Free Republic

A new poll from the Tarrance Group (R) commissioned by the American Future Fund aims to put the squeeze on Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson (D) over health care. In the survey (500 LVs, 12/14-15, MoE +/- 4.5%), respondents were asked: "In general, do you favor or oppose President Obama's plan to expand health care coverage to most Americans even if this plan increases the role of the federal government in health care and increases the cost of the deficit." Two-thirds responded that they oppose it, compared to 26 percent who favor it.

How desperate has the White House become to get anything passed under the name of health-care reform? According to Michael Goldfarb’s source on Capitol Hill, the Obama administration has targeted the last remaining Democratic holdout, at least among moderates — and they’re willing to damage national security to extort his support. The White House has threatened Ben Nelson (D-NE) with the closure of Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska if he opposes Reid’s latest version, despite its status as the headquarters of US Strategic Command: According to a Senate aide, the White House is now threatening to put Nebraska’s Offutt...

The White House and Democratic Leadership in the Senate has told Senator Nelson they will close every military base in Nebraska — a threat that is not credible, really — but they have also offered Senator Nelson between $300 million to $500 million in earmarks, according to key hill health care operatives. These hundreds of millions will be available for whatever he wants to spend them on in Nebraska. Given Senator Nelson’s hard core earmarking history as an appropriator, the word on the street is that this is the real carrot that could get Nelson to agree to some cover...

Two key senators criticized the most recent healthcare compromise Sunday, saying the policies replacing the public option are still unacceptable. Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) both said a Medicare "buy-in" option for those aged 55-64 was a deal breaker.

Everyone in the country closely following the ObamaCare saga have been waiting for Senator Nelson (D-NE) to give us a sense of where he is on the bill since his abortion restriction amendment failed last week. Yesterday, Senator Nelson — a long time pro-lifer — said: “I can’t support cloture [ending the filibuster] on the next round,” and that adds a second large monkey wrench in the Senate ObamaCare gears. Monkey-wrench number one is the public option. Monkey-wrench number two is Nelson’s statement above. Monkey-wrench number three is any number of things that could rise to the level of a...

The Senate took a crucial step toward a showdown on abortion with the introduction of an amendment by Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and nine other anti-abortion-rights senators. Nelson argues the healthcare bill introduced by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), does not do enough to prevent federal dollars from being used to finance abortion services. “As written, the Senate healthcare bill allows taxpayer dollars, directly and indirectly, to pay for insurance plans that cover abortion. Most Nebraskans, and Americans, do not favor using public funds to cover abortion and as a result this bill shouldn’t open the door to do so,”...

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) told reporters Thursday that he would not vote to advance healthcare reform legislation unless it includes language that would restrict access to abortions for women who receive federal subsidies. Nelson’s stance puts Democratic leaders in a difficult position as they brace for difficult votes on two amendments to their healthcare legislation. The Senate will soon consider an amendment offered by Nelson that would be similar to the abortion amendment sponsored by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) that the House adopted last month. The Senate will also consider an amendment offered by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) that would...

Nelson Sponsoring Stupak Amdt to Cut Abortion in Senate Health Bill Washington, DC -- Sen. Ben Nelson, a pro-life Democrat from Nebraska, confirmed today that he is working on an amendment to the Senate version of the government-run health care bill that would remove abortion funding from it. He said the amendment would be similar to language adopted in the House. http://www.lifenews.com/nat5718.html

Here is the inept response I received from Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson to my faxed "Climategate" letter: From: senator@bennelson.senate.gov Subject: Responding to your message To: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Date: Monday, November 30, 2009, 8:44 AM Dear xxxxxxxxx: Thank you for contacting me regarding proposed cap-and-trade legislation. I was glad to receive your thoughts on this important and contentious issue. As you know, much discussion and debate has taken place in this 111th Congress on a variety of bills dealing with climate change. The most notable of these are the American Clean Energy and Security Act, H.R. 2454, which passed the House of...

WASHINGTON -- Now that health-care reform has reached the Senate floor without a single Republican vote, four Democrats are vying to become King of the Hill by demanding laundry lists of changes in exchange for their votes -- prompting liberals to vow not to be held hostage by a few foot-draggers. Majority Leader Harry Reid got the bill to the floor by a 60-39 vote, the narrowest possible margin. The close vote provided a vivid demonstration of each Democrat's ability to sink President Obama's top domestic priority -- or use his vote to try to extract concessions Sen. Ben Nelson...

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) officially joined Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-Conn.) as the second member of the Democratic Conference to threaten a filibuster of the Senate’s health care reform bill. http://bit.ly/2yYu8c

In a warning sign for the White House, Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska tells ABC News that he'll vote to block any health care bill that looks like the bill passed by the House. ABC News' Jonathan Karl chats with Sen. Ben Nelson on the Capitol Hill subway."Well, first of all, it has more than a robust public option, it's got a totally government-run plan, the costs are extraordinary associated with it, it increases taxes in a way that will not pass in the Senate and I could go on and on and on," Nelson said in an interview...

Ben Nelson (D-Nb.), though, said Sunday that he's not committed to vote to kill a GOP filibuster. "I have made no promise," Nelson said on CNN's "State of the Union." I can't decide about the procedural vote until I see the underlying bill. It would be, I think, reckless to say I'll support the procedure without knowing what the underlying bill consists of. And it's not put together yet. It's a draft — it will be a draft bill some time next week, submitted the Congressional Budget Office for the review of the cost." Nelson also gave a thumbs-down...

As some here might be aware, my fellow Nebraskan Omaha Steve, a non-primitive on Skins's island, is not exactly enamoured of his Democrat U.S. Senator, E. Benjamin Nelson, arguably the most conservative Democrat in that body. Senator Nelson after all voted against the latest budget proposed by Pa Kettle in the White House; has a 100% pro-life voting record, supports the Second Amendment, supports the wars for the liberation of Afghanistan and Iraq, and prefers cutting governmental spending to raising taxes. And he's causing problems for both the Democrat leadership in the Senate, and the primitives on Skins's island, because...

A moderate Democrat whose vote could be crucial said Thursday an attempted Senate compromise on abortion is unsatisfactory, raising doubts about whether the chamber can pass President Barack Obama's health care overhaul by Christmas. "As it is, without modifications, the language concerning abortion is not sufficient," Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson, a key holdout on the health care bill, said in a statement after first making his concerns known to Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. Nelson said there were positive improvements dealing with teen pregnancy and adoption, and that he was open to further negotiations. But in a radio interview earlier...

Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson says he won’t vote for the “health care” bill if it has any support for killing womb babies. Will he cave? If he’s an opportunistic politician, of which they are legion, then we do not know if we can trust him. If he’s a totally committed biblical believer, no matter what the politics, his allegiance to God’s Word will not waver. Time will tell.

  An aide to Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) coordinated opposition to the Senate health bill’s abortion compromise this morning with the Republican Senate leadership, according to a chain of frantic emails obtained this morning by POLITICO. Stupak, in an interview with POLITICO, called the Senate bill’s abortion position "unacceptable" – but disavowed his staffer’s collaboration with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. “I never talked to McConnell about the health care bill,” said Stupak, adding that “I did not authorize the email [which] “was sent without my knowledge.”  Stupak said that he has discussed the Senate’s abortion position with Democratic senators Ben...

Updated December 18, 2009Democratic Holdout Controls Fate of Senate Health Care Bill FOXNews.com Saturday: Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska is a Democratic moderate who voted to begin debate on health care legislation. (AP Photo) As Democrats race against the clock to pass a sweeping health care bill before Christmas, Sen. Ben Nelson, the only known Democratic holdout, has positioned himself to play Santa or the Grinch.The Nebraska Democrat is pushing to include air-tight restrictions on abortion funding in the bill, but that's not all he wants.Because of the $465 billion in Medicare cuts included in the Senate bill, Nelson wants...

If you can be in Omaha Nebraska by 3:00 tomorrow, Sunday, December 20 there will be a protest at the Omaha Music Hall ..

An aide to Rep. Bart Stupak (D. Mich.) coordinated opposition to a Senate compromise on the place of abortion in health care legislation this morning with the Republican Senate leadership, the Conference Catholic Bishops, and other anti-abortion groups, according to a chain of frantic emails obtained this morning by POLITICO. Stupak, in an interview with POLITICO, called the Senate’s bill’s abortion position unacceptable – but disavowed his staffer’s collaboration with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.