The federal budget doesn’t just have items that will be included in appropriations bills. It seeks to set out budgetary assumptions based on the expectation of passage of certain federal policies. For example, ending the privatization of the student loan system, which was passed last year by the House and may still come up in [...]

There’s a major push by House leaders today to judge the health care bill a fait accompli and ensure everyone that the deal put together by both chambers of Congress and the White House, which could be topped off in the next few days, will have no problem passing the House. Expect to see a [...]

This is really just a small taste of what Harold Ford will see if he chooses to run for Senate in New York State. Brave New Films has compiled a video of some of Ford’s most notorious past statements, including his anti-immigrant, anti-choice, anti-gay, anti-gun control and pro-tax cut stances. In a statement, Brave New [...]

On a conference call today, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said that the schedule for passage of an historic health care bill could drop somewhat. The plan is to vote on the rule, vote for the substitute amendment (which is the horrific Republican health care bill) and then move to final passage, all of which [...]

A very interesting quote from Rep. Raul Grijalva of the Progressive Caucus at the end of this Ryan Grim post about the “live whip count” now going on in the House: Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said he counted eleven no votes and two undecideds. Roughly 60 members were not [...]

OK, there’s been a spate of reports about health care and the public option in the last 24 hours, so I wanted to put together a rundown. Exactly who is saying exactly what about what will come out of each chamber of Congress? The House Nancy Pelosi reportedly has the votes to pass a robust, [...]

You can barely keep all the various reports straight, so here’s a try: • Nancy Pelosi’s whip operation to find the final eight votes needed to pass a House health care bill with a robust public option continues. Raul Grijalva set the marker by saying publicly that 210 votes within the caucus were secured. Open [...]