MICHAEL STEELE MAY BE THE GREATEST PARTY LEADER EVER:

Senate Republicans Trigger Procedural War To Slow Health Bill (Congressional Quarterly, 12/16/09)

Sen. Tom Coburn , R-Okla., objected Wednesday morning to a routine request to waive the reading of a 767-page amendment by Bernard Sanders , I-Vt., that would create a single-payer health care system. Sanders’ amendment is highly unlikely to be adopted, but its reading out loud gobbles up several hours increasingly scarce floor time. One GOP leadership aide said he expected the reading to take “a long time,” while another noted that just the amendment’s table of contents, which is six pages in length, took a clerk 17 minutes to read.

Coburn’s move may foreshadow a GOP move to further delay floor action by forcing clerks to read aloud the yet-to-be unveiled manager’s amendment that Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev., and his staff have been working to craft behind closed doors. That amendment is expected to incorporate all remaining changes to the bill before Senate passage.

GOP Grabs First Battleground Lead In 8 Years (Steven Shepard, 12/16/09, Hotline)

The GOP leads on the midterm generic cong. ballot in a new George Washington Univ. Battleground poll -- the first time the party has led in that survey since the beginning of '02.

The GOP claims a 42%-40% lead among LVs, according to the poll released today, with 18% undecided. In the most recent poll, in July, Dems led, 43%-40%.

NBC poll: Public sours on health reform (Mark Murray, 12/16/09, NBC)

Just 32 percent say it's a good idea, versus 47 percent who say it's a bad idea.

In addition, for the first time in the survey, a plurality prefers the status quo to reform. By a 44-41 percent margin, respondents say it would be better to keep the current system than to pass Obama's health plan. ,/blockquote>

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 16, 2009 3:49 PM