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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 …

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


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

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

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.
Discussion:
AMERICAblog News, NPR Blogs, The Moderate Voice, The Politico, TalkLeft and The Washington Independent
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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.

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:

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

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.
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On the verge of a deal in Copenhagen — COPENHAGEN — President Obama and world leaders are on the verge of finalizing a climate deal that caps the global temperature rise at 1.5 degrees — but punts major emissions decisions until 2012 — after a day of frantic leader-to-leader talks in Copenhagen.


Climate Deal Announced, but Falls Short of Expectations
Discussion:
The Politico, Washington Monthly, Newsweek Blogs, Pajamas Media, Guardian, BBC, Hot Air, Climate Progress, Green Inc., Truthdig, Jules Crittenden, Don Surber, INHABITAT, Copenhagen Insider, msnbc.com, Matthew Yglesias, Agence France Presse, The Page, The Monkey Cage, The Washington Independent and Washington Post

World leaders reach deal on climate change in Copenhagen
Discussion:
CBS News, The Moderate Voice, Los Angeles Times, CNN, Betsy's Page, Flopping Aces, Sister Toldjah and The Page

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
Discussion:
Real Clear Politics


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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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


How to Manufacture a Climate Consensus — The East Anglia emails are just the tip of the iceberg. I should know. — Printer — Friendly — Few people understand the real significance of Climategate, the now-famous hacking of emails from the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit (CRU).
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Chinese block U.S. reporters from event — (CNN) - Officials and journalists attempting to enter the room where President Obama and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao were planning to meet in Copenhagen were caught in a chaotic scene that left nearly the entire U.S. press pool outside …
Discussion:
Raw Story
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Kaiser Health Tracking Poll — December 2009 — The December Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds a dip on several measures of public opinion on health care reform. The number of Americans who say they personally will be better off if reform passes fell to 35 percent in December, down from 42 percent last month.
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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?

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 …


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.

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