Hello
Only good vibes after the jump.
First, Blue Dog Bart Gordon (TN) flips from NO to YES!
RT @jonathanhsinger: Democrats now have their second No-to-Yes switcher on #hcr: Tennessee Blue Dog Bart Gordon (per @CapitolHillCNN)
8 minutes ago via TweetDeck
And Luis Gutierrez is also a YES.
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Top Ten Immediate Benefits You'll Get When Health Care Reform Passes:
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* Prohibit pre-existing condition exclusions for children in all new plans;
* Provide immediate access to insurance for uninsured Americans who are uninsured because of a pre-existing condition through a temporary high-risk pool;
* Prohibit dropping people from coverage when they get sick in all individual plans;
* Lower seniors prescription drug prices by beginning to close the donut hole;
* Offer tax credits to small businesses to purchase coverage;
* Eliminate lifetime limits and restrictive annual limits on benefits in all plans;
* Require plans to cover an enrollee's dependent children until age 26;
* Require new plans to cover preventive services and immunizations without cost-sharing;
* Ensure consumers have access to an effective internal and external appeals process to appeal new insurance plan decisions;
* Require premium rebates to enrollees from insurers with high administrative expenditures and require public disclosure of the percent of premiums applied to overhead costs.
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Re-posting this awesome link from yesterday to full information on how HCR will benefit each and every district
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Andrew Sullivan's take on how and why the left and the center are coming together behind HCR.
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Personally, I think the reason for the increase in support is mostly this: the Democratic leadership, and particularly President Obama, are now fighting for this bill tooth and nail. They didn't necessarily have to do this; they could have thrown in the towel, passed off some bipartisan crap that didn't do much to help the uninsured, and called it a day. That's what Rahm Emanuel wanted to do. But that isn't what Obama did: instead, he's gone all-in on the thing, potentially staking his Presidency on the outcome. Liberals like the idea of being the scrappy underdog -- being the fighter -- and Obama, after a strangely aloof performance on the health care bill throughout 2009, has been fighting the good fight.
But look what's happened to moderates too. Obama's measured performance these past two months, his civility and his outreach to the GOP has won them over as well as the liberals. And the right has become more isolated this year.
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President Obama met with CHA's Keehan
The president met with Sister Carol Keehan of the Catholic Health Association – the group breaking with Catholic bishops to support health care reform -- in the Roosevelt Room earlier this week.
Obama thanked her for her support in the meeting, Gibbs said, adding that there are "strong indications from the Catholic church" that show people are moving to support health care reform.
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Something important that got lost a little bit in the noise today: The president signing the HIRE Act, a jobs bill that will offer a payroll tax break for businesses that hire unemployed workers and will offer businesses an income tax credit of $1,000 for retaining these employees.(And he didn't miss the chance to talk about the CBO numbers):
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And something that can out-noise anything: St. Patrick' Day at the White House yesterday:
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With all due respect to HCR and jobs, this is what really counts: President Obama's NCAA brackets:
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PLEASE, don't hot-link.
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President Barack Obama walks down the West Wing Colonnade as he arrives to sign the HIRE Act, a 17.6 billion dollar jobs bill that encourages businesses to hire workers, during a ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, DC, March 18, 2010. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
President Obama jogs out to shake hands with members of Congress before signing the HIRE act jobs bill in the Rose Garden, Thursday, March 18, 2010.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
US President Obama speaks before signing the HIRE Act (SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
Surrounded by members of Congress, U.S. President Barack Obama signs the Hire Act during a ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House on March 18, 2010 in Washington, DC. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi holds her head alongside Senate Majority Leader Senator Harry Reid after US President Barack Obama signed the HIRE Act(SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
President Barack Obama has a word with Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., after he signed the HIRE Act jobs bill. At rear, from left to right: Budget Director Peter Orszag, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
US President Obama greets Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid,D-NV, after signing the HIRE Act (SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
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Mr. President and Mr. Vice President: GET A ROOM ALREADY! (Michael Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images)
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That is if Nancy will let him go, of course. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)
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Finally, Can i get one big awwwwwwwwwwww?
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Vice President Joe Biden's granddaughter Finnegan plays with Bo, the Obama family dog, at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, March 17, 2010, before she accompanied her grandfather and President Barack Obama to the Friends of Ireland luncheon for St. Patrick's Day, on Capitol Hill. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)