--PLAYBOOK FACTS OF LIFE: If four Dems really commit themselves to gutting the mandate, it could represent bigger threat to the law than the courts.
BEHIND THE CURTAIN: SENATE DEMOCRATS GO ROGUE
-- Manu Raju: "A handful of moderate Senate Democrats are looking for ways to roll back the highly contentious individual mandate - the pillar of President Obama's health care law - a sign that red-state senators are prepared to assert their independence ahead of the 2012 elections. They haven't decided whether to propose legislation, but any effort by moderate Democrats that takes aim at the individual mandate could embarrass Obama and embolden Republicans who are still maneuvering to take down the health care law. And it's not just health care.
The senators are prepared to break with the White House on a wide range of issues: embracing deeper spending cuts, scaling back business regulations and overhauling environmental rules. The moderates most likely to buck their party include Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Jon Tester of Montana - all of whom are up for reelection in 2012 and represent states Obama lost in 2008.
The goal is to lay down a record of bipartisan compromises with Republicans ... 'I'm not worried about the politics of this; I'm worried about the substance of it,' McCaskill said. 'My goal has always been pretty simple: affordable, accessible, private-market insurance for people in America who want insurance.' ... Some Republicans are quietly warning colleagues not to work with vulnerable Democrats in the first place." http://bit.ly/egiRP4
The senators are prepared to break with the White House on a wide range of issues: embracing deeper spending cuts, scaling back business regulations and overhauling environmental rules. The moderates most likely to buck their party include Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Jon Tester of Montana - all of whom are up for reelection in 2012 and represent states Obama lost in 2008.
The goal is to lay down a record of bipartisan compromises with Republicans ... 'I'm not worried about the politics of this; I'm worried about the substance of it,' McCaskill said. 'My goal has always been pretty simple: affordable, accessible, private-market insurance for people in America who want insurance.' ... Some Republicans are quietly warning colleagues not to work with vulnerable Democrats in the first place." http://bit.ly/egiRP4
