It’s Wednesday. “Learning to Pulse, but I ain’t got wings. Coming down is the hardest thing.” (h/t: Gary Karr)



MASS. REVERB: It’s hard for some Democrats to believe that the candidate running to replace Ted Kennedy is being attacked over health care reform — in one of the bluest states in the union, no less. But Republican Scott Brown has got Democrats nervous — not just for his opponent Martha Coakley but about the fact that a loss in Massachusetts would be a body blow to Democratic reform efforts in Washington. Republicans are watching public approval of reform continue to tank, while their candidates’ poll numbers rise. And they still view the bill’s Medicare cuts, tax increases and lack of transparency as key to a 2010 message that voters should bring GOP checks and balances to a Democratic-run Washington. Democrats, meanwhile, continue to argue that once the legislating is done, the party will be able to sell reform’s benefits, including coverage for more than 30 million Americans, better prescription drug coverage for seniors and tighter controls on insurance companies. Brown’s danger to health reform is more than just his messaging — he’s hoping to become the ‘41st vote’ to scuttle a health reform bill in the Senate by denying Democrats their 60-vote majority. It’s not that simple. Even if he manages to upset Coakley — despite some polls showing her with a double-digit lead — Democrats could drag out seating Brown, thanks to a 15-day waiting period to send results to the secretary of state and, then, no deadline for state officials to formally declare a winner. And even if Democrats were unable to negotiate a final bill before Brown was seated, they’d have a last resort: Democrats could try to pass the Senate bill through the House with no changes, sending it straight to President Obama’s desk. But Brown’s threat to health reform is in some ways larger. He’s showing how Republicans can run against reform.



HOUSE DEMS GO ON OFFENSE -- Democrats are going on the attack today against "Washington Republicans" and "the insurance industry." The GOP will come under fire for threatening to repeal reform from the comfort of their taxpayer-provided health benefits. And insurers will get hit for helping to bankroll the Chamber of Commerce’s anti-reform ads, according to a Democratic leadership aide. "Expect to see floor speeches, releases and party committee hits over the next couple of days on both." Read the backgrounder on GOP repeal efforts and the 10 things Dems want you to know about reform.



OBAMA, DEM LEADERS MEET TODAY – President Obama, Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Reid will meet at 9:30 a.m. in the Oval Office to talk reform. And at 10 a.m., they will move to the Cabinet Room where they will be joined by Democratic Reps. Steny Hoyer, James Clyburn, Henry Waxman, Charles Rangel and George Miller and Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin, Chris Dodd, Max Baucus and Tom Harkin, reports POLITICO’s Carol Lee.



INSURERS FUNDED CHAMBER ATTACK ADS, reports National Journal’s Peter Stone: “Just as dealings with the Obama administration and congressional Democrats soured last summer, six of the nation's biggest health insurers began quietly pumping big money into third-party television ads aimed at killing or significantly modifying the major health reform bills moving through Congress. That money, between $10 million and $20 million, came from Aetna, Cigna, Humana, Kaiser Foundation Health Plans, UnitedHealth Group and Wellpoint, according to two health care lobbyists familiar with the transactions. The companies are all members of the powerful trade group America's Health Insurance Plans. The funds were solicited by AHIP and funneled to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to help underwrite tens of millions of dollars of television ads by two business coalitions set up and subsidized by the chamber. Each insurer kicked in at least $1 million and some gave multimillion-dollar donations. ‘There's no question that AHIP has quietly solicited monies from their members which were funneled over to the chamber for their ads,’ said a source. The total donated by the health insurers, according to one estimate, was as much as one-quarter of the chamber's total health care advertising budget. A spokesman for Kaiser said it contributed funds to AHIP last year for positive ads on health care reform, and that AHIP has told the insurer that none of its monies were sent to the chamber.”

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