All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

Updated at 5:30 p.m. ET with GOP reaction.

While members of his own party have yet to reach a consensus on certain elements of health care reform, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid today called the united GOP opposition to the bill akin to opposition against women's suffrage and the emancipation of slaves.

"Instead of joining us on the right side of history, all Republicans have come up with is this 'slow down, stop everything, let's start over,'" Reid said on the Senate floor today, CBS News Capitol Hill Producer John Nolen reports. "You think you've heard these same excuses before? You're right."

"In this country, there were those who dug in their heels and said, 'Slow down, it's too early. Let's wait. Things aren't bad enough,' about slavery," he continued. "When women [wanted] to vote-- 'Slow down, there will be a better day to do that.'... When this body was on the verge of guaranteeing equal civil rights to everyone, regardless of the color of their skin, some senators resorted to the same filibuster threats that we hear today."

The senator went on to ask when Congress should reform health care, if not now.

"There are now those who don't think it is the right time to reform health care," he said. For those who feel that way, he added, "it will never, never be a good time to reform health care."

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Senate Democrats are on the verge of abandoning the "public option" in their health care bill because a few members of their caucus, among them Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), will not agree to it. Now progressives in Lieberman's state are letting him know they are not too happy about his opposition.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), a liberal advocacy group that has targeted moderate Democrats who do not support the public option, is up with a new ad blasting Lieberman for opposing the plan, which is popular with his constituents. The ad features John Mertens, the chairman of the Connecticut for Lieberman Party, which was originally founded to support Lieberman's 2006 bid to run for re-election as an independent after losing in the Democratic primary. In the wake of Lieberman's election, however, the party was taken over by his critics.

In the PCCC ad, Mertens cites a Research 2000 poll which found Connecticut voters support the public option by three to one. "But Joe never forgets who he ran to represent," Mertens says. "Himself."

Lieberman is staunchly opposed to the public option, claiming he will join a Republican filibuster of any bill that includes the proposal.

Mertens has launched his own Senate bid to unseat Chris Dodd in 2010. Dodd led much of the summer's health care debate in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

The PCCC ad will reportedly air in both Washington and Connecticut.

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Rep. Joe Sestak, the Pennsylvania Democrat hoping to unseat Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Penn.), received the endorsement of Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) on Monday.

Upon announcing in August his bid to unseat Pennsylvania's senior senator, Sestak appeared to face an uphill battle: President Obama and Democratic leaders had already sided with Specter, who switched from the Republican to the Democratic party after it became clear he would not survive a Republican primary challenge.

Specter helped the Democrats secure their 60-seat majority in the Senate, and he has made clear efforts in recent months to prove his loyalty to the party. He declared his support for a pro-union bill he earlier opposed, and he continues to speak out in favor of the public option, or government-run health insurance plan, currently in the Senate health care bill.

Yet at a news conference at Philadelphia today, Frank suggested Specter's allegiance was disingenuous.

"Joe Sestak is a true Democrat who cares about the working families that have been hit hardest by the failed economic policies of the Bush Administration," Frank said. "He'll be a reliable vote for Pennsylvania's next generation instead of having the same loyal Bush Republican we've seen over the past generation. I have to say I don't think it did our profession any good for someone to announce that he switched parties purely so he could survive."

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The Senate could be on the verge of abandoning the "public option," as originally envisioned, but are senators any closer to a compromise?

As reported in CBSNews.com's Health Care Progress Report this morning, a group of liberal and moderate senators discussed over the weekend a new plan that could potentially replace Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's proposal to establish a government-run health insurance option for a limited number of people.

This group of 10 Democrats is considering a plan to establish national health insurance options, which would be administered by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) but operated by private, nonprofit insurers. In essence, this plan would expand the options now given to federal employees to the rest of the country, since the OPM already runs the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program (FEHBP).

The new proposal is billed as a "public option" compromise, but it would, in fact, take the "public" out of the public option. That could appeal to the most conservative Democrats, like Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.).

"Seems to me it would be in lieu of the public option," Nelson said of the plan, according to Politico. He reportedly said Majority Leader Harry Reid's version of the public option, which would allow states to opt out of the national, government plan, "is no longer being talked about."

Nelson reportedly took part in the weekend discussions about the new plan, along with moderate Democrats Mary Landrieu (La.), Blanche Lincoln (Ark.), Tom Carper (Del.) and Mark Pryor (Ark.). The liberal senators in attendance were Russ Feingold (Wisc.), Tom Harkin (Iowa), Sherrod Brown (Ohio) and John Rockefeller (W.V.).

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After meeting with leaders from India, China and elsewhere, President Obama has decided to change the timing of his appearance at the United Nations climate conference to take place in Copenhagen, Denmark later this month.

The president was scheduled to appear at the climate change summit on Dec. 9, ahead of his trip to Oslo, Norway to accept the Nobel Peace Prize. The summit takes place from Dec. 7 through Dec. 18. Mr. Obama will now attend the end of the conference.

"Based on his conversations with other leaders and the progress that has already been made to give momentum to negotiations, the President believes that continued U.S. leadership can be most productive through his participation at the end of the Copenhagen conference on December 18th rather than on December 9th," the White House said in a statement. "There are still outstanding issues that must be negotiated for an agreement to be reached, but this decision reflects the President's commitment to doing all that he can to pursue a positive outcome."

The United States will have representation in Copenhagen throughout the negotiating process by State Department negotiators and Cabinet officials, the White House said. The officials will highlight ways the U.S. has moved toward a clean energy economy. The House of Representatives passed a climate bill in the summer, but the legislation has stalled in the Senate.

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Updated at 3:45 p.m. ET.

When President Obama told attendees at his economic town hall today that he only had time to take three questions, he probably did not expect the first question to be about legalizing drugs and prostitution.

He ultimately responded to four questions from the crowd at Lehigh Carbon Community College in Schnecksville, Penn. but took his time to steer the initial inquiry from a discussion about drugs to the future of the U.S. economy, emphasizing that manufacturing will play a less significant role in the nation. The town hall was part of Mr. Obama's tour of cities around the country in which he will discuss the economy.

"I appreciate the boldness of your question," Mr. Obama said to laughter after a young man asked him if he would consider legalizing drugs, prostitution, gambling or nonviolent crimes. "That will not be my job strategy."

"First of all, part of what you're supposed to do in college is question conventional wisdom," the president continued. "You're doing exactly what you're supposed to be doing."

CBSNews.com Special Report: Marijuana Nation

The rest of the nation, Mr. Obama went on to say, will have to rethink the shape of the nation's economy.

"Manufacturing will never be as high of a percentage [of the economy] as it was in the 1950s," he said, but the capacity for states to cash in on new sectors is "enormous."

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Former GOP Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin said on a conservative talk radio show yesterday that the question of whether President Obama was actually born in the United States is "fair game." But following up on her Facebook page, Palin points out that she has never herself questioned where Mr. Obama was born.

Since Barack Obama emerged as a candidate for president, he has been plagued by rumors that he was not born in the United States and therefore is not eligible to serve as president. The rumor has persisted among people referred to as the "birthers," even though documents clearly show there is no disputing that Mr. Obama was born in the state of Hawaii.

On her Facebook page early Friday morning, Palin said that "at no point – not during the campaign, and not during recent interviews – have I asked the president to produce his birth certificate or suggested that he was not born in the United States."

However, she maintained that "voters have every right to ask candidates for information if they so choose."

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Michaele and Tareq Salahi's intrusion into the White House state dinner was more than an affront to White House protocol, according to CBS News chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer -- it was an affront to the American people, for which they must be punished.

"I think the government ought to prosecute these people," Schieffer said today on the CBS Early Show. "If that means sending them to jail, so be it."

The Salahis managed to attend portions of the White House's first state dinner last month, even though they had not been invited. The Northern Virginia couple's entry into the party was the subject of scrutiny at a congressional hearing yesterday. They were asked to testify before Congress but refused. The Secret Service took full responsibility for the security breach and has placed three officers in leave in wake of the incident.

"This is not only a security issue," Schieffer said. "People being able to get into the White House and get up close to the president -- and who knows where that kind of thing goes, but this is also sort of an insult to the American people."

The Salahis were filmed by the television network Bravo in their preparations for the White House dinner, apparently for the upcoming television show "The Real Housewives of D.C." A state dinner, however, is more serious than a fancy party for socialites, Schieffer said on the Early Show.

"State dinners are part of the symbols of our democracy, like the White House itself, like the pledge of allegiance and the national anthem," he said. "And when people are making fun of those things, when they're doing what these people did, that's an insult to all of us. And if these people go to jail, that will be just fine with me."

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The Secret Service has admitted making a mistake in letting Tareq and Michaele Salahi into last month's White House state dinner without an invitation, but President Obama is still 100 percent confident in his security.

"I could not have more confidence in the Secret Service," Mr. Obama told USA Today and the Detroit Free Press in a joint interview. "They do an outstanding job. They have been with me since I was a candidate. I trust them 100 percent, not just with me but with my wife and my children."

Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan told Congress today that the Secret Service took responsibility for the security breach and that three officers involved in the incident are currently suspended. He also said, however, that recent claims about higher threat levels against the president have been inaccurate and Mr. Obama was not at risk the night of the state dinner.

Mr. Obama acknowledged in the interview that "the system didn't work the way it was supposed to."

The White House has resisted sending White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers to testify before Congress about the incident, citing the separation of powers.

The director of the Secret Service today disputed widely-reported claims that President Obama is receiving more death threats than previous presidents.

At a congressional hearing into the White House security breach that took place last week, when Tareq and Michaele Salahi "crashed" the White House state dinner, Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan said the current threat level against the president is normal.

"The threats right now ... is the same level as it has been for the previous two presidents at this point in their administrations," Sullivan said.

Sullivan was the only requested witness who agreed to testify today before the House Homeland Security Committee, and he said the Secret Service takes responsibility for allowing the Salahis to enter the state dinner uninvited. Three Secret Service officers are currently under suspension because of the incident, he said.

Since news of the security breach broke, members of Congress have commented that the incident was particularly troubling in light of the number of threats against the first African-American president.

"It is well known, it's been in the press over and over again, that this president has received far more death threats than any president in the history of the United States," Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the congressional delegate for the District of Columbia, said at today's hearing.

The Boston Globe reported in October that "unprecedented" threats against the president, among other things, have put a strain on the Secret Service's resources.

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