Congressional Republicans move on from health care? No way. Chris Frates writes that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and congressional Republicans have a secret plan to repeal ObamaCare through reconciliation – a simple majority vote – since the ruling noted that the mandate was upheld because it is a “tax.”
Stu Rothenberg: “The Fat Lady Sings on Gun Control, 2013 Edition.”
(Yet that is true if you believed that an assault-weapons ban – and not universal background checks – are the heart of the reform effort.)
Roll Call: “Sen. Kay Hagan of North Carolina, who is up for re-election in 2014, became the latest Democrat to announce her support for gay marriage Wednesday morning in an interview with the Raleigh News & Observer.”
Politico wraps the Democratic holdouts on gay marriage. Jonathan Allen: “Only nine of the 55 Democratic senators don’t currently back gay marriage — and some of them are starting to feel the heat from frustrated base voters at home and from the example of their peers in Washington.”
The nine are Tom Carper (DE), Bob Casey (PA), Joe Donnelly (IN), Heidi Heitkamp (ND), Tim Johnson (SD), Mary Landrieu (LA), Joe Manchin (WV), Bill Nelson (FL), and Mark Pryor (AR).
Only one Republican senator – Rob Portman – supports gay marriage.
Rich Lowry: “Supporters of gay marriage again and again cite the shifting polls, as if they are relevant to a deliberation over whether gay marriage is mandated by the Constitution.”
National Journal: “The One Word You Can't Say in Washington: Democrats agree on the need for stimulus. Just don't call it that.”
The Hill: “Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) tweeted on Wednesday that a woman tried to illegally cross the U.S. border from Mexico in front of him and a group of senators in Arizona.”
