Bob Seger – Against The Wind, live Largo, MD, 1980.

What’s on your mind?

Keeping American kids in school longer may not be the best way to improve grades; maybe smaller classes would be a good start, though that idea never crossed the brain pans of the think tank that is Fox & Friends.

No, they were too busy discussing how poor families might benefit from it because children of poor families don’t have parents who can help them to learn. Then Gretchen Carlson pulled a gem out of her blond matter and came up wiht the idea that if kids stayed in school longer, then there would be negative ramifications on small businesses which provide for kids after school.

Like what, the arcade?

The number 65 intrigues me. If the Democrats can pick off just one Republican, then Nelson and his Magical Bipartisan Threshold become irrelevant… unless he has at least four friends in the Democratic caucus who will go along with his noble Broderian crusade. It would explain his choice of such an arbitrary-sounding number – it’s actually defined by the size of his secret anti-reform coalition.

George Packer has an amusing reflection on Obama’s obsession with appearing disciplined. (via Laura)

While reporting my piece on Richard Holbrooke (still subscribers only—so if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em), I learned just how much the Obama White House hates for anything about its policies that doesn’t originate with it to appear in print.

In today’s Senate Finance Committee debate a principal concern among Democrats considering the Public Option (PO) is whether the PO would pay providers who treat PO patients rates tied to Medicare schedules.

Chuck Schumer and Max Baucus just said that there were not 60 votes for the public option in the Senate.

The Public Option doesn’t need 60 votes. It needs 51. That is, unless the GOP filibusters it.

The Irish Times and Andy Worthington report on the release of an Uzbek detainee who was a juvenile taxi driver in Afghanistan before he was shipped to Guantanamo.

Directly following the debate over Rockefeller’s robust public option amendment, the Senate Finance Committee next addressed Senator Chuck Schumer’s “level playing field” public option. The debate was much shorter and mainly repeated the same argues for or against Rockefeller’s amendment. Schumer’s public option amendment also failed, but by a smaller margin, 10-13

The entire morning of the Senate Finance Committee mark up was dominated with heated debate about Rockefeller’s robust public option amendment. Most Democrats agreed with Rockefeller, saying such a plan would be needed to increase choice, improve competition, and keep private insurance companies honest. Republicans claimed it would the start of a “slow walk” to government-run, single-payer health insurance.

All ten Republicans on the committee voted against the amendment. Five Democrats (Kent Conrad, Max Baucus, Blanche Lincoln, Bill Nelson, Thomas Carper) also voted against the amendment. Eight Democrats (Jay Rockefeller, Jeff Bingaman, John Kerry, Ron Wyden, Charles Schumer, Debbie Stabenow, Maria Cantwell, Robert Menendez) vote in support of Rockefeller’s amendments.

[BREAKING: Rockefeller's Amendment failed 8-15. Democrats Baucus, Carper, Lincoln, and Nelson voted no.]

FDL continues live blog of Senate Finance Committee and amendments to add a public option. Prior posts:
1. Early morning
2. Late morning
3. Early afternoon

C-SPAN 3 is providing live coverage.

Apparent Democratic support for Public Option: (all Republicans opposed)