The Dish

Ezra Klein unpacks the CBO score:

The bill will cost $940 billion over the first 10 years and reduce the deficit by $130 billion during that period. In the second 10 years — so, 2020 to 2029 — it will reduce the deficit by $1.2 trillion. The legislation will cover 32 million Americans, or 95 percent of the legal population. To put this in context, that's more deficit reduction than either the House or Senate bill, and more coverage than the Senate bill.

Hotline:

The bill is now headed to the House Rules Committee, where Dems will finalize their options for moving forward. Floor action is expected on Sunday, 72  hours after the bill gets posted online.

This is what I live in fear of. And I am so much more privileged than almost all those who will get this kind of call from their insurance company.

Ashraf Zeitoon studies a survey of Arab youth:

Another surprising finding was that Arab youth prioritize living in a democratic country over everything else. 99 percent of those interviewed in the survey in Kuwait revealed that living in a democracy was either "very important" or "somewhat important", while Egypt followed with the second highest at 98 percent and the UAE was third at 96 percent.

Imagine if the US could help establish a genuine democracy on the West Bank. Not easy – but surely easier than Iraq! I believe we are at a pivotal moment – for the US to help save Israel and turn the Jihadist dynamic around. It probably won't happen in Iraq … but in Palestine? Talk about transformational.

This is partly what Obama was elected for. It's good for Israel, good for the US and good for the global war against Jihadist terrorism. And, yes, it's also just.

Good news for the president:

Dem source: CBO score says bill cuts deficit by $130 bill in first 10, $1.2 trill in second 10. Costs $940 billion in first.

The head of the Catholic Health Association says it's pro-life enough for her:

The insurance reforms will make the lives of millions more secure, and their coverage more affordable. The reforms will eventually make affordable health insurance available to 31 million of the 47 million Americans currently without coverage.

CHA has a major concern on life issues. We said there could not be any federal funding for abortions and there had to be strong funding for maternity care, especially for vulnerable women. The bill now being considered allows people buying insurance through an exchange to use federal dollars in the form of tax credits and their own dollars to buy a policy that covers their health care. If they choose a policy with abortion coverage, then they must write a separate personal check for the cost of that coverage.

There is a requirement that the insurance companies be audited annually to assure that the payment for abortion coverage fully covers the administrative and clinical costs, that the payment is held in a separate account from other premiums, and that there are no federal dollars used.

In addition, there is a wonderful provision in the bill that provides $250 million over 10 years to pay for counseling, education, job training and housing for vulnerable women who are pregnant or parenting. Another provision provides a substantial increase in the adoption tax credit and funding for adoption assistance programs.

An association of nuns makes the Catholic case:

Dear Members of Congress:

We write to urge you to cast a life-affirming “yes” vote when the Senate health care bill (H.R. 3590) comes to the floor of the House for a vote as early as this week. We join the Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA), which represents 1,200 Catholic sponsors, systems, facilities and related organizations, in saying: the time is now for health reform AND the Senate bill is a good way forward.

As the heads of major Catholic women’s religious order in the United States, we represent 59,000 Catholic Sisters in the United States who respond to needs of people in many ways. Among our other ministries we are responsible for running many of our nation’s hospital systems as well as free clinics throughout the country.

We have witnessed firsthand the impact of our national health care crisis, particularly its impact on women, children and people who are poor. We see the toll on families who have delayed seeking care due to a lack of health insurance coverage or lack of funds with which to pay high deductibles and co-pays. We have counseled and prayed with men, women and children who have been denied health care coverage by insurance companies. We have witnessed early and avoidable deaths because of delayed medical treatment.

The health care bill that has been passed by the Senate and that will be voted on by the House will expand coverage to over 30 million uninsured Americans. While it is an imperfect measure, it is a crucial next step in realizing health care for all. It will invest in preventative care. It will bar insurers from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions. It will make crucial investments in community health centers that largely serve poor women and children. And despite false claims to the contrary, the Senate bill will not provide taxpayer funding for elective abortions. It will uphold longstanding conscience protections and it will make historic new investments – $250 million – in support of pregnant women.

This is the REAL pro-life stance, and we as Catholics are all for it.

Congress must act. We are asking every member of our community to contact their congressional representatives this week. In this Lenten time, we have launched nationwide prayer vigils for health care reform. We are praying for those who currently lack health care. We are praying for the nearly 45,000 who will lose their lives this year if Congress fails to act. We are also praying for you and your fellow Members of Congress as you complete your work in the coming days. For us, this health care reform is a faith mandate for life and dignity of all of our people.

We urge you to vote “yes” for life by voting yes for health care reform in H.R. 3590.

"When I'm drafting right to life language, I don't call up the nuns." – Bart Stupak, who says he takes instructions from Bishops and Focus On The Family.

Fred Kaplan gives us a brief reality check:

It is worth noting, for instance, that every nation or international entity that has taken a position on the issue—except for Israel—regards East Jerusalem, at least formally, as “occupied territory.” Israel annexed East Jerusalem in 1980, but no other country recognized the move. U.N. Resolution 478, passed soon after, declared the annexation to be in violation of international law and thus “null and void.” (The Security Council passed the resolution with no dissent; even the United States merely abstained.)

And he gets why Obama must not, cannot back down:

U.S. envoy George Mitchell was on the verge of starting “indirect” talks between Israelis and Palestinians, shuttling between the two, at least initially. The talks were quietly supported by Saudi Arabia, whose rulers want to check the regional ambitions of Iran, which uses (and supplies) Hezbollah and Hamas as its surrogates. A convergence of interests between Israel and Arab moderates—among whom can be numbered Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad—would tilt the regional balance away from Iran. This tilt could help in the campaign to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons—and perhaps solidify support for U.S. and NATO policies in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

However, this entire chain depends on one critical link: the appearance of a genuine and promising movement toward an Israeli-Palestinian settlement. For their own standing in the rest of the Arab world and among their own potentially volatile populations no Arab country can afford to get too cozy with the United States, and especially not with Israel, as long as that link is severed.

By continuing to expand in East Jerusalem, the Israeli government’s leaders demonstrate that they are not interested in a real peace.

And until they are, the US’s interests globally are threatened. This is where the rubber hits the road. If AIPAC wants to use this weekend to pretend nothing has changed or that this is somehow Obama’s fault, or that we can continue on fighting Jihadism while they keep polarizing the Muslim world, then they need an attitude adjustment. When you’ve lost your European allies, Turkey, and the US president, Cllnton, Emanuel and Biden, you need to realize you’ve become your own worst enemy.

Enough.

Goldblog surveys the series of pretty awful diplomatic blunders over the last few months and concludes:

Bibi Netanyahu is not in control of his government. He has brought into his coalition parties — Lieberman's party, the Shas Party — that are narrow-focused, excessively-rightist, stubborn and prideful, and now he's paying the price. The problem is that Israel is paying the price as well. America can afford stupid politicians. Israel can't.

Jeffrey rightly points out something that many missed: the truly stupid alienation of Turkey. But he doesn't note that the Dubai assassination wasn't merely impolitic with respect to the UAE but to France, Germany, Ireland, Australia and Britain, whose citizens had their passports and identities stolen. is it really in the interests of Israel to have MI5 pissed off? In the Times, former Tory foreign minister, Malcolm Rifkind, puts it this way:

Was it a cock-up? Or was it a conspiracy? In all probability it was a cocked-up conspiracy.

We are now getting all sorts of excuses and explanations – East Jerusalem has always been fair game for new Jewish settlements, Netanyahu didn't know what was happening, Obama has made this worse than it might have been, and on and on. But the truth is: Petraeus is right.

If Israel continues to alienate and insult every ally, as it has done now for over a year, and if its actions inflame Jihadist terrorism which US forces are trying to tamp down, then this is an American issue. And the American president has every right and reason to protest and get a change in attitude and policy from Jerusalem. 

And, yes, the Palestinians could always throw this opportunity away. But it's there now. And Obama must not flinch on seizing it.

From Brad DeLong.