Ben Nelson

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Ben Nelson Deal May Give Reid 60 Votes

Bargaining session said to have yielded agreement on abortion

(Newser) - Senate Dems appear within reach of the 60 votes needed to pass their health care bill after a final burst of deadline bargaining with holdout Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska. Emerging from marathon talks with Harry Reid and White House officials late last night, Nelson said "real progress" had...

Senate Bickers as Storm Bears Down on DC
 Senate Bickers as Storm 
 Bears Down on DC 
Tick ... tICK ... tICK ...
Dec 18, 2009 4:49 PM CST

Senate Bickers as Storm Bears Down on DC

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...

If Harry Reid Could Only Find His Inner Pelosi
If Harry Reid Could Only
Find His Inner Pelosi
eugene robinson
Dec 18, 2009 9:35 AM CST

If Harry Reid Could Only Find His Inner Pelosi

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...

Nelson Rejects Abortion Deal
 Nelson Rejects Abortion Deal 
Dec 17, 2009 4:54 PM CST

Nelson Rejects Abortion Deal

Democratic holdout says language 'isn't sufficient'

(Newser) - Ben Nelson says compromise language offered to prevent federal money from covering abortions "isn't sufficient" in the current Senate bill. The Nebraska Democrat is one of the holdouts Harry Reid must win over to get 60 votes, but Nelson told a radio station today that he's still not on...

Reid Won't Get Health Care Vote for Christmas

Unless Ben Nelson and Republicans stop playing Scrooge

(Newser) - All Harry Reid wants for Christmas is a health care reform vote, but he’s more likely to end up with coal. Republicans are pulling out every procedural trick in the book to make sure Democrats miss their self-imposed deadline—yesterday, they forced the Senate clerk to read a 767-page...

Joe Lieberman Wants Liberals to Suffer
Joe Lieberman Wants
Liberals to Suffer
Nate Silver
Dec 14, 2009 1:19 PM CST

Joe Lieberman Wants Liberals to Suffer

Nelson and Lieberman reject 'Br'er Rabbit compromise'

(Newser) - Joe Lieberman rejected the Democrats’ Medicare buy-in compromise mostly because “his objective really is to make liberals suffer,” writes Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com. Lieberman knew that though they might have wailed and moaned, liberals would have been happy with the Medicare expansion. “It was a br’...

Joe Lieberman Nixes Medicare Buy-In Plan

Gives Reid new a new obstacle on path to passing health bill

(Newser) - Joe Lieberman will stand in the way of the Senate health reform bill if it includes the Medicare buy-in provision for people over 55, he told Harry Reid yesterday. Lieberman delivered the bad news face-to-face after he and fellow centrist Ben Nelson went on Face the Nation to bash the...

Health Bill Snags on Opposition to Medicare Buy-In

Snowe, Lieberman, Nelson skeptical

(Newser) - Three senators uneasy about the proposed Medicare expansion in the health care bill could derail Harry Reid's hopes of getting the bill wrapped up before Christmas. Olympia Snowe, Ben Nelson, and Joe Lieberman—a Republican, a Democrat, and an independent—have expressed varying degrees of misgivings about the proposal and...

Senate Rejects Nelson's Abortion Amendment

He wanted tougher language, has vowed to vote against overall bill

(Newser) - The Senate today rejected an effort to stiffen abortion restrictions in the health care bill. The move could ultimately complicate Harry Reid's ability to get 60 votes for the overall bill. Democrat Ben Nelson and Republican Orrin Hatch wanted to ban any insurance plan that gets taxpayer dollars from offering...

Senate Abortion Amendment Set to Fail

But Ben Nelson says he won't vote for final bill if it does

(Newser) - Ben Nelson’s strict anti-abortion amendment appears set to fail, despite the support of nearly all 40 Senate Republicans. The amendment, which mirrors the language of Bart Stupak’s House amendment, banning insurance companies that offer abortion from receiving government funds, would need 60 votes to pass, and there’s...

Senators to Watch in the Health Care Debate

Reid, Snowe, Lieberman, Burris, and more to star

(Newser) - The Senate’s health care debate heads to the floor this week, in a show that figures to star a cadre of colorful and influential characters. USA Today breaks down the senators to watch:
  • Harry Reid: The man in the middle of it all, Reid will have to keep his
...

McConnell: Dems Proceed at 2010 Peril
 McConnell: 
 Dems Proceed 
 at 2010 Peril 
TALK SHOW ROUNDUP
Nov 22, 2009 11:15 AM CST

McConnell: Dems Proceed at 2010 Peril

Senators hit the Sunday talk shows after health vote

(Newser) - The morning after Harry Reid scored his 60 votes, many a senator headed for the talk shows to expound on their views of the Senate health bill. A look around the Sunday dial:
  • There were 39 people unhappy with last night's outcome, and Mitch McConnell leads them, telling State of
...

All Eyes on Blanche Lincoln in Cliffhanger Senate Vote
All Eyes on Blanche Lincoln in Cliffhanger Senate Vote
showtime: 8pm
Nov 21, 2009 7:24 AM CST

All Eyes on Blanche Lincoln in Cliffhanger Senate Vote

Mary Landrieu and Ben Nelson expected to back health reform in first vote

(Newser) - Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln is in the hot seat tonight, as the last Democratic holdout to the 60 votes Harry Reid needs in balloting tonight to bring the health care bill to the Senate floor for debate. Nebraskan Ben Nelson said yesterday he would vote yes, and Louisiana's Mary Landrieu...

Most Red State Dems Can Vote for Health Care
Most Red State Dems Can Vote for Health Care
Nate Silver
Nov 20, 2009 9:27 AM CST

Most Red State Dems Can Vote for Health Care

Only Blanche Lincoln faces 2010 fight, and she'll be a tough sell

(Newser) - The main reason Senate Democrats have a prayer of passing health care reform is that not many of them are up for reelection next year, says Nate Silver. Only a third of the Senate is up for re-election in 2010, and most of the Democrats in that group come from...

Three Dems Threaten to Block Health Debate

Reid & Co. scramble to appease Lincoln, Nelson and Landrieu

(Newser) - Three Senate Democrats are threatening to prevent the health care reform bill from even making it to the floor of the chamber. Normally it’s a routine procedure to get the 60 votes necessary to open debate on a bill, but Ben Nelson, Blanche Lincoln, and Mary Landrieu are balking...

Reid 'Optimistic' About 60 Votes

Majority leader thinks he's got the support to send bill to the floor

(Newser) - Harry Reid is “cautiously optimistic” about the success of his frantic attempts to unite the 60 votes of his caucus behind the Senate health care reform bill. “I think we’re together,” he says. But the majority leader was positively voluble about the bill itself, notes the...

Call Lieberman's Bluff&mdash;Make Him Filibuster
Call Lieberman's Bluff—Make Him Filibuster
opinion
Nov 13, 2009 2:29 PM CST

Call Lieberman's Bluff—Make Him Filibuster

Senate rules make delay tactic too easy for fence-sitters

(Newser) - The filibuster is supposed to be a last resort. It allows the Senate minority, when it's willing to engage in endless debate—at the cost of holding up the chamber’s other business—to challenge legislation. But today, senators need only signal their intention to filibuster to stall a bill,...

Health Reform Faces Tougher Battle in Senate

A very different health bill enters a sharply divided Senate

(Newser) - "That was easy," Nancy Pelosi quipped after health care reform squeaked through the House; viewed from the other side of the Capitol, this is no joke. As the action shifts to the Senate, Harry Reid has a tough hand to play. The GOP minority wields more power in...

Reid's 6 Biggest Headaches
 Reid's 6 Biggest Headaches 
PUBLIC OPTION SHOWDOWN
Oct 28, 2009 8:14 AM CDT

Reid's 6 Biggest Headaches

Ben Nelson, Joe Lieberman are two of them

(Newser) - To get the 60 votes he needs just to bring his health care bill to the floor of the Senate, Harry Reid is going to have to rein in some of his caucus' members. Politico surveys the majority leader's biggest challenges.
  • Joe Lieberman, Conn. The independent said yesterday he'll join
...

Reid Goes for Broke With Public Option Bill

Senate majority leader banks on 60 votes, infuriates Baucus

(Newser) - Harry Reid is preparing to bring a health reform bill that includes a public option to the floor of the Senate, gambling that his 60-member caucus will support the plan if it contains opt-out measures for individual states. The majority leader and other senators met with Barack Obama yesterday to...

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