With Nelson on board and LeMieux against, U.S. Senate votes to advance health care bill

The U.S. Senate just voted 60-39 to advance the health care bill, exposing deep division that will continue to play out during debate after Thanksgiving. Florida Senators reflected the party line vote.

"This is a debate that we must have. It is a debate that we cannot afford not to have," Democrat Bill Nelson said in a speech Friday, adding there is "room for improvement" and "that's why we need to debate it." Nelson said he would offer an amendment to force an additional $100 billion in savings from drug makers. "So let the debate begin," he declared.

Republican George LeMieux echoed party leaders who assert the plan amounts to a massive government takeover. "What I'm afraid is the end of the day, where we're going to be in five or ten years from now, is that this is Medicaid for the masses," he said during a news conference earlier Saturday. "We're going to turn Medicare into Medicaid and we're going to put everybody basically on a government-run or a government-regulated program."

Nelson, LeMieux split vote on whether to advance health care bill

UPDATE: Florida's Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson will vote to move the bill forward. Listen to his floor speech

Sen. George LeMieux said he will vote against moving the health care bill to the floor, contending it is still an unfinished product. "It's out for six weeks in Harry Reid's conference room. We should certainly have (time) to evaluate the actual bill we're going to vote on before we move to proceed."

LeMieux said he would speak to the issue at 3 p.m. "From what I see so far, there's a lot that concerns me," he said about 12:30 p.m., making his way into the Charlie Crist fundraiser.

Republican votes like LeMieux's are not critical. What Majority Leader Reid needs is the 60 members who vote with the Democratic caucus (58 Ds and two independents) to move the bill forward. A vote is expected tomorrow evening.

Wasserman Schultz critical of new breast cancer guidelines

New federal guidelines that women should get mammograms starting at age 50, not 40, have provoked a spirited debate, and one prominent critic is Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who battled breast cancer herself.

"I am very concerned that these guidelines conflict with many of the well-established recommendations from the American Medical Association, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, the American Cancer Society, and Susan G. Komen for the Cure. This conflicting information will inevitably lead to confusion among providers and women, resulting in fewer women getting screened for breast cancer." she said in a statement.

Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, is sponsoring legislation that would direct $45 million toward an early detection program aimed at women under 45 -- a proposal that has generated its own debate. Yesterday, she went on CNN to discuss the issue. Video below.

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Democrats target C.W. Bill Young in radio ad

Democrats have targeted U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young in a new radio ad that continues an effort against 32 House Republicans who opposed the health care bill but represent districts won by Barack Obama.

"In last year's historic election, voters in Florida's 10th Congressional District supported President Obama and his call for change," the Democratic National Committee ad goes. "But when it came to fixing our broken health insurance system, Congressman Bill Young voted for more of the same."

Listen to ad here

A similar ad is being run this week in Miami against Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.

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Al Lawson accuses Boyd of selling out to health care industry

State Sen. Al Lawson had some tough words today for his Democratic primary rival, U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd, who voted last week against the House health care bill.

"In my opinion, he's in the pocket of the health care industry," the Tallahassee lawmaker said in an interview, charging his opponent with taking more than $100,000 in campaign contributions from forces trying to alter or kill the reform effort.

But Boyd, of Monticello, has gotten plenty of praise to go along with the criticism. During a town hall last night in Tallahassee, he said he voted against the measure because it did little to nothing to hold down costs. (Democrat story is here)

Democrats plan to deliver earful to C.W. Bill Young

U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young's Pinellas County office may get a bit busy over the next few days. Democratic activists upset with his "no" vote on the House health care bill are asking people to stop by and voice their displeasure. The same effort is directed at Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Miami. An e-mail from Organizing for America reads:

"A little over a year ago, the congressional district you live in voted to send Barack Obama to the White House and Rep. (Young) to Congress. The message was clear: Rep. 's constituents want change, and expect Rep. to work with President Obama and reach across the aisle to help deliver it.

Democrats 'target' Young and Ros-Lehtinen

The Democratic National Committee said today that it will target "vulnerable" Florida Republicans C.W. Bill Young and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen for voting against the House health care plan despite Barack Obama winning their districts in 2008.

"You would think a member of Congress should think twice about voting against health insurance reform that their families and small businesses so desperately need and want. But you have to think to vote against health insurance reform in a Congressional District won by President Obama just a year ago could be a political death knell at a time when Americans are clamoring for solutions to vexing issues like health care," said DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan.

The campaign will include news releases, calls for constituents to write letters to the editor and "may also include paid advertising."

One wonders what the DNC thinks of the two Florida Democrats who felt the same as Young and Ros-Lehtinen. Suzanne Kosmas and Allen Boyd were among 39 Democrats to vote no. Both came from districts won by John McCain.

Bill Nelson says House health care bill leans 'to the left'

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson offered up some of his thoughts on health care reform during a stop at a Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce luncheon today. Nelson said he expects the Senate to ultimately pass a bill with well more than the 60 votes required to get it through, but it will be much different than the bill approved by the House over the weekend. 

"You have to satisfy a lot of senators. And it's going to make it more of a political moderate approach, whereas the House bill is tilted a little bit to the left," he said. As an example, Nelson pointed to the House's tax on high income households to fund reform.

"I think it will be high drama for us to get the 60 votes to get it to the floor of the Senate for consideration," he said. "At the end of the day when you get the final bill being passed by the Senate and the House, I bet you it's bipartisan and it's a fairly overwhelming vote. Because those Senators are hearing the same thing that I'm hearing if they're listening to their folks. And that is we desperately want reform of health care."

Nelson said he has received more than 75,000 letters, e-mails and phone calls on health care reform since the summer. One of his own top priorities is controlling the cost of Medicare, in part by having primary care physicians coordinating care of individuals with the help of electronic medical records.

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Kosmas, Boyd take a pass on health care as Democrats squeak by

U.S. Reps. Suzanne Kosmas and Allen Boyd were the dissenting votes among the Florida delegation on health care.

Otherwise, every Democrat voted in favor and every Republican against. The final vote was 220-215 (with 39 Democrats opposed) underscoring the difficulty ahead for Democrats and President Obama as the debate moves to the Senate.

Tampa Democrat Kathy Castor, who played a role in expanding medical school residencies for Florida and better consumer protections against Medicare Advantage marketing, said it was historic, "along the lines of Social Security and Medicare. This is the next step, the one that has been missing for decades."