Free Republic

WASHINGTON — Don’t touch that C-SPAN dial. The Senate is planning a midnight session tonight as Democrats and Republicans fight fire with fire over health care reform. Tonight’s session is not even about health care but rather the annual Department of Defense spending bill. Senators have a 1 a.m. vote on the Pentagon bill. But with just one week to go before the Christmas deadline on health care, neither side is making this easy. Democrats have little room to spare as the health bill must go through a series of potentially time-consuming procedural votes in coming days if Senate Majority...

CBO: Senate health bill costs $871 billion By Michael O'Brien - 12/19/09 12:00 PM ET The Senate's healthcare bill would cost $871 billion and cover 31 million more Americans, according to the Congressional Budget Office's analysis of the bill. The CBO said that the final legislation, unveiled Saturday by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, would cost $871 billion over the next 10 years and reduce the deficit by $132 billion over the same period. That's more than the first Senate bill had cost. Roughly 31 million Americans would receive new coverage under the legislation. The final Senate bill will cost...