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WASHINGTON — As the Senate health care debate enters crunch time, the pressure from all sides continued to grow today, with Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., right in the middle.
His spokesman quickly dismissed a report by conservative columnist Michelle Malkin that Nelson was even being threatened with “closure of an air force base,” presumably Offutt Air Force Base, which is south of Omaha and home of U.S. Strategic Command. Malkin also said Nelson has been promised a “bribe bigger than Sen. Landrieu's.”
That's a reference to Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, a Democrat and one of the last holdouts on the vote to begin the health care debate. The legislation includes a provision to increase Louisiana's Medicaid funds that Landrieu says is worth $300 million.
Nelson spokesman Jake Thompson said both of Malkin's claims about Nelson are false.
“The rumor is not true,” Thompson said. “This misinformation is coming from inside-the-Beltway partisans who only want to derail health care reform.”
Still, it seemed clear that the heat was being turned up as Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., races to finish the sweeping bill by Christmas.
A national group composed of organizations such as Physicians for Reform, National Taxpayers Union, 60 Plus and Americans for Tax Reform group was encouraging supporters to stop by Nelson's Omaha office today to voice opposition to the health care legislation.
At the same time, conservative activists planned an anti-legislation rally today on Capitol Hill and President Barack Obama invited all of the Senate Democrats to the White House to tell them it's time to come together to pass the bill.
Senate Democrats said Monday that they are moving toward dropping a new government-run insurance program and an expansion of the Medicare program to secure passage of health care legislation.
The Democrats have been divided on how best to extend coverage to tens of millions of uninsured Americans. Many liberals want a so-called public option run by the government to compete with private insurers and to allow people as young as 55 to enroll in Medicare.
After a meeting of Senate Democrats on Monday, Sens. Evan Bayh of Indiana and Max Baucus of Montana said it looked as though the proposed Medicare expansion would be dropped.
Without any Republican support, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid needs all 60 votes controlled by Democrats to get a bill passed.
This report contains material from Bloomberg News.
Contact the writer:
202-662-7270, joe.morton@owh.com
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