Republican attorneys general in 13 states say congressional leaders must remove Nebraska’s political deal from the federal health care reform bill or face legal action, according to a letter provided to The Associated Press on Wednesday (December 30). At the same time, Senator Ben Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska, took to the airwaves in his home state, trying to defend his role as the decisive 60th vote in favor of broad health care legislation.

“We believe this provision is constitutionally flawed,” South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster and the 12 other attorneys general wrote in the letter to be sent Wednesday night to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. “As chief legal officers of our states we are contemplating a legal challenge to this provision and we ask you to take action to render this challenge unnecessary by striking that provision,” they wrote.

Read more »

After many time-consuming disputes and deliberations along the month, Senate Democrats gathered collectively on Saturday (December 19) and came up with a powerful boost for President Obama’s top domestic policy goal. The breakthrough came after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and his lieutenants engineered a delicately crafted compromise to prevent federal funding of abortions, the same issue that nearly stopped the House from passing its healthcare bill six weeks ago.

Watch the video here: