The Whole Delivery

I guess all of that guidance from the insurance companies have not only made almost everyone outside of Washington angry at him. It has also caused an apparent force between the most liberal colleagues of his own party. And the tension is growing . The Senate Finance Committee vote won't happen today. It has been pushed back until later this week or even next week, ostensibly so the CBO can come up with a final score. But it may have more to do with the fact that they don't have the votes. And now it looks like Ron Wyden might be in that column too . Since Baucus can only lose one Democrat and still get something through a committee with 13 Democrats and 10 Republicans, he has to bring one of them back on the reservation. I got a tip last week shortly after Wyden's midnight outburst, when he was told that the CBO messed up and didn't score his amendment and therefore there would be no vote. I called around and was able to substantiate most (but not all) of it with ...

After being insurance lobbyist losers on the last amendment, Carper and Nelson come from this bill. But as expected, health lobbyist whores win again. And people wonder why some just don't give a darn about politics and show unwavering apathy, huh?

So, which Democratic Senators will show that they care for the lobbyist and their selfish ways more than being Democratic? Welll, we shall see. Live coverage of the markup today is here , here (a wonderful preview from Jon Walker), and maybe here . Oh, and here too . And, at the time of this post, Jay Rockefeller is again, expressing how important the public option, quoting Wendell Potter, "Without the public option, it will basically be the 'Insurance Industry Profit and Protection Act.'" Stay tuned.

And probably , the year Just before the Senate Finance Committee wrapped up for the long weekend, members debated one of Sen. Jon Kyl's (R-AZ) amendments, which would strike language defining which benefits employers are required to cover. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) argued that insurers must be required to cover basic maternity care. (In several states there are no such requirements.) "I don't need maternity care," Kyl said. "So requiring that on my insurance policy is something that I don't need and will make the policy more expensive." Stabenow interrupted: "I think your mom probably did." More important though is what happened to the amendment.......it thankfully failed The amendment was defeated, nine to 14. For a hissy fitter like Kyl , he sure would have looked even dumber providing us with another hissy fit after getting slapped down like he did there.

Photo From Ricky Carioti of the Washington Post We shall see who will follow in the lines on the snake Conrad and vote against a public option. And we shall see what arises out of Schumer and Rockefeller's shrewd play . Get your C-Span'in DVR game on (if you can't watch it live). And no, I'm not kidding. Update : The vote on the public option is pushed back to Tuesday for the Senate Finance Committee.