Bishops to Congress: Get Health Reform Done

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 are being denied access to abortion while anti-abortion members remain concerned that the government will be subsidizing insurance that covers the procedure.

Americans aren't undecided, and the public option was DOA: Cillizza

(NEWSER) - With health care reform seemingly headed for passage now that Bart Stupak's on board, Chris Cillizza looks back at the debate and finds five persistent arguments with little or no grounding in reality.

• Scott Brown was a game-changer: "Yes and no," Cillizza writes for the Washington Post . Lacking a supermajority, the Democrats have had to tread carefully, "but the meat of the bill—an attempt at broad reform—never really changed"

He and his wife have disconnected their home phone

(NEWSER) - Bart Stupak says his unwanted role as a stumbling block to health care reform has been a "living hell." The Michigan Democrat, who insists on tougher anti-abortion language, says the phones are jammed at his office and his home. “All the phones are unplugged at our house—tired of the obscene calls and threats," he tells the Hill in an interview, adding that his wife won't watch TV. More»

Mass. already has even-more-liberal health plan—why aid others?

(NEWSER) - Mitt Romney didn’t help Scott Brown win by campaigning for him, Timothy Noah writes, but by giving Massachusetts universal health care four years ago. Sure, the senator-elect and the former governor railed against Obamacare as a “one size fits all” health reform plan, but they were being disingenuous. The real issue, which Brown campaigned on, is that the state already has an even-more-liberal plan, which voters like, so why should they support a national version? More»

Dems' options if Brown wins not looking good

(NEWSER) - With polls showing the majority of Americans opposed to the Democrats' health care reform bill, a victory for Scott Brown in Massachusetts today could sound the death of the party's yearlong effort at health reform. If Dems try to proceed with the reforms in the wake of a Brown victory, the GOP will have a strong case that a liberal minority is ignoring the will of voters to push its own agenda, the Washington Post reports. More»