Interesting, Jonathan. My sense is that it won't fly past the parliamentarian. And Pelosi won't do anything to jeopardize her fragile coalition now. My sense is that momentum is building for passage of at least the Senate bill and maybe something through reconciliation. (Reid is even now talking about bringing the "public option" up in the Senate for an up-or-down vote, so the progressives are definitely feeling emboldened. They seem to be "peaking" at the right moment, and the Repubs seem a bit dispirited. Hence, all the Repub talk about legal challenges.) But the word is that Stupak is having trouble holding his block together, so he may be losing his leverage.
Big Pharma will be the Big Winner here, IMO. (And that will be good for biotech, after the Market does its knee-jerk reaction and then absorbs the passage of the bill, in whatever form.) BP ought to get on their knees to Tauzin, apologize and beg him to come back. BP was way too premature in their political calculations, and their firing of Tauzin was a big mistake. I don't like him or what he does--I put lobbyists in the same class as pimps--but I have to admit he played the White House and the whole process like a maestro. If ever a lobbyist earned his salary, it was Tauzin. (Assuming the House passes the Senate bill, of course, which I now rate about 80% chance in favor of approval.)
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