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End It Today, Ben — There's a really big snowstorm coming to D.C.tonight. It would be unsafe to ask all the staffers and Hill employees who'd be needed at the Capitol if Congress stays open all hours this weekend, as Harry Reid intends, to drive to and from work—especially since …
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The Hardest Call — The first reason to support the Senate health care bill is that it would provide insurance to 30 million more Americans. — The second reason to support the bill is that its authors took the deficit issue seriously. Compared with, say, the prescription drug benefit …

Fox News: Ben Nelson Opposes Health Reform Because He 'Understands …

Ben Nelson's Medicaid concerns questioned
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias, Ezra Klein, TPMDC, Omaha World-Herald, Washington Monthly, Wonk Room and The Washington Independent


The Abortion Holdout — Ben Nelson doesn't come in for as much scorn …
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pandagon.net

Nelson supports opt-in for ‘reformed health care system’
Discussion:
The Gaggle

Dean's Blind Spot — Maybe one reason former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and so much of the digital Left can so casually dismiss the Senate health care reform bill is that they operate in an environment where so few people need to worry about access to insurance.
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Journalists Cheerfully Urinating On Senate Bill's “Ideological” Critics — It would really be nice if certain Beltway journalists could get it into their heads that the Senate bill's critics on the left have actual substantive differences with the bill's proponents, and are not motivated solely by …

Rahm Emanuel: Don't Worry About the Left — Turn off MSNBC. Tune out Howard Dean and Keith Olbermann. The White House has its liberal wing in hand on health care, says White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. — “There are no liberals left to get” in the Senate, Emanuel said in an interview …

MoveOn opposes Senate bill — Progressive standard bearer MoveOn is opposing the Senate bill and asking its millions of members to sign a petition calling on liberal Sens. Bernie Sanders, Roland Burris, and Russ Feingold to block the bill's passage until it can be strengthened. — From the email:

Pass the Bill — A message to progressives: By all means, hang Senator Joe Lieberman in effigy. Declare that you're disappointed in and/or disgusted with President Obama. Demand a change in Senate rules that, combined with the Republican strategy of total obstructionism, are in the process of making America ungovernable.
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The Huffington Post, msnbc.com, TPMCafe, Think Progress, Raw Story, Hit & Run, Matthew Yglesias, Daily Kos, BuzzFlash.org, Taylor Marsh, DailyHowler.com, Achenblog, Jezebel, AMERICAblog News, Democratic Strategist, The Gaggle, Wonk Room, Washington Post, Prairie Weather, QandO, Wake up America and The Moderate Voice

Obama speech fuels frustration at Copenhagen — US president offers no further commitment on reducing emissions or on finance to poor countries — Barack Obama stepped into the chaotic final hours of the Copenhagen summit today saying he was convinced the world could act “boldly and decisively” on climate change.
Discussion:
Political Punch, Mother Jones, Don Surber, It's Getting Hot In Here, Richard Black's Earth Watch, Hot Air, The Washington Independent, The Huffington Post, Open Left, American Power, Environmental Capital, The New Republic, JustOneMinute, protein wisdom, Saberpoint, MyDD, Little Green Footballs and The Lonely Conservative
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Climate Deal Announced, but Falls Short of Expectations
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Washington Monthly, Guardian, BBC, msnbc.com, Newsweek Blogs, Pajamas Media, Climate Progress, Green Inc., Hot Air, Jules Crittenden, Don Surber, The BRAD BLOG, The Daily Beast, INHABITAT, Copenhagen Insider, Agence France Presse, The Page, Matthew Yglesias, Truthdig, The Washington Independent, Washington Post and The Monkey Cage


Coburn defends the Party of No; Durbin blasts “styptic-hearted Republicans;” Update: Video added — On the Senate floor a few minutes ago, GOP Sen. Tom Coburn gave a rousing defense of the “Party of No.” — “We're accused of being the party of no,” he said. But “no is a wonderful word.
Discussion:
The Lonely Conservative, Townhall.com, The Other McCain, Bob McCarty Writes and GayPatriot
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The Time for Political Games is Over — When President Obama …

Washington in 60 Seconds: Reporter to James Inhofe — 'You're Ridiculous' — Good morning, Capitolists! The Senate has officially gone from herding cats to Christmas chaos, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announcing last night that he will hold procedural votes at 7:30 a.m. Saturday …
Discussion:
The Lonely Conservative
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Reid to unveil final offer on healthcare bill on Saturday morning
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Real Clear Politics

Webb ‘undecided’ on health bill for now
Discussion:
Virginia Politics Blog, Public Policy Polling, AmSpecBlog, The Other McCain and National Review


Flashback: McCain Refused To Grant 30 Seconds Of Time During Iraq War Debate — Yesterday, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), acting on the orders of the Senate leadership, refused to grant Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) “an additional moment” to continue speaking on the Senate floor after his 10 minutes expired.
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WHEN MCCAIN'S BAD MEMORY AND MCCAIN'S HYPOCRISY COLLIDE. …
Discussion:
Think Progress


What Lieberman has wrought — Joe Lieberman's reckless decision to blow up last week's compromise has had exactly the impact many of us predicted. Much of the left has flipped into vicious, angry opposition to the bill. Is that because the Medicare buy-in, a good but limited policy, has disappeared from the bill?


Editor's politics raise Qs at WSJ — Not long ago, a British conservative columnist and Weekly Standard contributor who once wrote a column asking if America was ready for a “dangerous left-winger” like Barack Obama would have been an unlikely second-in-command at The Wall Street Journal.


Harvard Swaps Are So Toxic Even Summers Won't Explain — Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) — Anne Phillips Ogilby, a bond attorney at one of Boston's oldest law firms, on Oct. 31 last year relayed an urgent message from Harvard University, her client and alma mater, to the head of a Massachusetts state agency that sells bonds.


The Adam Lambert Problem — “Wrong track” poll numbers aren't just about the economy. — Printer — Friendly — The news came in numbers and the numbers were fairly grim, all the grimmer for being unsurprising. A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll reported this week that more than half …

Pelosi, Rahm do not scare Rep. DeFazio — Rep. Peter DeFazio's phone rang. On the other end was Rahm Emanuel. — The White House chief of staff last month expressed frustration with DeFazio's resignation calls for President Barack Obama's top two economic aides — Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner …

Specter, Toomey Deadlocked In Pennsylvania Senate Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Obama Gets Good Score On War, Bad Marks For Health Care — Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter and Republican challenger Pat Toomey are deadlocked 44 - 44 percent in Pennsylvania's marquee 2010 U.S. Senate race …
Discussion:
Washington Wire, The Fix, Hot Air, Swing State Project, Scorecard's Blog, Politics Daily, TPMDC, Politics Nation and Talking Points Memo

Most influential person of the decade — Which of these nominees had the greatest influence in shaping the past decade, either by changing how we live or by making the greatest impact on our culture? Cast your votes now and we'll reveal the winner on Monday, Dec. 21st. Want to nominate someone else?