The debate over whether to arm rebels in Libya still rages, although given that we have CIA operatives on the ground coordinating air strikes and a secret finding authorizing the President to provide covert support, including arms shipments, it seems like something of a red herring. But for what it’s worth, it’s incredibly unpopular. We knew that House Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers (who would statutorily have to be consulted and give his assent even in a covert shipment, though that never stopped Ronald Reagan) was against it, and he mentions to Foreign Policy that the Obama cabinet was split on the notion. More important, Turkey, the only majority-Muslim member of NATO, is against it.

as a news peg, let me show you Loretta Sanchez’ tweet from the well of the House:

Looking forward to casting my vote on this historic health care bill! House is currently set to vote around 11pm EST.

I think a “No” vote after that statement would be, well, odd. So she’s a yes.

Today on Hardball, Jim Cooper was on to discuss the Stupak amendment and how the House and Senate can work through it to reach a compromise. He had a long conversation with Chris Matthews about how conservative Democrats needed this vote to sign on to the bill. He said that people were confused about how to best maintain the Hyde Amendment status quo, among other things. He said that the bill is likely to be changed, and that the Senate could choose to move it away from the Stupak amendment in the end. He chastised the Rules Committee for distributing language that the Stupak Amendment codified the Hyde Amendment when that was the language from Stupak himself, and he said that the amendment would in fact, for the first time, restrict indirect taxpayer subsidies of reproductive choice services, rather than direct ones. He said that employers get a deduction of health care expenses on corporate taxes, and yet the Hyde Amendment doesn’t cover that employer-based health care even though there are indirect subsidies for it.

He talked like a college professor, weighing the pros and cons from afar, without mentioning that he voted for the Stupak Amendment.

Shorter Broder: We’re doomed…again!

“Fiscal responsibility” is the last thing the Blue Dogs are interested in. Their prescription drug and Medicare positions alone add $148 billion to the cost of the bill without adding any value, and their insistence on “paygo” means those cost gets passed on directly to consumers in the form of higher premiums.

Jim Cooper is out of step with his district. Barack Obama won 56% of the vote in 2008 to John McCain’s 43%, so the typical Blue Dog trumpet that their corporatist-friendly vote is necessary to hold office in a heavily Republican district just doesn’t apply.

We’re launching a blog today, Cooper Uncovered, which will chronicle Cooper’s exploits on a daily basis.