US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged the Senate Thursday to support a new nuclear weapons treaty with Russia, assuring Republicans it would not undermine US missile defense plans.

“From the very beginning of the negotiations, this administration has been very clear. This treaty limits strategic offensive nuclear arms, not missile defenses,” Clinton told senators.

“We share a strong belief that the new start treaty will make our country more secure and we urge the Senate to ratify it expeditiously.”

She was among key members of President Barack Obama’s administration arguing before the Senate Armed Services Committee for ratification of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), signed with Russia on April 8.

Russia has said it reserves the right to withdraw from the treaty if Washington presses ahead with missile defense systems in eastern Europe in a way that Moscow opposes.

But Clinton said: “A unilateral statement made by Russia concerning missile defense does not limit or constrain our missile-defense efforts.

“Indeed, a US unilateral statement makes it clear that, quote, ‘our missile-defense systems are not intended to affect the strategic balance with Russia,’” she said.

The statement also says US missile-defense systems would only “be employed to defend the United States against limited missile launches and to defend its deployed forces, allies and partners against regional threats,” she added.

“The unilateral statement that we made also states that the United States intends to continue improving and deploying its missile-defense systems in order to defend itself against limited attack,” she added.

Under the new pact, each nation will be allowed a maximum of 1,550 deployed warheads, about 30 percent lower than a limit set in 2002.

They are also restricted to 700 air, ground and submarine-launched nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles.

But Republicans have cautioned they will oppose the pact if they think it will hamper US missile defense.

Treaty ratification needs 67 votes, but Democrats and their two independent allies hold only 59 seats in the 100-member Senate, meaning they will need to rally at least eight Republicans to their side.

Thanks Google.

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At Human Events, Ann Coulter has implored Sarah Palin to endorse Rob Simmons for the GOP Connecticut Primary. Simmons has not only stopped campaigning, he is also a Republican moderate:

Sarah Palin endorsed three dark-horse candidates in Republican match-ups this year, and all three won their primaries yesterday: Nikki Haley in South Carolina, Sharron Angle in Nevada and Carly Fiorina in California. No wonder Sarah’s being stalked by Joe McGinniss.
Now, she’s got to endorse Rob Simmons for U.S. Senate. Otherwise, Republicans can kiss the possibility of a major upset in Connecticut goodbye.
I wouldn’t ask, but the country is at stake. We have a mere 100 senators; only 17 Senate seats currently held by Democrats are up this year; and only about six of those could possibly go Republican, even in Newt Gingrich’s wildest fantasies.
Thanks Frum Forum.
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Florida Gov. Charlie Crist will likely bolt the Republican party and seek election to the U.S. Senate as an independent, a close confidante said Wednesday.

Crist will announce his plans at 5 p.m. Thursday in his hometown of St. Petersburg. The confidante, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement has not been made, cautioned that Crist can be unpredictable.

The announcement will end weeks of speculation about whether Crist will abandon the GOP after falling far behind former House Speaker and tea party favorite Marco Rubio in polls.

Crist has openly considered running without party affiliation. Top Republicans from former Vice President Dick Cheney to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney have encouraged him to stay in the primary or drop out rather than risking a split vote that could benefit likely Democratic nominee U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek.

Crist did not return calls for comment Wednesday, but told reporters at the Capitol that he was very close to making a decision.

Asked how he would explain running without a party when he had said he was going to run as a Republican, he replied: “I don’t know, number one, that I’m not, and number two, if I were to, I would say what I said the other day: Things change.”

Another possible sign of Crist’s intentions: His campaign website has been stripped of almost any mention of his Republican affiliation with one prominent exception, an endorsement from Sandy Yancey, a former GOP committeewoman, who says, “The Republican Party is being hijacked by ultra conservatives that have let compassion and logic fly out the window.” No mention of the GOP primary is apparent except for outdated press releases.

The most recent poll by Quinnipiac University had Rubio leading Crist by 23 points in the primary, but it suggested Crist could win a three-way race with him and Meek.

Meek could be the biggest beneficiary if Crist goes independent. Polls show him losing badly in a head-to-head race with either Rubio or Crist, but competitive in a three-way race if he can keep the Democratic base while Crist peels off some Republican votes from Rubio and picks up GOP-leaning independents.

If Crist runs as an independent, he will have a harder time raising money and will lose most of his campaign staff, who will likely be blacklisted from future Republican campaigns if they stick with him.

The state Republican Party has already warned county and state party executive committee members that they will be removed from their positions if they support an independent Crist campaign in any way. Members who have already said they will back Crist must rescind their support and ask to have their contributions refunded, although Crist does not have to give the money back.

The rift between the GOP and Crist seemed inconceivable less than 18 months ago, when he was a rising star in the party. He had a huge lead over Rubio in the polls when they entered race for the seat then-Sen. Mel Martinez left early.

Crist quickly earned endorsements from the Republican establishment in Washington, while Rubio had trouble raising money.

But then Crist made a political calculation that backfired, choosing to embrace President Barack Obama—literally—and his $787 billion federal stimulus plan at a Fort Myers rally in February 2009. At the time, Obama’s poll numbers were high, and Crist hoped the stimulus money for state government could prevent tough budget decisions for him and the Legislature.

Rubio used the image of “the hug” to his advantage. He hit rallies and events around the state criticizing the Obama agenda while Crist said little about the Senate race for months, focusing instead on raising money. Rubio’s conservative message about limited spending and relying on the free market rather than government to create jobs eventually caught on, first with tea party activists and then with mainstream Republicans.

Crist repeatedly attacked Rubio for using a GOP credit card for personal expenses and questioned budget items he sought as a lawmaker, trying to depict him as anything but the fiscal conservative he says he is. But Crist could not stop Rubio’s momentum.

Thanks Breitbart.

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President Barack Obama says there won’t be any “litmus tests” for a Supreme Court nominee, but he wants someone who recognizes individual aspirations, and “that includes women’s rights.”

The president said he was confident the Senate would offer a smooth, civil and thoughtful confirmation process for his eventual choice. Obama spoke as he began a meeting with Senate leaders at the White House.

Asked if he could nominate someone who did not support abortion rights, Obama said his stand is like that of other presidents—no litmus tests. But he said he wants someone for the court who interprets the Constitution in a way that “takes into account individual rights.”

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

WASHINGTON (AP)—Pushing forward with one of his most consequential decisions, President Barack Obama has begun informal talks with potential nominees for the Supreme Court. And now he is reaching out to the senators who will control the confirmation fight ahead.

Obama was to meet Wednesday with the top Democrat and Republican in the Senate, along with leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee, as he launches a period of political protocol that comes with each high court nomination. The White House says the point is for Obama to get advice from the senators on how to proceed and even ideas of people to consider, but his goal is also to show bipartisanship, even if the debate to follow is almost sure to have a divided tone.

At the White House, Obama will gather with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the committee.

Within a few weeks, Obama is expected to announce a nominee to replace longtime Justice John Paul Stevens, who is retiring this summer. This is Obama’s second chance in less than a year to name someone to the Supreme Court, a presidential prerogative that could put his imprint on the judicial branch for decades. Stevens announced his retirement plans on April 9, and Obama is still believed to be in the early stages of making his decision.

The nominee will be subject to Senate confirmation.

Obama has begun conversations with potential nominees, a senior administration official said Tuesday, signaling an upswing in the president’s consideration of an already coalescing list of about 10 candidates. Those discussions have not been formal interviews, the administration official emphasized, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect the privacy of Obama’s deliberations. In his search last year, Obama ultimately did four face-to-face interviews with finalists.

He ended up choosing federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor to replace Justice David Souter. Sotomayor’s confirmation was a largely partisan summertime battle, with most Republicans objecting to her and to Obama’s standards for choosing justices in general. The Senate vote was 68-31, with nine Republicans in favor.

So far, the early signs of ideological divide are the same.

Many Republican senators are wary that Obama will seek out a judicial activist who will bring a liberal agenda to the bench, and the White House already is expecting what chief of staff Rahm Emanuel called a “huge, huge battle” from Republicans over whomever Obama picks. The president says he will choose someone with the expected credentials of a strong record and dedication to the rule of law, plus an understanding of how court rulings affect people in real life.

With 59 usually reliable votes from Democrats and independents in the Senate, Obama is in a strong position to pick the person he wants. He would need 60 votes to head off a filibuster. Obama aides are confident that they can get that support and that Republicans won’t go that route anyway.

Among the people Obama is considering for the court are federal appeals court judges Diane Wood, Merrick Garland and Sidney Thomas, former Georgia Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears, Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Harvard Law School dean Martha Minow.

Thanks Breitbart.

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Would Hillary have been more conservative than Obama?

Some Republicans seem to think Clinton would’ve been more congenial than Obama, but it’s not so obvious

John Sides discusses an argument by Bruce Bartlett that it made sense for conservatives to support Hillary Clinton in 2008, based on the following reasoning:

Surveying the political landscape, I [Barttlett] didn’t think the Republican candidate, whoever it might be, was very likely to win against whoever the Democratic candidate might be. Therefore I concluded that it was in the interest of conservatives to support the more conservative Democratic candidate … Hillary Clinton … probably would be governing significantly more conservatively than Obama.

I’m surprised to hear this, because I thought the consensus view among conservatives — general voters and elites alike — was that Hillary Clinton was extremely liberal, that Bill was the moderate one with Hillary pulling him to the left. Bartlett argues that Hillary Clinton was more conservative than Barack Obama based on their voting records in the Senate, but I thought the consensus among conservatives was that Hillary Clinton’s core beliefs were far left, and that her Senate votes were just a matter of positioning in preparation for her presidential push.I also had the impression that support for Hillary Clinton from conservative Republicans in 2008 was coming from three factors:1. A feeling that Hillary Clinton was a polarizing and unpopular figure and thus would be a weaker candidate for the Democrats in the general election.2. A desire to fan the flames of the contentious Democratic primary. Since Clinton was behind in the race, supporting her would keep the battle going. 3. Once it was clear that Barack Obama was probably going to become the Democratic nominee (and, ultimately, president), it is natural for Obama opponents to put him down by saying nice things about his opposition (Hillary Clinton, in this case).

Bartlett writes: 

I [Bartlett] also noticed that some conservatives were saying nice things about Hillary—people like National Review editor Rich Lowry, Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol, New York Times columnist David Brooks and even right-wing columnist Ann Coulter. I don’t buy it. I’m pretty sure that, had Hillary Clinton won the nomination and Obama lost, we would’ve heard a lot from conservatives about how the Democrats chose the old-fashioned New Deal-style liberal instead of the modern consensus-builder. I say this not as a slam on Republicans or conservatives—it’s just natural partisanship.

 Coulter, for example, said on 1 Feb 2008 that she would campaign for Hillary Clinton if she were running against McCain. I don’t believe this for one minute. This seems much more like positioning to me, consistent with items 1, 2, and 3 above. Similarly, Bill Kristol on 28 April 2008 wrote, “We also see the liberal media failing to give Hillary Clinton the respect she deserves,” and went on about her ability as a candidate. This doesn’t sound like an endorsement of her conservatism; it sounds much more like a desire for the primary election battle to continue.

Another data point from Bartlett. 

A Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll last October asked people if Hillary had won the election would she be doing a better or worse job than Obama. Among Republicans, 34% said [Hillary would be better], while only 22% of Democrats did. 

 

In this poll, 34 percent of Republicans thought Hillary would be doing a better job than Barack, 29% thought worse, 20% thought same, and 23 percent said they didn’t know. (The last is what my response would be, incidentally.) I think these survey results reflect anti-Obama feeling more than anything else, though. Again, I’d bet that if Hillary Clinton were president, similar numbers of Republicans would be saying that Obama would be doing a better job. 

I’m not questioning Bartlett’s sincerity here, just suggesting that his view of Hillary Clinton as being (relatively) conservative might not be so much of a consensus as he might think.Thanks Salon. 

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Not satisfied with living in Florida, Jonathon “The Impaler” Sharkey wants to move to Washington, D.C., to become the nation’s first vampire president.

Sharkey, 45, spent Friday on a Greyhound bus with his new fiancee, Audrianna Foster, a 19-year-old girl from Ohio he met online. She too believes she is a vampire, or vampyre.

“I haven’t dated a girl older than 19 since 2006,” said the Tampa man as his 19-year-old daughter and his 2-year-old grandson met him at the Greyhound station. “It’s good to be me.”

“The Impaler” claims he’s a direct descendent of Vlad II the Impaler, better known as Dracula.

He has scheduled a Monday news conference in Tampa to announce his plans to file paperwork to run for president of the United States in 2012. He recently switched his party affiliation from Independent to Republican so he can run with the GOP.

He ran for governor of Minnesota in 2006 and also had short-lived bids for U.S. Senate in 2000, U.S. President in 2004, and U.S. President in 2008.

In an extended interview with WTSP-TV, Sharkey shared well-thought-out opinions on capital punishment, the abortion issue, and veterans issues. However, he also bragged about having numerous teen-age girlfriends in recent years.

The girls have also provided several skeletons in Sharkey’s closet.

- He’s accused of “brainwashing” a 16-year-old in Minnesota. The two were engaged until last month. Her family now has a restraining order against Sharkey and claims his texts to her violate it.

- He reportedly admitted to harassing another 16-year-old Minnesota girl online in 2009.

- He was arrested in Tennessee several years ago and is currently on probation from Indiana after he was found guilty in 2009 of intimidating a judge. He served six months in a Marion Co. jail before his release. Sources confirm the Secret Service has had to keep him on its radar, since he moves around the country.

Sharkey was once on the Executive Committee of the Hillsborough Co. Republican Party in the 1990s, but A.J. Matthews, HCRP State Committeeman, says he didn’t show any of the extreme behaviors he’s exhibiting now.

“He does believe in Republican values,” Matthews said. “Is he going to make a big splash with his current identification of being a vampire? That’s up to the voters to decide.”

Matthews said he’d help Sharkey with campaign basics, just like he would any Republican candidate. But he’s been trying to advise him to focus on mainstream issues and away from the extreme behaviors.

Sharkey, meanwhile, continues to develop a movie on his campaign, “The True Impaler.” You can read about the campaign on his Web site, www.TheImpalerForMNGovernor.us.

Thanks AZ Central.

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Maybe a run for President? Hmm? Please! In an interview aired this evening Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested she is not interested in serving more than four years should President Obama win a second term.

Clinton was asked by PBS’s Tavis Smiley whether she could “imagine yourself doing all four years and, if asked, doing it for another four years.”

She replied “No, I really can’t.”

Clinton clarified that she was referring to serving in a second term, saying “the whole eight, I mean, that that would be very challenging.  But I, you know, I don’t wanna make any predictions sitting here.”

Later Clinton again ruled out another run for the presidency, something she has maintained for months.

She said she was “absolutely not interested.”

In an interview with ABC’s Cynthia McFadden in October, Clinton also ruled out a run for her old Senate seat or for New York governor.

Thanks ABC

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Once again, the people have spoken, and this time they quoted what Dick Cheney said to Pat Leahy.

Less than two weeks ago, The New York Times said that so much as a “tighter-than-expected” victory for Massachusetts Democratic Senate candidate Martha Coakley would incite “soul-searching among Democrats nationally,” which sent Times readers scurrying to their dictionaries to look up this strange new word, “soul.”

A close win for Coakley, the Times said, would constitute “the first real barometer of whether problems facing the party” will affect the 2010 elections.

But when Coakley actually lost the election by an astounding 5 points, the Chicago boys in the White House decided it was the chick’s fault.

Democratic candidate Martha Coakley may be a moral monster, but it’s ridiculous to blame her for losing the election. She lost because of the Democrats’ obsession with forcing national health care down the nation’s throat.

Coakley campaigned exactly the way she should have.

As a Democrat running in a special election for a seat that had been held by a Democratic icon (and another moral monster) for the past 46 years in a state with only 12 percent registered Republicans, Coakley’s objective was to have voters reading the paper on Friday, saying: “Hey, honey, did you know there was a special election four days ago? Yeah, apparently Coakley won, though it was a pretty low turnout.”

Ideally, no one except members of government unions and Coakley’s immediate family would have even been aware of the election.

And until Matt Drudge began covering it like a presidential election a week ago, it might have turned out that way.

Coakley had already won two statewide elections, while her Republican opponent, Scott Brown, had only won elections in his district. She had endorsements from the Kennedy family and the current appointed Democratic senator, Paul Kirk — as well as endless glowing profiles in The Boston Globe.

And by the way, as of Jan. 1, Brown had spent $642,000 on the race, while Coakley had spent $2 million.

On Jan. 8, just 11 days before the election, The New York Times reported: “A Brown win remains improbable, given that Democrats outnumber Republicans by 3 to 1 in the state and that Ms. Coakley, the state’s attorney general, has far more name recognition, money and organizational support.”

It was in that article that the Times said a narrow Coakley win would be an augury for the entire Democratic Party. But now she’s being hung out to dry so that Democrats don’t have to face the possibility that Obama’s left-wing policies are to blame.

Alternatively, Democrats are trying to write off Brown’s colossal victory as the standard seesawing of public sentiment that hits both Republicans and Democrats from time to time. As MSNBC’s Chris Matthews explained, it was just the voters saying “no” generally, but not to anything in particular.

Except when Republicans win political power, they hold onto it long enough to govern. The Democrats keep being smacked down by the voters immediately after being elected and revealing their heinous agenda.

As a result, for the past four decades, American politics has consisted of Republicans controlling Washington for eight to 14 years — either from the White House or Capitol Hill — thus allowing Americans to forget what it was they didn’t like about Democrats, whom they then carelessly vote back in. The Democrats immediately remind Americans what they didn’t like about Democrats, and their power is revoked at the voters’ first possible opportunity.

Obama has cut the remembering-what-we-don’t-like-about-Democrats stage of this process down from two to four years to about 10 months. Folks, I’m convinced that if we all work really hard, we can get it down to three months.

Four years of Jimmy Carter gave us two titanic Reagan landslides, peace and prosperity for eight blessed years — and even a third term for his feckless vice president, George H.W. Bush.

Two years of Bill Clinton gave us a historic Republican sweep of Congress, which killed the entire Clinton agenda (with the exception of partial-birth abortion and felony obstruction of justice) — and also gave us two terms for George W. Bush.

And now, merely one year of Obama and a Democratic Congress has given us the first Republican senator from Massachusetts in 31 years.

In other recent news, last November, New Jersey voters, who haven’t voted for a Republican for president since 1988, threw out their incumbent Democratic governor, Jon Corzine. In Virginia, which Obama carried by 6 points a year earlier, a religious-right Republican won the governor’s office by 17 points.

Sen. Ben Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska, won his last election in 2006 by 28 points — the largest margin for a Democratic Senate candidate in that state in a quarter-century.

Since voting for the Senate health care bill last Christmas, the once-bulletproof Sen. Nelson not only gets booed out of Omaha pizzerias, but he has also seen his job approval rating fall to 42 percent and his disapproval rating soar to 48 percent. (Meanwhile, the junior senator from Nebraska, Mike Johanns, who voted against the bill, has a job approval rating of 63 percent.)

The Democrats have no natural majority because they have no fundamental principles — at least none that they are willing to state out loud. They are like a drunken vagrant who emerges from the alley to cause havoc every few years. They are the perpetual toothache of American politics.

To be sure, the fact that 52 percent of Massachusetts voters are racist, sexist tea-baggers — i.e., voted for a Republican — means only that the Democrats just went from having the largest congressional majority in a generation to the second largest. But this was “Teddy Kennedy’s seat.” And it was in Massachusetts.

Now, no Democrat is safe.

But the country just got a lot safer.

Please head over to anncoulter.com… Great!

Thanks AnnCoulter.com

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From early projections it seems that Scott Brown took this one. Oh, uh… watch out Dems!

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In scary news on this Christmas eve…. Senate Democrats passed a landmark health care bill Thursday that could define President Barack Obama’s legacy and usher in near-universal medical coverage for the first time in the country’s history.

The 60-39 vote on a cold Christmas Eve morning capped months of arduous negotiations and 24 days of floor debate. It also followed a succession of failures by past congresses to get to this point. Vice President Joe Biden presided as 58 Democrats and two independents voted “yes.” Republicans unanimously voted “no.”

The tally far exceeded the simple majority required for passage.

The Senate’s bill must still be merged with legislation passed by the House before Obama could sign a final bill in the new year. There are significant differences between the two measures but Democrats say they’ve come too far now to fail.

Both bills would extend health insurance to more than 30 million more Americans.

Vicki Kennedy, the widow of the late Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, who made health reform his life’s work, watched the vote from the gallery.

“This morning isn’t the end of the process, it’s merely the beginning. We’ll continue to build on this success to improve our health system even more,” Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said before the vote. “But that process cannot begin unless we start today … there may not be a next time.”

At a news conference a few moments later, Reid said the vote “brings us one step closer to making Ted Kennedy’s dream a reality.”

The Nevadan said that “every step of this long process has been an enormous undertaking.”

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Finance Committee, said he “very happy to see people getting health care they could not get.”

The House passed its own measure in November. The White House and Congress have now come further toward the goal of a comprehensive overhaul of the nation’s health care system than any of their predecessors.

The legislation would ban the insurance industry from denying benefits or charging higher premiums on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions. The Congressional Budget Office predicts the bill will reduce deficits by $130 billion over the next 10 years, an estimate that assumes lawmakers carry through on hundreds of billions of dollars in planned cuts to insurance companies and doctors, hospitals and others who treat Medicare patients.

For the first time, the government would require nearly every American to carry insurance, and subsidies would be provided to help low-income people to do so. Employers would be induced to cover their employees through a combination of tax credits and penalties.

Republicans were withering in their criticism of what they deemed a budget-busting government takeover. If the measure were worthwhile, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., contended before the vote, “they wouldn’t be rushing it through Congress on Christmas Eve.”

The occasion was moving for many who’d followed Kennedy, who died in August.

“He’s having a merry Christmas in Heaven,” Sen. Paul Kirk, D-Mass., appointed to fill Kennedy’s seat, told reporters after the tally.

Kirk said he was “humbled to be here with the honor of casting essentially his vote.”

Thanks Breitbart.

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Blago a NO-GO on Celebrity Apprentice?

I wish Joan Rivers was on again this season. Prosecutors are expected to ask a federal judge to bar ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich from appearing on Donald Trump’s “The Celebrity Apprentice” reality TV show.

U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel will preside over Monday’s hearing. Earlier this year, Zagel refused to let Blagojevich go to Costa Rica to participate in NBC’s “I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!” reality TV show. In his place, his wife joined the cast.

The former governor’s corruption trial is set to get under way in June, and Trump’s reality show is expected to air in spring 2010.

Blagojevich (blah-GOY’-uh-vich) has pleaded not guilty to accusations that he tried to sell or trade President Barack Obama’s former U.S. Senate seat.

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Senate’s 10-year Health Fix Would Cost $856B

Some health care news: Sen. Max Baucus on Wednesday brought out the much-awaited Finance Committee version of an American health-system remake—a landmark $856 billion, 10-year measure that starts a rough ride through Congress without visible Republican backing.

The bill by Baucus, Democratic chairman of the Senate panel, would make major changes to the nation’s $2.5 trillion health care system, including requiring most people to purchase insurance coverage or pay a fine and prohibiting insurance companies from charging more to people with more serious health problems.

“This is a unique moment in history where we can finally reach an objective so many of us have sought for so long,” said Baucus, of Montana. “The Finance Committee has carefully worked through the details of health care reform to ensure this package works for patients, for health care providers and for our economy.”

Thanks AP.

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