We’ve put a team of our reporters on trying to figure out who is standing where in the Democratic caucus on the Health Care bill. But we need your help. If you’ve spoken to your member of Congress and got an answer on where they stand, send us an email with the details. More to follow.

From what we can tell there are a few broad categories.

Ready to vote for the senate bill.

Ready to vote for the Senate bill with separating amending bill.

Pass a bunch of small bills.

Start over.

Won’t give a straight answer.

Sen. Schumer says health care can’t be rushed but that time is running out.

If you get a straight word from your member of Congress about whether they’re ready to vote for the Senate bill (with or without a separate amending piece of legislation) definitely let us know. We’re very interested to hear who wants to let the bill go down.

So far, Rep. Neal seems dead set against. But certainly there are many others because I don’t doubt Speaker Pelosi when she says the votes aren’t there. (Rep. Neal’s office seems to be more noncommittal now — basically saying House Dems are considering their options.)

(From the initial emails we’re getting from readers, it’s not so much a matter of trying to find who won’t vote for the bill as any members of House who will give constituents a straight answer about where they stand.) Read More

The company which inscribes Bible citations on the rifle scopes it sells to the U.S. military has announced its discontinuing the practice.

We’ve gotten — to put it mildly — a lot of emails over the last couple hours — from angry voters and members of Congress defending their actions. The folks on the Hill insist it’s not really over, that Speaker Pelosi might still be able to manage a senate bill with amending bill deal. (As I said in my original post, read and watch her whole statement and interpret for yourself.) I too think that’s possible, though now probably only with some big outside intervention.

The key though is time. That’s the disagreement. The folks on the Hill seem to think that time is on their side, or at least that they can play for time, that emotions will cool, that new possibilities will emerge (most likely a Senate Bill plus amending bill deal). I think they’re wrong. (If I thought the House leaders were playing hardball with the House and White House, I’d be less pessimistic. But I don’t think that’s what’s happening.) Time is not on their side. I think the everyone moment that goes by, demoralization and panic sinks in further, and action becomes less likely.

I don’t think they get that because I think they’re still in shock.

No, we didn’t photoshop the TPM logo into the picture. It’s a poster of a Dean Baker column at TPMCafe that Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) displayed on the Senate floor about an hour ago:

TPM Reader JB checks in again …

“And the key reason is because it gets harder every day. And if they can’t do it today, why does anyone imagine they’ll be able to tomorrow.”

The only way it happens is if the democratic base becomes so loud as to drown out the tea party and become impossible to ignore. Yesterday was the first time I have ever gotten through to a Congressman. I think 1000 phone calls to each democratic Congressman may begin to make it impossible to ignore. Someone has to organize this effort. Provide the direction and the outlet. Any suggestions?

Let me take a moment and explain where I think we are on the Health Care Reform front.

As I’ve argued, procedurally, with the senate Dems reduced to 59 votes, there’s no way to get a better or revised bill through the senate. (Frankly, it’s not clear to me that there are still 59 votes.) That means the only realistic path to getting a reform bill is for the House to pass the Senate bill or pass the Senate bill as part of a global agreement in which the House passes the senate bill in exchange for another bill — which would focus on budgetary impact and thus be viable through reconciliation — which would make some of the key revisions the House demands.

There are various arguments about waiting to see if things get easier in the spring or summer. Or perhaps cutting the bill up into individual bills and passing them in the succession over the course of the year. But as I’ve argued — rightly or wrongly — those options seem nonsensical in political terms.

So is that it? Read More

Jon Stewart: “Scott Brown is now apparently the 45th president of these United States Of America! Wooo! Yeah baby! Welcome. It has been a long, incredibly grueling couple of days since we first heard of this man. And now he’s in charge of everything.”

Watch.

From Bay State TPM Reader JM …

I live in Northampton, MA. I just spoke to a legislative aide in the office of Richard Neal, my representative, and asked how he would vote if the only alternatives were the Senate bill or no health care legislation. She told me he would vote against the Senate bill, because of concerns it would reduce payments to Massachusetts hospitals. I asked in disbelief if that was sufficient reason to leave 30 million people uninsured, and she said “Well, hopefully it won’t come to that.”