By Joe Conason By acting on their convictions rather than their fears, the Democrats could ultimately find that the public option can be turned to their advantage for years to come. READ THE WHOLE ITEM Related Entries October 28, 2009 The Party of Choice October 28, 2009 Geithner’s Fed Made AIG Pay Banks to the Max October 27, 2009 Of Laureates and Laundry October 27, 2009 Arrogant U.S. Misses the Message From Pakistan’s People October 27, 2009 The War Cond

-By Warner Todd Huston Is Obama “Nixonifying” the White House? Many think he is… During the campaign, Obama promised transparency on healthcare as he is wont to do. So far, all the Democrats have done, however, is meet behind closed doors. That’s bad enough but as the days pass we are discovering that the White House has assembled its own Nixonian enemies list. Apparently, this is a video that the GOP leadership played for Senate Republicans during a recent policy luncheon to help them in

WASHINGTON (CNN) - After announcing his intention to move forward with a health care reform bill in the Senate that includes a version of the public health insurance option that would allow states to opt out, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told CNN that he has not ruled out using a budgetary procedure called reconciliation which would allow Democrats to pass the bill with a simple majority.Related Posts:Politico — 30 Senate Dems urge leadership to include public optionSnowe to Reid: ‘What’s t

From Fox News, October 27, 2009. “Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Democrat-turned-Independent from Connecticut, said Tuesday that he will not vote for a healthcare reform bill that includes a government-run insurance plan. This means that as things now stand, Democrats will not have enough votes to pass healthcare reform with a so-called public option unless Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) can pick up unexpected GOP votes. Sen. Olympia Snowe (Maine), the only Republican to vote for

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announces that the public option is now in the Senate version of the health care reform bill. With one caveat that it will include an opt-out option for states . So Democrats now believe in a form of federalism? Hmmmmm… It would seem that the only way Senator Reid feels he can keep liberal members of his caucus on board is if he keeps the public option. The moderates would only vote for it I suppose is if it includes an opt-out. So he thinks