Obama honors fallen at Ft. Hood

President Barack Obama paid homage to the 13 soldiers who died at Ft. Hood, Texas, after an attack by a fellow soldier.

House passes health bill, on to Senate

With the passage of the House version of the health care reform bill passing last night, the issue now moves to the Senate, which must pass its own version.

Since it is expected that the Republicans will try to filibuster the senate bill, there are two ways that the Democrats can beat a filibuster.

The most common method would be a vote for cloture to stop debate on the legislation, which requires 60 votes. There are 58 Republicans and two Independents, but one of the latter, Joe Lieberman, has said that he will support a filibuster. Not known whether any Republicans will break ranks. Olympia Snowe from Maine is probably the best bet although she has said she doesn't support an opt-out public option. The other senator from Maine, Susan Collins, is another possible crossover Republican. She's known to be quite moderate and pragmatic.

If the Democrats do not have enough votes for cloture, there is parliamentary procedure that can allow them to force a vote with a simple majority of the 100 senators, i.e., 51 votes. A move of this type was used to pass the Civil Rights Act.

If a senate bill should pass, the two houses of Congress will then work to reconcile the two versions and a final vote will be taken.

Were the Tuesday elections a sign of things to come?

Did last night's election indicate problems for Obama and the Democrats ahead in 2010?

That's what one reads quite a bit about in the press today. However, we should note that the exit polls did not actually link Obama to the failed gubernatorial campaigns of Democratic candidates in New Jersey and Virginia.

Indeed, the exit polls showed that Obama still has a favorable rating among those who voted on Tuesday.

I'm not trying to downplay the difficulties for Democrats that the elections may have been demonstrated by the Democratic losses.

The polls right now just are not indicating any apocalypse for Democrats in 2010, at least not at the congressional level. In fact, the current polls even indicate that the Democrats could increase their majority in the Senate. And there is nothing in the House polls to suggest with any confidence that the Democrats are looking at a net loss there either.

And the Democrats did have some good news on Tuesday. They gained a House seat in upstate New York due to some bloody infighting between conservative and moderate factions in the Republican Party. This split was probably more important than the actual victory, although the winner Bill Owens will be able to help Obama with his agenda for at least a year. John Garamendi also easily won the other House race in California.

While much analysis still has to be done, I think that probably traditional Democratic laziness and low turnout may have sunk Corzine in New Jersey, while in Virginia, the Republican seemed to simply be a superior opponent in state that can easily swing either way.

Still yesterday should be a wakeup call for Democrats. In order to move voters the way they did during the Obama campaign, they need to reproduce the same energy and work. They cannot expect that everything is going to go their way with the Republicans in some kind of permanent retreat mode.

Election seen as test for Obama

Tuesday's elections are seen as sort of a test for the Obama administration and the Democrats in general. Such an expectation on the small number of races may not be totally valid, but we will probably see things spun in this direction.

President Barack Obama is taking no chances and he has appeared on behalf of New Jersey governor Jon Corzine who is facing a tough Republican opponent. In New York, things turned positively for the Democrats when the Republican nominee Dede Scozzafava dropped out of a special House seat race and endorsed her Democratic opponent Bill Owens.

House unveils health reform bill

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the new House health care reform bill today. The plan includes a "government option," which is a new name for what has been called the public option.

The plan may cost more than $1 trillion over the next decade but it is actually expected to reduce the overall budget deficit, even more so in the decade after that.

Pelosi said the insurance plan "covers 96 percent of all Americans, and it puts affordable coverage in reach for millions of uninsured and underinsured families, lowering health care costs for all of us."

Sen. Reid announces Senate bill including public option

Sen. Harry Reid announced today that the Senate health care reform bill will include an "opt out" public option.

According to this proposal, states will have one year after the health bill is fully implemented in 2013 to opt out of the public option part of the reform package.

Reid said the bill was to be sent to the Congressional Budget Office later in the day on Monday. After the cost analysis of the bill, a vote will take place. The Republicans could attempt a filibuster, but Democrat Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. said that his party is very close to having the 60 votes needed to overturn such a move. Last Thursday, Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) said that the Democrats have enough votes to block a filibuster, a move known as cloture.