Too bad they're finding their backbone just in time to push a watered-down bill that seems to have largely been written by insurance industry lobbyists.

The bottom line is that Republicans are hopping mad and will throw a tantrum in any way they can to stop this bill. 60 Senators--representing at the time 64% of Americans--voted in favor of this. The Republicans know that this is the Gettysburg of the Obama presidency. If the Democrats lose this, they lose the war for the next 20 years. If the Democrats win, they will move on to financial reform, immigration reform, and the other issues on which they campaigned.

@1: If this bill is so favored by insurance companies, why are they spending a fortune to have it defeated?

AHIP solicited between $10 million and $20 million from six large insurers—Cigna, Aetna, Humana, Wellpoint, Kaiser Foundation Health Plans, and UnitedHealth Group—that was funneled to the Chamber of Commerce to underwrite television ads opposing reform by two business coalitions set up by the Chamber.

Pass this watered-down version and fix it later. I want them to shut the repubs up about this and move on to financial reform already. You get those two things through, the will keep their majorities.

The only good thing you can do with a Republicant is strap them to a nuke and drop them on Riyadh.

Most polls show that most Americans are against this bill. It's not just Repubicans.

Most polls show people who answer polls are usually retired white men with landlines.

Most people who discount poll results are the first ones to point to them if it is in their favor.

Those who oppose it are split between those who thinks it goes too far and those who think it doesn't go far enough. Which means they probably got it just about right (for now).