Cleaning the Inbox on Fridays

Pretty interesting polling numbers for Sen. Blanche Lincoln and John McCain. Throw in the trouble brewing in SC for Lindsay Graham, and that poll after poll, and Tim Geinther's pounding on The Hill, shows people think government is helping Wall Street and big corporations and not them, and you have wonder when the Democratic unity damn breaks wide open and everyone runs for cover. 

The Four Holdouts -- Lieberman, Lincoln, Mary Landreiu and Ben Nelson. The most compelling Saturday night drama since ... the Golden Girls. Actually, Ben Nelson is out. He's actually in. He'll vote to allow debate to proceed. And since it's been revealed that Landreiu wants Harry Reid to raise money for her next month, let's presume she's a "yes" vote. And Lieberman ... is Lieberman. 

A victory for Ron Wyden: a version of his "Free Choice" amendment will appear in the Senate health care bill. Under the legislation now, Americans "with employer-provided coverage, whose income is below 400 percent of the federal poverty level and whose premiums are between 8 and 9.8 percent of their total income will be exempt from having to purchase health coverage but will not be able to access the exchange to qualify for government assistance to purchase insurance. " Wyden's amendment means that these folks can use their employer health subsidies -- currently tax free -- to buy an insurance plan in the exchange.

This:  well -- it's been a month of sausage making, and as we learned in July, when the sausage is in the oven, Obama can't escape the taint of partisanship that Americans seem to be rebelling against.

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2009/11/cleaning-the-inbox-on-fridays/30595/