We’ve reached a point where my friend Ed Morrissey and I must come to a parting of the ways on the current health care debate, though we’ve seen eye to eye on most portions of it up until now. Tomorrow, the Senate will face a procedural vote to open debate on their version of the bill. Note: This is not a vote on the bill itself, signaling approval or disapproval. It’s simply a vote to allow...

The story of Stephanie Spielman, wife of Ohio State University and NFL star Chris Spielman, mother of four children, who was a 30 year old woman 12 years ago who gave herself a self-breast exam and discovered a lump that she then had examined and screened, died of breast cancer today at age 42. Her story represents the stories that I dread will become absolutely the norm and her story represents the stories...

Ezra Klein reads over 2,000 pages of legislative language so you don’t have to. His conclusion: This bill is a “grand bargain” that achieves impressive levels of coverage while still cutting costs:

National Healthcare Insurance Reform has moved a bit closer to reality, though it could still be derailed in the Senate. We now have a House Bill and a Senate Bill that will have to be merged into a single bill via an appointed Joint Conference Committee. The committee members will be chosen by Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi so a final bill can be written and voted upon by the Senate...

On my trips abroad, I have rarely found an Indian restaurant that would satisfy my native taste buds. In the West, there has been a “curry” revolution and its impact has been the most in Britain. However, there is a growing realization that Indian cooking is not just meant to set your tongue on fire or titillate the palate, it actually mixes common sense with the ancient science of Ayurveda, gaining...

The NYT published today a fascinating (and somewhat frustrating) look at health care reform’s supporters and detractors in Congress, by FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver and two co-authors. Their thesis: Critics of the health care reform plan often refer to it derisively as “ObamaCare.” On the policy merits, this is highly questionable: the White House has taken a hands-off approach toward the legislation...

The entire text is online. It’s 2,074 pages. Via Ron Chusid, who has a reading plan:

WASHINGTON — Normal human beings — let’s call them real Americans — cannot understand why, 10 months after President Obama’s inauguration, Congress is still tied down in a procedural torture chamber trying to pass the health care bill Obama promised in his campaign. Last year, the voters gave him the largest popular vote margin won by a presidential candidate in 20 years. They...

John Darkow, Columbia Daily Tribune, Missouri This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved.

A new study out from George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services concludes that the Stupak-Pitts Amendment will have an expansive effect on abortion coverage over the entire insurance industry, “eliminating coverage of medically indicated abortions over time for all women, not only those whose coverage is derived through a health insurance exchange.”

A “dog warning card” arrived with my mail today. Thanks to a New Jersey branch of the National Association of Letter Carriers, you can see the form online. The form provides invaluable advice, such as “Do not deliver mail if you feel endangered by an animal.” For a better understanding of the threats faced by America’s letter carriers, I recommend the following passage from The...

From Politico: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s health reform bill comes in at $849 billion, and will reduce the federal budget deficit by $127 billion in the first 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office says, according to a senior Democratic aide. More here. I wonder if that’s enough to perusade the Senate 3.

With the onset of H1N1 flu there are many experts who think that the biggest problem is not the flu itself but the panic that comes with it. The overwhelming majority of people who get the flu will recover with no problem and in fact most people who get it might not even be aware they have it the symptoms are so mild. Yet with the media hype everyone panics, rushes to the doctor or the hospital, insists on...

I’m a day or more late to this meme and many others have already chimed in. So be it. I’ll now add my voice to those who have risen to the defense of the Senate 3 — Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) — who are “proving tough sells” on health care reform. Importantly, I rise to the defense of the Senate 3 as someone who would actually...

One of the goals Barack Obama set for his presidency was the elimination of hunger among children by 2015. Whether or not he achieves that goal, Obama is the first American president even to commit to achieving it. Having said that, he has a difficult road ahead of him, because more Americans — including children — are living with hunger at least some of the time:

Gallup Shock: Health Coverage Not Gov’t Responsibility by Jon Wells An astounding Gallup poll recently came out that states that a majority of Americans (50%-47%) now believe the government shouldn’t be responsible for making sure everyone has health insurance. That’s amazing in and of itself, but when you look at the trend it’s simply astonishing. Just three years ago in 2006, the...

The murderous Mexican drug cartels are known for their viciousness conducting their illicit trade. U.S. drug manufactures are less sanguine but equally adept at protecting their profits. In anticipation of new health reform legislation that would curb their oligarchy, drug makers have raised their prices about 9% this past year while the Consumer Price Index has fallen by 1.3% during the same period. The widely...

Some feel that those who did not support the invasion and occupation of Iraq do not support the troops. It is my conviction that supporting the troops is more than just supporting a war. There are millions of Americans who do not support this or that war, but certainly respect, honor, love, and, yes, support the troops—not just through bumper stickers or yellow ribbons, but through concrete acts of charity,...

Brain Chemicals, Not Will Alone We don’t know the qualified diagnoses of Nidal Hasan. But it may have markers of a serious chemicological and brain disturbance. The subject about how the brain chemicals in the body can go haywire, wrongly signaling a person about events and stimulii around them, causing interpretations and behavior that are either too much or too little– is a subject so large that...

A Congressman offers a lesson today about how politics and the media collude to distort rational discussion. In an Op Ed, Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon explains how his bipartisan proposal to have Medicare pay for voluntary end-of-life discussions morphed into death panels: “I found it perverse that Medicare would pay for almost any medical procedure, yet not reimburse doctors for having a thoughtful...

Steve Benen:

David Fitzsimmons, The Arizona Star This cartoon is licensed to appear on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved.

Taylor Jones, Politicalcartoons.com This cartoon is copyrighted and authorized to appear on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved.

WASHINGTON — For some years, Democrats have denounced parodies casting their party as utterly closed to the views of those who oppose abortion. Last weekend, Democrats proved conclusively that they are, indeed, a big tent — and many in the ranks are furious. From the outraged comments of the abortion rights movement, you’d think that Rep. Bart Stupak’s amendment to the House version...

Digby is fed up with paying for Viagra: