health care reform – News Stories About health care reform - Page 30

2nd Senate
Vote Nudges
Health Care
Bill Forward

Dec 22, 2009 10:18 AM CST

2nd Senate Vote Nudges Health Care Bill Forward

Just one procedural vote to go before the Christmas Eve finale

(Newser) - Democratic leaders nudged their health care compromise a step closer to pre-Christmas passage this morning, easily clearing their second critical hurdle. The Senate voted 60-39 to shut off debate on Majority Leader Harry Reid's version of the bill, with no Republicans in favor.

Liberal 'Kill Bill' Case Is Naive, Deceptive

Ezra Klein

Dec 22, 2009 10:15 AM CST

Liberal 'Kill Bill' Case Is Naive, Deceptive

Hey, Jane Hamsher: A better bill is not coming along, and this ain't bad

(Newser) - Ezra Klein isn’t “sure there's much in the way of productive dialogue to be had” with liberal firebrand Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake concerning her call yesterday to kill the Senate health care reform bill, but he’ll try anyway. Hamsher’s list is “misleading,” her “...

Pork Applied Liberally to
Grease Health Care Votes

Dec 22, 2009 7:36 AM CST

Pork Applied Liberally to Grease Health Care Votes

Critics slam Senate bill's special deals for holdouts

(Newser) - A close look at the health bill before the Senate reveals that there was no shortage of pork-barrel spending thrown in to get the Democrats the 60 votes they needed. The "cash-for-cloture" deals include one dubbed the "Louisiana Purchase"—$100 million in Medicare cash for the state....

Lie of the Year: 'Death Panels'

OPINION

Dec 22, 2009 5:21 AM CST

Lie of the Year: 'Death Panels'

Palin's claim spread like wildfire through health debate

(Newser) - Sarah Palin's claim that health care reform would institute "death panels" to decide whether the elderly and disabled are worthy of treatment has been deemed the biggest lie of 2009 by the editors of PolitiFact . Palin appears to have coined the term in a July Facebook posting, and it...

Health Bill Steals Xmas
for Senate Staffers

Dec 22, 2009 1:44 AM CST

Health Bill Steals Xmas for Senate Staffers

Marathon debate saps festive spirit on Capitol Hill

(Newser) - The first Christmas Eve vote scheduled in over 40 years has left the mood on Capitol Hill far from festive for senators and their hundreds of staffers. Aides and analysts hoping to spend Christmas with their families now face the prospect of being stuck in the capital on Christmas Day....

10 Ways Senate Health Reform Hurts You

KILL THE BILL

Dec 21, 2009 6:03 PM CST

10 Ways Senate Health Reform Hurts You

Measure that should have saved money will cost an arm and a leg

(Newser) - The Senate health reform bill is all fire and brimstone for the folks over at Firedoglake . The “con job” legislation “isn’t a ‘starter home,’ it’s a sink hole,” Jane Hamsher writes, and “it needs to die so something else can take its...

Even Obama
Couldn't Have Sold
the Public Option

Nate Silver

Dec 21, 2009 1:40 PM CST

Even Obama Couldn't Have Sold the Public Option

But he could and should have prepared liberals better for defeat

(Newser) - Russ Feingold blamed the death of the public option in part on a “lack of support” from the White House, which made passing the option “an uphill struggle.” But Nate Silver isn’t sure there’s much Obama could have done. “I think the defeat of...

Sniveling Lefties Should Just Take the Health Care Victory

EJ DIONNE

Dec 21, 2009 12:46 PM CST

Sniveling Lefties Should Just Take the Health Care Victory

Screwy Senate has a flawed, but good bill

(Newser) - The health care bill is as good as it’s going to get, and progressives whining about it—or worse, trying to kill it—are being ridiculous. “In a normal democracy,” EJ Dionne writes, the majority support would quickly pass a public option or Medicare expansion. But the...

Why Dems Scheduled
Xmas Eve Health Care Vote

11th hour, much?

Dec 21, 2009 11:16 AM CST

Why Dems Scheduled Xmas Eve Health Care Vote

Momentum, urgency, fear of embarrassment, etc.

(Newser) - Lamar Alexander has called the Democrats' push to quickly pass health care reform "a political kamikaze mission toward a historic mistake," but Senate Dems have reasons other than self-immolation for scheduling a 7pm vote on Christmas Eve. Politico looks at five:

To maintain momentum: If the latest compromise

...

The Filibuster Must Be Stopped

Paul Krugman

Dec 21, 2009 8:17 AM CST

The Filibuster Must Be Stopped

The country was never intended to have supermajority rule

(Newser) - Health care reform shouldn’t have been a close vote. The Democrats campaigned on health care and won big, which “in any other advanced democracy” would have given them the power to enact reforms, writes Paul Krugman of the New York Times. But because Democrats needed 60 votes to...

Health Care Bill
Clears Crucial
Senate Test

UPDATED

Dec 21, 2009 7:41 AM CST

Health Care Bill Clears Crucial Senate Test

Dems hail first key step in 'historic victory'

(Newser) - A filibuster strategy by Senate Republicans against the health care reform bill was shot down early this morning in a move that clearly signals the measure's likely passage before Christmas. The Senate voted 60-40 for cloture to short-circuit a GOP tactic aimed at killing a package of changes to the...

The 3 Final
Health Care
Sticking Points

Dec 21, 2009 5:34 AM CST

The 3 Final Health Care Sticking Points

Abortion, taxes, and the public option continue to plague both sides

(Newser) - With the Senate and House health care bills expected to come together later this week, McClatchy Newspapers takes a look at the three biggest issues that have yet to be resolved:

Abortion: Both bills have placed limits on abortion, but neither side is happy, with abortion rights supporters feeling women

...

VP Urges Dems to Unite Behind Senate Health Bill

joe biden

Dec 20, 2009 2:04 PM CST

VP Urges Dems to Unite Behind Senate Health Bill

'In Washington big changes never emerge in perfect form,' ex-senator writes

(Newser) - As president of the Senate, Joe Biden has the run of the place, but the vice president takes to the op-ed page of the New York Times to urge fellow Democrats to stop sniping and support the health care bill. "I’ve been around a long time," the...

Axelrod: Dean
Not Insane

TALK SHOW ROUNDUP

Dec 20, 2009 11:30 AM CST

Axelrod: Dean Not Insane

White House adviser softens rhetoric in health care spat

(Newser) - David Axelrod and Howard Dean took their health care smackdown to the Sunday dial today, with Axelrod conceding that OK, maybe the former Vermont gov isn't crazy. “I didn't say he was insane," the White House adviser told This Week. "“What I said was, it would...

Christian Scientists Want Health Bill to Include Prayer

IF IT'S NOT TOO LATE DEPT.

Dec 20, 2009 5:10 AM CST

Christian Scientists Want Health Bill to Include Prayer

Provision's been stripped from both House, Senate versions

(Newser) - With the Senate nearing a vote on health reform, one constituency is still pushing for its cause to be reinserted in the package—Christian Scientists, who want the legislation to recognize that many Americans rely on religious and spiritual healing, and to ban discrimination against those practices and their practitioners....

Nelson's Compromise
Pays Off for Nebraska

Dec 19, 2009 4:42 PM CST

Nelson's Compromise Pays Off for Nebraska

Feds will pick up state's costs for Medicaid expansion

(Newser) - It pays to be stubborn sometimes. In addition to stricter language on abortion coverage in the health care bill, Ben Nelson wrung a concession from Harry Reid and company that will pay dividends for his home state of Nebraska. The federal government will pick up the state's cost for the...

Stupak Tried
to Scuttle Deal on Abortion

Dec 19, 2009 2:05 PM CST

Stupak Tried to Scuttle Deal on Abortion

Emails suggest he worked with GOP's McConnell against it

(Newser) - Bart Stupak is apparently unmoved by the compromise on abortion language included in the Senate bill, and the Democratic congressman seems willing to work with Republican leaders to make his case. One of his aides this morning sent urgent emails to Catholic bishops and various anti-abortion groups imploring them to...

Senate Kills Botox Tax,
Adds Tanning Tax

Dec 19, 2009 11:42 AM CST

Senate Kills Botox Tax, Adds Tanning Tax

It could soon cost more to get that bronzed look indoors

(Newser) - The Senate bill on health care reform has good news and bad for those who use artificial means to look better in the mirror. The legislation scraps a proposed 5% tax on cosmetic surgery but adds a 10% tax on indoor tanning beds that deliver UV rays. "The only...

Ben Nelson
Says He's In,
Giving Reid
His 60 Votes

senate health care scramble

Dec 19, 2009 9:03 AM CST

Ben Nelson Says He's In, Giving Reid His 60 Votes

Reid unveils final version of bill, including concessions on abortion

(Newser) - The last Democratic holdout on health care reform came into the tent this morning, as Ben Nelson said he will vote for the bill. "We're there," Sen. Kent Conrad told the Washington Post as he headed into a meeting to announce the deal, and Nelson, asked if he...

Kennedy's Widow:
Don't Let Ted Down
on Health Care

Dec 19, 2009 8:29 AM CST

Kennedy's Widow: Don't Let Ted Down on Health Care

Please finish 'the work of his life,' writes Victoria Kennedy

(Newser) - In an impassioned plea to Democratic senators threatening to vote against the health care reform bill, Victoria Reggie Kennedy begs them not to squander this opportunity because the bill isn't all they would like it to be. "Ted often said that we can't let the perfect be the enemy...