Ben Nelson is going to get whatever he wants. Lieberman showed that. The Democrats need Nelson to pass a bill, unless they get Olympia Snowe, and so far she's reportedly not being very helpful. I think you'd be very hard pressed to argue that Rahm, on behalf of Obama, isn't going to pay Harry Reid another visit and tell him to chuck pro-choice women under the bus.
So now we've moved from President Lieberman to President National Right to Life:
Senators cornered Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) throughout the day, aiming to sway him. Nelson received draft language from Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) of an amendment to tighten restrictions on federal financing of abortion. The amendment would segregate private funds that cover abortions from public subsidies for health insurance.Appeasement doesn't work. If you show serial weakness, which this White House and this Congress do on a regular basis, you will be repeatedly challenged and taken advantage of. This is why so many of us "non-wonks" are so livid about the President and Harry Reid caving on the Senate health care reform bill over and over again. This is about much more than health care reform. It's about Democrats caving now and in the future on every single issue we care about. It's about whether Democrats even run our party any more.
“We’re looking at it,” said Nelson, who indicated that he was also waiting on feedback from anti-abortion groups.
But Douglas Johnson, the legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee, said Wednesday night of the Casey language, “This proposal would break from the long-established principles of the Hyde Amendment by providing federal subsidies for health plans that cover abortion on demand. This is entirely unacceptable.”
