All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

Senate Democrats managed to pull together a 60-vote majority Saturday evening to pass a key vote keeping health care reform legislation on track, despite efforts by Republicans (and a few contentious Democrats) to stall or kill the bill.

There are many issues in the 2,000+ page legislation being debated in the Senate, from insurer abuse, preconditions and spiraling health costs to abortion funding and Medicare taxes. But the most contentious issue popping up continues to be the so-called "public option" — government-backed health care coverage — similar to Medicare but available to anyone who cannot obtain or afford coverage from private insurance companies.

"You have people on one side saying 'I won't vote for a final bill if it's in it,' and you have other people saying, 'I won't vote for a final bill if it's not in it,'" said CBS News political analyst John Dickerson, "and so as Harry Reid and the president try to mollify one group, they end up making the other group angry."

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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada secured the 60 votes needed to move forward with the historic debate on President Obama’s overhaul of health care today.

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With the first critical vote for the Senate health care bill slated for Saturday night, both advocates and opponents of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's bill are putting pressure on the few key Democratic senators who may or may not hold up the measure.

On Saturday at 8 p.m., the Senate will vote on whether or not to even begin debate on the measure. Reid needs at least 60 senators to vote in favor of debate, and Republicans plan on uniformly voting against moving forward. A handful of conservative Democrats have expressed reservations about supporting the bill, for various reasons, and two have not yet disclosed whether they will vote in favor of moving the debate forward on Saturday: Sens. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) and Mary Landrieu (D-La.).

However, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), another conservative Democrat whose vote was in play, announced today he would vote in favor of beginning debate. He maintained, though, that he will vote with Republicans to filibuster the bill after debating it, if it is not altered to his liking.

"The Senate should start trying to fix a health care system that costs too much and delivers too little for Nebraskans," Nelson said in a statement. Saturday's vote, he said, "is only to begin debate and an opportunity to make improvements. If you don't like a bill why block your own opportunity to amend it?"

Nelson and his fellow centrist Democrats have been feeling the heat from all sides. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) e-mailed his supporters this morning, Politico reports, urging them to call Nelson's office and ask him to vote against the health care debate tomorrow. Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee sent out an e-mail with the subject "Your Call Can Make the Difference," also urging people to call Nelson and Lincoln and ask them to vote against Saturday's motion.

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A few notes on the spotlighted players in the Senate's health care vote, in the context of the 2010 elections and their electorates back home. As Majority Leader, Harry Reid (at left) is at center stage and is up in Nevada next year. The focus is also on some Democrats with doubts, notably Louisiana's Mary Landrieu and Nebraska's Ben Nelson, who aren't up but do represent very red states, and Arkansas' Blanche Lincoln, who is, and could face a tough test in 2010.

Nelson Will Vote to Begin Health Debate; What Will Landrieu, Lincoln Do?
Key Provisions of the Senate Health Care Bill
Washington Unplugged: Reid Seeks Momentum in Health Debate
CBSNews.com Special Report: Health Care

Lincoln (at left) not only represents a red state, but one that got even more Republican in 2008 from 2004 (one of the few that did). She needs to be mindful of those Republican voters: one in five of her backers in 2004 had also backed then-President Bush's reelection. To win that race, Lincoln outraised and outspent her opponent by six million dollars, but her Republican challenger still got 44 percent So Lincoln doesn't appear to have a lot of electoral margin for error with Arkansas voters.

On one hand, the state has an uninsured rate higher than the national average. But Lincoln (at left) will also need to make older voters happy, which so far has looked like a daunting task with this bill, at least nationwide.

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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Thursday that the Senate will take its first procedural vote on his health care bill at 8 p.m. on Saturday, CBS News Capitol Hill Producer John Nolen reports.

Once the ball is rolling on health care, however, Republicans plan to pull out all the stops against it. They could use procedural tactics to draw out the debate, such as requesting the entire 2,000-plus page document be read aloud.

"It's going to be a holy war," Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) told the Los Angeles Times.

Even just beginning the debate could be difficult, however. Reid needs all 60 Democrats to pass the first procedural vote to begin debate. After the procedural vote, the Senate will hold a voice vote to actually start debating. The Senate will adjourn for Thanksgiving, though, and come back on Nov. 30 to begin debate in earnest.

After what could be weeks of debate, Reid will once again need to hold his caucus together to pass another procedural vote -- this time to overcome a Republican filibuster to allow for a vote of the actual bill. This vote should be the most challenging. Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson (Neb.) said today he would join the Republican filibuster if he determines he does not approve of certain aspects of the bill, reports Roll Call.

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This post was written by CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes and CBS News producer John Nolen

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid unveiled his health care proposal "The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" on Wednesday night.

The Congressional Budget Office says the bill would cost $848 billion dollars over 10 years, reduce the deficit by $130 billion and would extend coverage to 94 percent of eligible Americans, reducing the number of uninsured individuals by 31 million leaving about 24 million people uninsured.

Here's a look at some of the key provisions of the bill:

• Effective Date 2014

• Requires most individuals to purchase coverage through their employer, privately or through a public plan. Includes exemptions for economic hardships. Fines for individuals not complying would start at $95 in 2014 phased-in over time up to $750.

• Creates a new public federal health insurance plan, the so-called "public option" which would compete with private insurers. States would have the choice of opting out by passing a state law.

• Establishes Health Insurance Exchanges, a marketplace where individuals, small businesses and others could purchase health care coverage.

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Politics Today is CBSNews.com's inside look at the key stories driving the day in politics, written by CBS News Political Director Steve Chaggaris:

** McCain stays out of the Palin discussion...

** Reid’s job on health care gets harder...

** President Obama addresses a tightly controlled crowd in China...

SARAH PALIN: "Former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin said a White House bid in 2012 is 'not on my radar screen' as she began a public relations blitz keyed to the release of her new memoir," reports USA Today's Catalina Camia.

"'You don't need a title to make a difference,' she said in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that aired Monday.

"The former Alaska governor's autobiography, Going Rogue, hits bookstore shelves today. It is already atop online retailer Amazon.com's best-seller list because of advance orders.

"In an interview with ABC's Barbara Walters that begins airing today, Palin left open the door on her political plans. Asked whether she'll play a major role, she said, 'If people will have me, I will.' Palin also discussed media opportunities. 'There have been lots and lots of offers,' she said, including a reality show, which 'I would not ever want to put my kids through.'"

Palin weighed in on her Facebook page following her interview with Walters writing, "Had a great conversation today with Barbara Walters regarding America’s special needs community. Her compassion for those who some in our society see as ‘less than perfect’ comes from personal experience as she was so close to her sister. Barbara wrote lovingly about her sister in her #1 bestselling memoir titled, Audition. Barbara and I even attempted to interview Trig during this segment, but he was about as patient through the interview as any other one-and-a-half-year-old child! I appreciate Barbara highlighting America’s special needs community."

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With unemployment now above 10 percent, Senate Democrats are planning to craft a new jobs bill next year, according to a report in The Hill.

Majority Leader Harry Reid said at the Senate Democrats' weekly lunch Tuesday that he is now exploring a job-creation initiative, Sen. Ben Cardin told the newspaper. Cardin said "our caucus will take it up."

What will be in the bill – or when it might be introduced – is not yet known. Sen. Patty Murray , D-Wash., told the Hill that no final decision about legislation has yet been made.

Reid, whose approval rating at home stands at just 32 percent, is among the vulnerable Democrats going into the 2010 midterm election season. The weak economy is working against him, as is the fact that the president's party traditionally loses Congressional seats in midterms. In Nevada, the unemployment rate is 13.5 percent.

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Asked if health care reform legislation will pass this year, Senate Majority leader Harry Reid told reporters today that "we're not going to be bound by any timelines."

"We need to do the best job we can for the American people," he said. "We want quality legislation, and we're going to do that."

President Obama had set a deadline of the end of the year to pass health care reform, and advocates fear that further delay could hamper the legislation's chance of passage.

"We're going to do this legislation as expeditiously as we can, but we're going to do it as fairly as we can, also," Reid said. He later added that the Senate Democratic Caucus wants "Democrats to do this the right way, not the fast way."

Health Care Progress Report

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Randall Terry, the anti-abortion rights activist and Operation Rescue founder, believes it's time to "start drawing from our proud American tradition of burning people in effigy."

And he's starting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Terry wants like-minded individuals to burn effigies of the two Congressional Democratic leaders on Halloween to protest health care legislation that he suggests will make Americans pay for "child killing."

"No, this is not a threat to their body," a man (not Terry) says in an introductory video, which you can see here. "But it is a threat to their soul." (Above is a shorter preview video featuring the same man.)

In the introductory video, people are told to order a large printout of Reid and Pelosi from a local office supply store, along with images of a devil, and purchase cardboard to tape or paste them to. They are also instructed to call local media to publicize the protest and check local ordinances about open flames.

A woman is then shown pouring lighter fluid onto the cutouts of Reid and Pelosi, along with the devil images, and setting them on fire.

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