I just have one question for the veal pen. Where is there even one, and I mean one, member of the Democratic caucus who has said they will join with Republicans to filibuster it? Come on, you’re cheering for a sketchy plan with only a one page “white paper” that nobody has seen. Surely you’ve thought this through, and are convinced it is a necessary step to keep Democrats from voting against cloture.

So who is it? If you’re acting out of political necessity, who is this mysterious Senator (or Senators) telling you they’ll take this bold step, who don’t have the courage to say so in public?

A combined total of 154 million people (51% of the population) live in states where Republicans control the governor’s mansion or the state legislature.

If you don’t think the next four years will see a multi-million dollar surge in donations from health insurance companies to politicians at the state level, you don’t understand politics.

Democrats once again are negotiating with themselves.  And who pays the price for this convenient piece of political calculus if they turn out to be wrong and insurance industry money is successful in getting red states like yours to opt out of a public option?  Well, Rikyrah over at Jack & Jill Politics gives us a pretty good idea.

The prize is one thing, but the way the Nobel Prize committee framed the award is mighty tasty. They kept using words like “diplomacy” and “cooperation” and “dialogue” and “negotiations” and and “responsibility.”

This is going to be so much fun.

In a stunning surprise, the Nobel Committee announced Friday that it had awarded its annual peace prize to President Obama “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”

John J. Miller:

This is insane.

Mona Charen:

The Democratic Leadership actually enforce party discipline? Color me skeptical.

Brassed Off – The William Tell Overture.

What’s on your mind?

Oklahoma “cain’t say no” to civil rights infringements.

The Decline and Fall of the American Empire

I’ve already said that I think allowing states to “opt-out” of a public option is an immoral and unnecessary political compromise, an attempt to let Democrats off the very hook that so many have worked so hard to get them on. But I cannot say it nearly as well as Rikyrah does: