So Senator Reid uses his position as the Senate Majority Leader to put the health bill -- the most important, long-overdue domestic priority in generations -- on the floor of the Senate and move it forward... um, he's doing his JOB. Of course his enemies are going to spin this as something bad. As for me, I WANT him to be using his hard-won power to get things done!

DeMint is a bomb-throwing extreme far-right winger. He makes even some Republicans look like super liberals, so of course he's going to call a pro-life, pro-guns Democrat a "liberal." Meaningless.

Great job on this article, LV Sun.

RebelRon, don't forget also the myriad of campaign workers for all of Reid's opponents. See, gotta look on the bright side. lol

I'm not sure why you guys are so worked up. These new jobs estimates are from the White House economists.

The 33,000 jobs number is FOR TWO YEARS while today's new estimate is for a fraction of the total stimulus bill and only up to this time point.

As for the "PROVE IT" lazy commenter - go to recovery.gov and see for yourself.

Fantastic! Thanks Senator Reid & Pres Obama!

ECM, the problem with allowing insurance companies to sell across state lines is that it would set off a "race to the bottom" as companies set up shop in the least restrictive, least-policed state. In effect, one state would end up dictating health insurance policy for 49 states. I think states with hard-won consumer protections would object to that, even if Nevadans don't care. Furthermore, this could spark a death spiral for the remaining insurance market (ahem, including a lot of people's current employer-sponsored plans), as the healthy are cherrypicked off.

Think of how credit card companies all seem to have South Dakota or Delaware addresses...except that with health insurance, people's lives and whole financial futures are on the line. Don't be fooled by the private insurance companies' -- and Republicans' -- meretricious talking points.

DWMS, you keep harping about this "Family Reunification Plan" on articles that have nothing to do with those issues - what is your problem??? Most family law issues are primarily handled by the STATE and LOCAL governments. Are you one of those wingnut crappy parents whose kids were (rightfully) removed from your care?

Asking anyone if s/he has read a bill is like asking a computer user if s/he has read the programming code behind a new software program. I looked at those bills linked from this article - the legislative text is another language. That's why some Congressional committes just put out "conceptual language" bills.

It's even more laughable when ordinary people from the public claim they've read the bill and understand what's in it. I don't understand why "I read the bill" is being bandied about like a badge of honor - to me, it just means they wasted a bunch of time glossing over "1 and 0"s that makes sense to no human except the "software programmers," i.e. the legislative technicians. Sheesh.

Um, sorry to rain on your parade of delusional rants, but the Democratic proposals pending in Congress are actually paid for. They won't add to the deficit.

And Gibbons is being an immature crybaby. Medicaid costs have always been shared between the states and the feds.