’s the progress my hard-working parents always dreamed I would discover! The news is so impressive it demands a listing of the most wanted creatures wandering the halls of the Senate and House of Representatives. So, here are the 10 Most Wanted Congresscritters that immediately come to...

As the global warming fraud unravels, it’s a good time to look at the politicians who have been some of the most outspoken advocates, using global warming/climate change to advance “Cap-and-Trade” legislation and other related laws and regulations. Top of the list is President Barack Obama who has made many references to “climate change” and “global warming” to further this national and international fraud. He’ll pick up his Nobel Peace Prize in December; the same one given to Al Gore and the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change a few years back. Further proof of his mendacity will be...

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fl.) is urging Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to propose revisions to the Senate's cloture rules so that only 55 votes, instead of 60, would be required to end floor debate. His effort -- spearheaded with the help of an online campaign at StopSenateStalling.com -- takes special aim at the healthcare debate, which Grayson said has fallen victim to countless overused and unfair filibuster threats over the past few months. "Why should launching wars and cutting taxes for the rich require only 50 votes while saving lives requires 60?" asked Grayson, who listed a series of...

e21 has a very perceptive post about the Medicare payroll tax that Harry Reid has inserted into his bill to pay for his health care proposal. Link here: http://www.economics21.org/commentary/payroll-tax-increase-loophole-and-ticking-time-bomb The Democrats are double-counting the money raised from the tax. They're counting it to reduce the coming deficit in Medicare and they're also counting it to help pay for the present bill. Revenues from the HI tax are “deposited” in the Medicare Part A Trust Fund, which is running a $20.5 billion deficit (p. 56 of pdf) in 2009. The Trust Fund is expected to continue to hemorrhage money for the...

Congress Never Ceases to Amaze. Really? A tax on national defense? I hear liberal Congressional proposals and I, like most Americans, wonder if they’re serious. We’re going to put a price tag on security? With Congress and President Obama spending money on everything at breakneck speed, it’s interesting that they are only now getting nervous about spending – but only when it comes to providing the necessary funds to complete our mission in Afghanistan. They don’t need a new “war tax” to fund a strategy for victory in the war zone. They simply need to prioritize our money appropriately. Etc....

WASHINGTON — Senate majority leader Harry Reid (Dipsh#t, Nevada) reportedly had Sen. Joe Lieberman waterboarded 183 times this past week, but the independent-minded senator from Connecticut still won’t vote “yes” for Reid’s health care bill. Lieberman holds a key vote in the ongoing battle over a health care bill that includes a public health insurance option, part of the Democrats’ evil plan to take over the country and turn it into a human SEIU puppy mill and ACORN graft factory.

ObamaCare's true cost of the health care bill being proposed by Harry Reid and his fellow Democrat hucksters is $1.8 trillion over ten years, not the $849 billion as deceptively claimed.

More pearls of wisdom from the SoundOffSister. This is truly priceless. How Sen. Reid (D-Nev.), or any other senator, for that matter, can propose this language with a straight face is perhaps a good indication of how bad the Senate version of Obamacare is. Beginning at page 1858 in Section 6801, the Senate, no doubt with furrowed brow, plunges into the serious issue of tort reform. Here’s what they say: (1) Health care reform presents an opportunity to address issues related to medical malpractice and medical liability insurance,

All it took for Senator Mary Landrieu to vote to open debate on the Democrats' leviathan health care reform measure was a hundred million. Or was it $300 million, as Landrieu claims? That's $100 million in aid to Louisiana for disaster relief plus another $200 million for Medicaid or whatever else she could weasel. And whatever she's saying about being undecided on final passage, don't buy it. The only way she'll cart off the dough is if the bill passes. But while the senator is preening like a peacock about the fat she plans to ladle from the federal pork...

Last week had to be a bit awkward for Democrats. They labored to pass a health care bill that, among other things, establishes a government advisory panel to curb health care costs with industrywide medical recommendations. And at just the wrong moment, a similar government advisory panel provoked outrage by recommending that women stop getting so many breast cancer screenings. Unruffled, the Democrats pressed on with their 2,000-page health care bill, going so far as to hold a rare Saturday night vote on whether to proceed to debate. There's a good reason they are in such a rush to pass...

It is time to cast aside all remaining doubt. President Obama is not trying to lead America forward to recovery, prosperity and strength. Quite the opposite, in fact. In September of last year, American Thinker published my article, Barack Obama and the Strategy of Manufactured Crisis. Part of a series, it connected then presidential candidate Barack Obama to individuals and organizations practicing a malevolent strategy for destroying our economy and our system of government. Since then the story of that strategy has found its way across the blogosphere, onto the airwaves of radio stations across the country, the Glenn Beck...

You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. That’s the way it’s always worked in Washington, so the news that Mary Landrieu will hold a fundraiser in New Orleans for Senator Harry Reid comes as no surprise. Reid procured a substantial dose of cash to Landrieu’s Louisiana in exchange for her crucial “moderate” vote. Senator Mary Landrieu from Louisiana garnered a lot of attention before the healthcare vote last night as to whether she would or wouldn’t vote yes to send the monstrosity of a bill to the floor for debate. After rumors of a $100 million dollar bribe by Senator...

Saturday night's health-care vote in the Senate was a theatrical fizzle. Sure, Majority Leader Harry Reid made senators sit at their desks for their vote to create a sense of "history" -- but everyone knew that he'd get the 60 votes he needed to start debate on ObamaCare. If a $100 million Medicaid payoff to her state wasn't enough to keep Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu bought for at least a few days, there truly is no honor among thieves. Landrieu bragged about her swag, calculating that the "Lousiana Purchase" was really worth $300 million. The two other centrist Democrats whose...

President Barack Obama’s mission to reform US healthcare vaulted another legislative hurdle over the weekend, but the scramble to secure his own party’s votes sheds light on the messy compromises that may be needed to get it to the finish line.

Well they did it. Not out in the open, of course. Under cover of a Saturday night "procedural vote." After the $100 million according to the press, $300 million according to her ("I am not going to be defensive. And it's not a $100 million fix. It is a $300 million fix,") Louisiana Purchase of Senator Mary Landrieu. Hundreds of millions of OUR dollars used to pay off the wavering Louisiana Senator in order to secure her vote. I don't have words for this. None that won't get me in trouble. I worked with a guy who once said to...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid eked out 60 votes on a procedural motion to start the health care debate Saturday night – so there’s no guarantee he can pass a bill on the merits. And if he struggles, the reasons will be clear: deep divides among Democrats on a public insurance plan, abortion, tax hikes and cost-cutting. Liberals want the plan to be generous enough. Moderates fear a budget-buster. And everyone is trying to avoid angering seniors. Even in the blush of Saturday’s victory, Reid (D-Nev.) is far from having the votes to move his $848 billion package to final...

Despite Cloture Win, ObamaCare Still has a Long Way to Go to Become Reality - Step by Step #fullpost{display:inline;}Democrats succeeded tonight in winning the first cloture vote on the Senate Health Care Bill which allows it to move forward to a debate / amendment phase. But Martin Gold and Tom Curry spell out just how far "ObamaCare" has to go before it becomes a reality. It's a longer road than I understood, and than you may think: With the Senate having approved a motion to proceed to debate on the health insurance overhaul, legislation is still far from being signed...

Sweeteners for the South By Dana Milbank Sunday, November 22, 2009 Staffers on Capitol Hill were calling it the Louisiana Purchase. On the eve of Saturday's showdown in the Senate over health-care reform, Democratic leaders still hadn't secured the support of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), one of the 60 votes needed to keep the legislation alive. The wavering lawmaker was offered a sweetener: at least $100 million in extra federal money for her home state. And so it came to pass that Landrieu walked onto the Senate floor midafternoon Saturday to announce her aye vote -- and to trumpet the...

Did anyone else catch this? Just now on C-SPAN, Harry Reid quotes communist Andrei Sakharov in closing statement of Senate debate on socialist health care. Google: Andrei Sakharov OK granted, Sakharov was not a ranting Leninist but why wouldn't Harry quote a founder or an American patriot to make his simplistic, sophomoric point. O wait, Harry IS a ranting Leninist...

Senate Democrats pushed ahead with President Barack Obama’s vision of health reform Saturday night – after a day that exposed significant divides in the party that could make it all but impossible to complete work on a plan by year’s end, or even sink the bill altogether. In a 60-39 vote on strictly partisan lines, the Senate sent the $848 billion health care bill to the floor for debate after the Thanksgiving break, but not before a clutch of moderates served notice that they couldn’t back the bill in its current form. One key provision – for a government-run insurance...

(McConnell: It's a 'Monstrosity of a Bill') (GOP: 'This Is Not True Health Care Reform') WASHINGTON (AP) -- Invoking the memory of Edward M. Kennedy, Democrats united Saturday night to push historic health care legislation past a key Senate hurdle over the opposition of Republicans eager to inflict a punishing defeat on President Barack Obama. There was not a vote to spare.The 60-39 vote cleared the way for a bruising, full-scale debate beginning after Thanksgiving on the legislation, which is designed to extend coverage to roughly 31 million who lack it, crack down on insurance company practices that deny or...

Why was it so hard for Dems even to start health care debate? By: Byron York Chief Political Correspondent 11/21/09 6:43 PM EST The extraordinary thing about the dramatic events surrounding the health care bill in the Senate is that there is any drama in it at all. Lawmakers are simply voting to begin debate on their version of health care reform. Just begin debate -- not end it, and not move on to a final vote. If Democrats, with a 60-vote majority in the Senate, were not able to begin debate on the top Democratic policy priority in a...

Under Leader Reid’s amendment, in the year 2019 about 16 million U.S. citizens would be uninsured and be forced to pay a penalty tax of almost $800 per year. About eight million illegal aliens would be uninsured and would owe no penalty tax. Both groups would get their health care through a combination of out-of-pocket spending and use of uncompensated care in emergency rooms and free health clinics. This seems unfair.

Dems snare 60 votes to move ahead on health careBy ERICA WERNER, Associated Press Writer – 4 mins ago WASHINGTON – Democratic leaders secured the last two votes to move ahead on historic health care legislation, clearing the way for a Saturday night showdown on President Barack Obama's top domestic initiative. In long-awaited speeches, centrist Sens. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana said they would stand with their party and vote "yes" on the crucial test vote despite deep reservations with elements of the 2,074-page bill to remake the nation's health care system. "The truth is this...

The President’s popularity did not even last one year. He was a creation of the media and was accepted by the American people who were looking for a change from the policies of George W. Bush. However, the center-right country does not want hard core liberalism. This is a shocking fall from grace for the idol of Hollywood and the media. Obama has received more positive news coverage than any other President in history, yet the American people are seeing through the spin. More and more people are starting to recognize that Obama has a radical liberal agenda. While this...

Mulder and Scully are on the hunt for Harry Reid's phantom jobs.

Landrieu's Vote Will Reveal her integrity (or lack of): WASHINGTON -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's health care bill has millions of dollars to help Louisiana finance Medicaid at a time when he is hoping that state's wavering Democratic senator will support overhaul legislation. The bill provides at least $100 million for Louisiana in extra funds for Medicaid, the state-federal health program for the poor. Louisiana's Democratic senator, Mary Landrieu, has said she is undecided about the Democratic health care package. Reid needs the votes of all 60 Democratic senators for the Senate debate to begin.

Read the full billRead the tax revenue score from the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) Read the budget and tax score from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) PDF of this DocumentIndividual Mandate Tax (Page 324/Sec. 1501/$8 bil): Starting in 2014, anyone not buying “qualifying” health insurance must pay an income surtax according to the following schedule (capped at 8 percent of income): ==============> Check out this important piece, at ATR.org...

With the introduction of Harry Reid's health care bill - talk will inevitably focus on whether the public option or the Stupak amendment will undermine the legislation. Yet, if the bill dies, I do not think either of these will be the primary cause of death. I think this will be the culprit: (See chart in link) This is the CBO's analysis of how the Reid bill will cut Medicare. The total reductions come out to $491 billion over 10 years when everything is factored in. The following has been said by other commentators, but I have to add my...

Climate Change: As scientists confirm the earth has not warmed at all in the past decade, others wonder how this could be and what it means for Copenhagen. Maybe Al Gore can Photoshop something before December. It will be a very cold winter of discontent for the warm-mongers. The climate show-and-tell in Copenhagen next month will be nothing more than a meaningless carbon-emitting jaunt, unable to decide just whom to blame or how to divvy up the profitable spoils of climate change hysteria. The collapse of the talks coupled with the decision by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to put...

Senate Democratic leaders, having negotiated critical last-minute commitments, Friday stood on the verge of achieving the 60 votes they need to begin consideration of the most expansive healthcare legislation to go before the Senate in nearly half a century. Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson, who was among three Democratic holdouts, announced that he would back an all-important procedural vote set for Saturday that will allow the chamber to take up the wide-ranging bill unveiled this week by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). And Democratic leaders expect Sens. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana to support a cloture...

A healthcare policy expert says there are details in the Senate healthcare bill that will frighten everyone. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) has unveiled his more than 2,000-page healthcare bill with an estimated price tag of $849 billion. However, as Grace Marie Turner of the Galen Institute points out, one of the reasons the bill was scored under President Obama's $900 billion cost goal is because no one gets any benefit from the program until 2014. "So they start collecting taxes and fees now, and...the first ten years of full implementation of this bill is $2.5 trillion, and that's...

The media is stirring up drama regarding tomorrow's vote - namely, they are speculating whether Landrieu and Lincoln will vote with Reid to start debate. Of course they will. Three big reasons: (a) "Keep the Ball Rolling". Tomorrow's vote - like all of the votes to date - is a process vote, meaning that Obama and the leadership can argue, "Vote yea to keep the process going. We can improve the bill later if you stick with us." Every vote they have won to date has, I think, been won based on this argument - and it should carry the...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- There are 18 separate tax hikes in the Reid-Obama healthcare bill. One of them caps the amount that can be deferred in Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) at $2500 per year (a similar provision was included in the Pelosi-Obama health bill and written about by Congressman Cathy McMorris-Rogers, R-Was., for National Review Online). There is currently no limit to how much can be saved, though all monies must be used by the end of the year. Employers may put a cap in place for their employees, but this would put a cap in federal tax law...

With less than a year until Election Day, the stakes for this country could not be higher. Nancy Pelosi and her puppets have put our country on a path for bankruptcy and rationed healthcare.   With that in mind, I wanted to take a moment to tell you about an exciting project - Reverse the Vote. This site is a tool that allows concerned Americans to directly support the challengers of 24 vulnerable Democrats who voted to take your healthcare away and put it in the hands of federal bureaucrats.This project will hold these 24 Democrats’ feet to the fire for voting...

Remember it for your grandchildren: Saturday, November 21, 2009—the day of the Transformation of America. That’s the day Global Marxism will begin its inexorable march to take down the Free World, starting with its leader the United States of America. There will be no shots fired, but the aim of the U.S. Senate’s poison arrow is right on target at the heart of humanity. While America’s Marxist President is abroad, Senate Majority House Leader Harry Reid is tying the red ribbon bow on his Christmas present, the Transformation, and Take Down of the United States of America. “Senate Majority...

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., will host a fundraiser for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., in New Orleans next month, an event that comes on the heels of Reid's assistance getting Louisiana a windfall of Medicaid money in the health care reform bill.