The New Republic

Brian Beutler of Talking Points Memo has some good scene reporting from the vote early Monday morning: Vicki Kennedy, widow of Ted, embracing members after the vote; Charles Schumer joking that Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Mormon, was heading off for a stiff drink. He's also got some hints about what's coming next: READ MORE >>

WASHINGTON--For progressives, the question on the health care battle going forward is not whether they have a right to be angry but whether they can direct their fury toward constructive ends. The alternative is to pursue a temporarily satisfying and ultimately self-defeating politics of protest. READ MORE >>

Jacob S. Hacker is the Stanley B. Resor Professor of Political Science at Yale University. An expert on the politics of U.S. health and social policy, he is author, coauthor, or editor of numerous books and articles, both scholarly and popular, including The Great Risk Shift: The New Economic Insecurity and the Decline of the American Dream (2006; paperback, January 2008) and Health At Risk: America’s Ailing Health System and How to Heal It (2008). READ MORE >>

In a local radio interview this morning, Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson indicated that he remains a "no" for now. He's not satisfied with the compromise on abortion that Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey proposed. He's not happy about the burden the Medicaid expansion places on states. He's not content with the level of cost control. He could be posturing, of course, but this is entirely consistent with what he's been saying all along. READ MORE >>

The latest intra-progressive dustup over health care reform displays a couple of pretty important potential fault lines within the American center-left. One has to do with political strategy, and the role of the Democratic Party and the presidency in promoting progressive policy goals and social movements. Like others engaging in the traditional year-end essays, I'll be writing about that subject extensively in the coming days. READ MORE >>

Washington Post media reporter Howard Kurtz defends Joe Lieberman against the crazed liberal hord: In leveraging his position as the Dems' potential 60th vote on health care, Lieberman is doing nothing different than Ben Nelson or Olympia Snowe -- the Senate's perpetually gridlocked system gives any member the power to blow up any contested measure. But the anger surrounding the independent iconoclast is truly stunning. READ MORE >>

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Via Politico, here's what Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson said as he left a White House meeting with the rest of the Democratic caucus a little while ago: I’m not on the bill. I have spoken with the president and he knows they are not wrapped up today. I think everybody understands they are not wrapped up today and that impression will not be given. READ MORE >>

Charles Lane was my boss for two years and has been my friend ever since. Ezra Klein is also my friend, not to mention a writer whose work I follow closely. I admire and have learned from both, so it is with some trepidation I weigh into a debate they had in the online pages of the Washington Post over the last few days. READ MORE >>

The public option is dead this morning. And this time, it isn't coming back to life. The Senate isn't going to include any version of the idea in its bill. And while the House can still demand a public option in conference, nobody I know expects the House to prevail. READ MORE >>