You start with the expansion of Medicaid and the funding.  Then you move onto the next budget item on the Medicare front.  Then...

More Senate Democrats are pressuring the Obama administration to move Sept. 11 plotter Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's trial out of New York City and into a military commission.

Democratic Sens. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Jim Webb of Virginia signed on to a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder condemning the administration's November announcement of a criminal trial in Manhattan.

"Your decision to prosecute enemy combatants captured on foreign battlefields like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is without precedent in our nation's history," the senators wrote. "Given the risks and costs, it is far more logical, cost-effective, and strategically wise to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in the military commissions."

The letter "shows that there is growing support, especially on the Democratic side, against this decision. Going on the record in a letter to the [attorney general] is a big step for both Webb and Lincoln," a Senate aide said.

The letter is also signed by Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.)

4 charged in phone scheme at La. senator's office By Michael Kunzelman, Associated Press, Tues. January 26 2010

NEW ORLEANS - A hero of conservatives who bruised the liberal group ACORN by posing as a pimp on hidden camera is now accused of orchestrating an attempt to tamper with phone lines at Democratic U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu's office inside a federal building.

It's not clear what James O'Keefe, 25, and three other suspects were trying to accomplish Monday at the New Orleans office of Landrieu, who has been criticized for securing more Medicaid benefits for her state in exchange for her support on health care legislation.

It sounded like a Watergate-style operation, but federal officials have not yet said why the men wanted to interfere with Landrieu's phones, whether they were successful, or even if the goal was political espionage. All four have been involved in conservative politics in the past.

A staff member in the office told the FBI that two of the suspects, including the son of an acting U.S. Attorney, wore white hard harts, tool belts and flourescent vests and said they needed to fix a problem with the phone system.

According to an FBI affidavit, O'Keefe was already sitting in the waiting area and recorded the men on his cell phone when they walked in.

A federal law enforcement official said one of the suspects was picked up in a car a couple of blocks away with a listening device that could pick up transmissions. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the information was not part of the FBI affidavit.

O'Keefe said "veritas," Latin for truth, as he left jail Tuesday with suspects Stan Dai and Joseph Basel, both 24. All declined to comment.

"There will be a time for that," Dai said.

As he got into a cab outside the jail, O'Keefe said, "The truth shall set me free." His biography on a Web site where he blogs says he works at VeritasVisuals.com, though that Web site does not currently work. [... More ...]

Combined with the timing with the "retreat" on the health care and insurance bill, in a 2010 mid-terms election season, this incident of rat f*ckery begs a LOT of questions.

Shades of 1972. Shades of, well, the entire Bush/Cheney era.

Reid's spokesman, Jim Manley, declined to comment on whether the majority leader believes he can round up 51 votes.

"We are still discussing next steps and options with the House, the White House and our caucus," Manley said.

Seven Senate Democrats and one independent, Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, cautioned that they were wary of using reconciliation to push ahead with health care reform. Some said the maneuver would show Americans that Democrats had not learned from the Massachusetts election.

Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu said she was "leaning against supporting" reconciliation, unless it is used narrowly. "But it would have to be completely transparent and advertised well in advance what those changes are."

Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln, perhaps the most endangered Democrat up for reelection this year, issued a statement saying she "will fight against any attempts to push through changes" to the Senate bill through reconciliation.

"I will not accept any last-minute efforts to force changes to health insurance reform issues through budget reconciliation, and neither will Arkansans," Lincoln said.

Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor said reconciliation is "certainly not my first choice. I'm not real wild about using that procedure that way." If it came down to killing health care reform or using reconciliation, Pryor said he will "cross that bridge when I get to it."

Alaska Sen. Mark Begich said he had "strong reservations." Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson said Democrats should pass a series of smaller health care bills, and Lieberman said Democrats needed to reach out one last time to Republicans before moving ahead with reconciliation.

Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill said she would not rule out supporting reconciliation. But, she said, she was "not open" to using the maneuver for a comprehensive fix to the Senate bill. And regarding the more narrow, two-step process envisioned by Democratic leaders, McCaskill said: "I don't think it's a good idea."