McConnell: Dems Proceed at 2010 Peril

Plus, the no-fly zone and more from the Sunday talk shows

(NEWSER) - As Japan struggles to avoid a nuclear meltdown following its massive earthquake and tsunami, Sen. Joe Lieberman thinks it might be time to stop permitting new nuclear power plants in the US, Politico reports. "I think we've got to kind of quietly—quickly put the brakes on until we can absorb what has happened in Japan … and then see what more, if anything, we can demand of the new power plants that are coming on line," he said on Face the Nation. Elsewhere on the Sunday dial:

• Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, however, begs to differ : "I don’t think right after a major environmental catastrophe is a very good time to be making American domestic policy," said McConnell, long a supporter of nuclear power, on Fox News Sunday.

Lindsey Graham stands with Obama on Gitmo, disses reconciliation

(NEWSER) - Kathleen Sebelius wouldn't say when or how, but she had a singular message today on Meet the Press: "I think we'll have the votes for comprehensive health reform." Politico reports that the secretary of Health and Human Services said that despite opinion polls to the contrary, "The American people are desperate for something to happen." More»

(NEWSER) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stormed the talk shows today, beating the drum on health care reform on taped interviews on This Week and State of the Union. "The bill can be bipartisan," she said, without a single GOP vote, because current legislation is closely aligned to what Republicans were proposing last year. The GOP, by the way, has "had a field day misrepresenting what's in the bill," she says. Democrats need to get behind the politically tough bill—and won't suffer come November: "I'm not yielding one grain of sand, we're fighting for every seat." Elsewhere on Politico's coverage of the Sunday dial: More»

Republicans vow to stall; Reid targets Christmas Eve health care vote

(NEWSER) - Even as Harry Reid plans for a Christmas Eve vote on the Senate health care bill, Republicans are vowing to stall, and a massive winter storm is roaring northeast from the Gulf of Mexico with Washington directly in its path. " It is our intention not to pass this bill easily," minority leader Mitch McConnell tells Reuters . "I think we made it pretty clear ." More»

Some of the players in the health care game have stumbled badly

(NEWSER) - As the health care bill stumbles towards the finish line, it's painfully obvious that some lawmakers just play the game much better than others, writes Eugene Robinson. Nancy Pelosi's a master, having delivered a House bill with nearly everything the president wanted despite the Republicans and Blue Dogs. and Joe Lieberman's so adept that he seems to be able to make demands just for the sake of it, Robinson writes in the Washington Post. More»