That is basically the official view of the mainstream political establishment, most of whom are, like 20-something idiots who claim to read the Economist and Michael Bloomberg, "socially liberal and fiscally conservative." ("Fiscally conservative" just means worrying about the deficit, a lot.)

That "mainstream" view permeates the supposedly non-ideological press, and members of the press tend to believe that America is made up of "independents" with similar beliefs.

In fact, most Americans are more or less the opposite. (Most conservatives get this!) When they claim to have a problem with government spending, or taxation, it is a problem with getting taxed and perceiving the spending as being done on someone else. What they would like is for the government to spend money on them, using money seized from the wealthy.

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Nelson will vote for cloture, though, so this is an entirely symbolic gesture, and what it symbolizes is, "Ben Nelson is an obnoxious political coward."

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John Adler, D-N.J.
Brian Baird, D-Wash.
Melissa Bean, D-Ill.
Marion Berry, Blue Dog-Ark.
Bobby Bright, Blue Dog-Ala.
Travis Childers, Blue Dog-Miss.
Jim Cooper, Blue Dog-Tenn.
Joe Donnelly, Blue Dog-Ind.
Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, Blue Dog-S.D.
Baron Hill, Blue Dog-Ind.
Frank Kratovil, Blue Dog-Md.
Betsy Markey, Blue Dog-Colo.
Jim Marshall, Blue Dog-Ga.
Walt Minnick, Blue Dog-Idaho
Glenn Nye, Blue Dog-Va.
Heath Shuler, Blue Dog-N.C.

If you can come up with a coherent reason why anyone would decide to seek office as a member of the Democratic Party and then not support a Democratic proposal that is not simply popular but also vitally necessary for hundreds of thousands of desperate people, then I would like to hear it!

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Family Research Council head Tony Perkins, though, knows the truth: allowing gays and lesbians (sorry, "homosexuals") to serve openly "will increase sexual tension and even sexual assault in the military."

Now, you may assume that the vast majority of cases of sexual assault in the armed forces is perpetrated by straight men against women. And your assumption would be completely, 100% correct. But Perkins knows all too well that predatory homosexuals are just lying in wait for permission to be open about their sexual orientation before they begin their terror campaign of rampant harassment and gross touching.

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This might help explain why the Senate's leadership doesn't consider it an issue worth addressing: None of these rich old people use ATMs. Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb, has never used one.

"I've never used an ATM, so I don't know what the fees are," Nelson said, adding that he gets his cash from bank tellers, just not automatic ones. "It's true, I don't know how to use one.

"But I could learn how to do it just like I've ... I swipe to get my own gas, buy groceries. I know about the holograms."

By "holograms," Nelson clarified that he meant the bar codes on products read by automatic scanners in the checkout lanes at stores such as Lowe's and Menard's.

"I go and get my own seating assignment on an airplane," Nelson said. "I mean, I'm not without some skills. I just haven't had the need to use an ATM."

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On Monday, a small band of Nebraskans, angered by Sen. Ben Nelson’s healthcare vote, began organizing a ballot initiative to add recall elections to the state’s constitution. If they can collect 113,000 signatures by July 2, the question will reach voters in November and Nebraska might become the 20th state to permit the recall of elected officials by petition.

Nelson, of course, probably shouldn’t be sweating this one. Eighteen states now have provisions for recall elections. (The 19th, Virginia, allows for recall trials.) And while recall elections are regularly held at the local level in these states, there have only been three successful statewide recall efforts in American history: in North Dakota in 1921, Arizona in 1988, and California in 2003. (While the Arizona petitioners qualified to recall Gov. Evan Mecham, he was impeached before the scheduled election could be held.)

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Fortunately for him, Nelson's not up for reelection until 2012. But he seems fairly nervous anyway, enough so that he's bought airtime during the Nebraska-Arizona bowl game Wednesday night for an ad in which he explains his position. According to the Associated Press, the spot will be airing statewide for a few days to come, as well.

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The survey shows 61 percent of respondents going for Heineman in a hypothetical matchup; by comparison, only 30 percent said they'd vote for Nelson.

Rasmussen attributes Nelson's precarious position to his reluctant support for his fellow Democrats' healthcare reform legislation.

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Yglesias' words are best left unaltered:

Providing prenatal services to pregnant women is a pro-life gesture by any stretch of the imagination. As is providing health insurance to young children. As we saw the other day, uninsured children are over three times more likely to die from their trauma-related injuries than are commercially insured children, even after adjustment for other factors such as age, gender, race, injury severity and injury type.

But Nelson won’t let those lives be saved unless the bill is modified in an insulting and discriminatory way. And part of the insanity of it is that the actual impact on the number of abortions in America is going to be tiny. Middle-class women will be able to pay for abortions out of pocket, and the “Hyde Amendment” status quo already screws poor women. But it’s a nice symbolic dig at pro-choice America, and a further means of stigmatizing reproductive health services as somehow not real health care. And Nelson, Bart Stupack, and various bishops love the idea of holding the whole package hostage to this point, since I guess the dead kids with trauma injuries will go to heaven anyway or something.

Nice.

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Nelson told KLIN/Lincoln radio hosts Jack Mitchell and John Bishop that he knows who started the rumors and when it comes to light it will be "embarrassing for the other side of the aisle," presumably meaning a Republican senator or senators is behind it.

The bad news for Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Obama is that Nelson continues to have problems with the abortion provisions in the bill, and although overtures have been made toward him, he continues to hold firm in his resistance until the abortions provisions he disapproves are stripped away.

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By tabling the amendment, the Senate essentially defeated it. But don't think that's the end of the debate over abortion and healthcare reform.

This amendment was authored by Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., who represents a key swing vote on reform, one his fellow Democrats have been working hard to get. And Nelson has said that if language like that used in the Stupak amendment, and in his proposal, isn't included in the Senate bill, he'll vote to support a filibuster.

The vote was 54-45 in favor of tabling the amendment. Nelson and his allies needed 60 votes to keep it alive.

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In response to this, Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., has introduced new legislation that would create war bonds to fund the wars.

"I believe that we need shared sacrifice and fiscal discipline in financing the war effort,” Nelson said in a statement. “I don't believe our first instinct should always be a rush to tax. The government has gone to great lengths to address the economic downturn and adding new taxes right now could undermine those efforts."

The problem with this logic is that bonds -- even war bonds -- aren't free money. At some point, those who invested expect to be paid back, and with interest. In order to accomplish that, the government has to use money it gets from... well, from tax dollars.

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Now, he's got a new reason to oppose the Senate's bill, and he's firm in his opposition -- in fact, Nelson says, if he doesn't get the language he wants added, he'll vote to support a filibuster.

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That would be Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., who told reporters on Tuesday, "I'm working on an abortion amendment. It's as identical to Stupak as it can be."

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Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska says he has serious problems with the bill. He says he wants tougher restrictions on what services taxpayers pay for.

The Nebraska Democrat says he wants an overhaul of the nation's health care system but still needs to be convinced that the Senate bill is the right path to that goal.

On Saturday night, Democrats mustered the minimum 60 votes needed to advance the Senate bill to debate after the Thanksgiving break. After that debate, the bill faces another vote that requires 60 senators in support.

Nelson appeared Sunday on ABC's "This Week."

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Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., said Friday that he will vote with his fellow Democrats Saturday night on a cloture motion that will allow the Senate to begin debating the legislation.

"Throughout my Senate career I have consistently rejected efforts to obstruct," Nelson said in a statement. "That's what the vote on the motion to proceed is all about. It is not for or against the new Senate health care bill released Wednesday .... If you don't like a bill why block your own opportunity to amend it?"

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So the compromise was to give all Americans the option of buying into a "Medicare-like plan" that competed with private insurers. Who could be against freedom of choice? Fully 70 percent of Americans polled supported the idea. Open to all Americans, such a plan would have the scale and authority to negotiate low prices with drug companies and other providers, and force private insurers to provide better service at lower costs. But private insurers and Big Pharma wouldn't hear of it, and Republicans and "centrists" thought it would end up too much like what they have up in Canada.

So the compromise was to give the public option only to Americans who wouldn't be covered either by their employers or by Medicaid. And give them coverage pegged to Medicare rates. But private insurers and ... you know the rest.

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As just one notable example, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid recently said that he can't "dictate how people vote" in the Democratic Senate caucus and that "We have 60 votes on paper ... But we cannot bulldoze anybody."

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Once the Senate holds an official up-or-down vote on the stimulus Tuesday, the bill will go to conference, where differences between the versions passed by the two chambers of Congress will be ironed out. That could mean funding that was cut as part of the Senate deal will end up in the final legislation.

Already, both Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), the architect of the compromise, and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), one of three Republicans whose support was crucial on Monday, have come out to say they won't accept a bill that's much different from the one they voted for.

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