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Reid to Senate: Get ready to work overtime on health care.

Washington (CNN) – On their first day back from the Thanksgiving break, Harry Reid had a warning for his fellow senators: You can forget about any more down time for a while.

The Senate Majority Leader announced Monday, as the formal floor debate over the legislation crafted by the Senate Democratic leadership got underway, that "nothing can be more important" than the health care reform bill.

"We'll do this work tirelessly," the Nevada Democrat said on the Senate floor. "That may mean debating and voting late at night. It definitely means the next weekends - plural - we'll be working. I have events I'll have to postpone, some I'll have to cancel. There is not an issue more important than finishing this legislation."

The Senate was last in session the Saturday before Thanksgiving, when all 60 members of the Democratic caucus voted to begin debating health care reform in the full chamber. That Saturday vote could just be a taste of what's to come in December.

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The Progressive Change Campaign Committee will begin making robocalls encouraging Reid to stand strong.

WASHINGTON (CNN)– The day before Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid opens the debate on health care reform, a group of liberal activists who once attacked the Nevada Democrat announced they will begin making robocalls encouraging Reid to stand strong in the fight for health care reform and the public option.

In the calls, longtime Nevada nurse Lee Slaugher - the star of an attack ad released late last month which questioned Reid's political strength, tells residents in her state to stand behind their Senator.

"I'm very thankful that Senator Harry Reid has included a public health insurance option in his health care bill. He shocked the political world by being so bold on this issue." Slaughter says in the calls released by The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a liberal political action committee with the express goal of electing progressive candidates to federal office.

"If you want to join me in thanking Senator Reid, and letting him know that we'll stand with him as long as he keeps fighting for a public option, please press one on your keypad," Slaughter concludes.

The group says the calls are expected to reach 10,000 Nevada voters beginning Saturday, as Democrats and Republicans take to the Senate floor to vote on beginning debate on health care legislation introduced by Democrats.

The 2,074-page Senate bill seeks to reduce long-term costs of health care for the government, businesses and individuals while reforming how services are delivered to increase efficiency and effectiveness. It includes controversial provisions such as a government-run public health insurance option.

Republicans have vowed to try to block the bill, requiring Reid to round up 60 votes in the 100-member Senate to overcome a GOP filibuster and launch debate.

Washington (CNN) – In the 2004 election, "new media" was defined by blogs. In 2008, it was defined by Facebook and Twitter. In 2012, those social media tools will move from your computer screen to your pocket, as mobile technology helps define the new terms of campaign engagement.

Political strategists are getting ready for the new era - testing new uses for mobile technology, and generating massive contact lists. Last week, Harry Reid's re-election campaign launched a text messaging program surveying constituents on their feelings about health care. Those results were then sent out for all to see on Reid's campaign Twitter account.

"Last campaign was almost, but this campaign will be, a tipping point for mobile," says Todd Ogasawara, who writes the blog Mobile Content Today.  "A lot of these tools are not only maturing, but the people using these tools are maturing."

A third of Nevada's voters registered after Reid's last re-election bid in 2004. Thirty-seven percent of those are under the age of 30, a demographic that began texting not long after they learned to talk.

They may not pick up a newspaper, but they never put down their cell phone.

"The campaign recognizes cell phones are a primary mode of communication and we need to go communicate with voters on their turf," Reid campaign manager Brandon Hall told CNN. The new technology, he says, is driving traditional political organizing. "Instead of having someone knock at someone's door, it allows you to do all the traditional political organizing online," he said.
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Senate to vote Saturday on opening debate on health care bill '

Washington (CNN)– The Senate will vote Saturday on opening debate on the sweeping health care bill introduced by Democrats, Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday.

At a celebratory news conference the day after unveiling the 2,074-page bill, Reid and other leading Senate Democrats touted it as long overdue reform that will provide health coverage to millions of uninsured Americans while reducing the federal deficit.

Republicans have vowed to try to block the bill, requiring Reid to round up 60 votes in the 100-member Senate to overcome a GOP filibuster and launch debate.

The Democratic caucus is composed of 58 Democratic senators and two independents. However, some conservative and moderate Democrats have expressed concern with provisions in the health care bill.

Asked Thursday if he had the votes to launch debate, Reid said: "We'll find out."

Washington (CNN) – Coming out of their Wednesday meeting with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana both had positive comments that suggested they were more ready to vote for a motion that would allow debate to begin on the Democrats' health care plan than they had been prior to this afternoon's sitdown.

Landrieu and Nelson, along with fellow moderate Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, met with Reid in his office.

"Sen. Reid gave me some assurances that some of my concerns will be dealt with," said Landrieu, who stressed she would not make a decision on whether to vote for the motion to proceed until the text of the bill was released, and she had a chance to review some of the provisions again.

"I’ve been very clear. There are two or three issues," she told CNN. "One, does this bill actually drive down costs to individuals, to businesses and to the government. Number two, is there a quote, public option that will undermine the private insurance market - and if there is, it needs to come out at some point. It needs to come out at some point.

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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is waiting for the Congressional Budget Office to evaluate the cost of the bill.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Senate's top Democrat declined Tuesday to say when he would introduce a hotly anticipated health care reform bill.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said he was still waiting for a cost estimate of the legislation from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

"We're going to be hearing from CBO very soon," he promised during a Capitol Hill news conference.

Reid accused Republicans, who have promised a filibuster, of trying to dodge a full Senate debate and rob "the American people of a historic opportunity."

Sixty votes in the 100-member Senate are required to overcome a filibuster and open Senate debate on the bill.

GOP leaders, meanwhile, expressed fears that the Democrats would try to spring the measure on the Senate with little advance warning to deny Republicans a chance to adequately review it before starting debate.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said he expects a vote to open debate on the measure would come Friday. He pledged Republicans would continue to strongly oppose a bill that they say will result in tax and premium increases while doing little to rein in spiraling medical costs.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is considering a provision to raise payroll taxes for the wealthy as part of a health care bill, a Democratic source told CNN.

Washington (CNN) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is considering a provision to raise payroll taxes for the wealthy as part of a health care bill, a Democratic source told CNN.

The Democratic source said Reid is considering an increase in the Medicare tax for individuals with income exceeding $250,000. The current Medicare deduction is 1.4 percent of income.

The idea is an alternative to the Senate Finance Committee's proposal to tax so-called "Cadillac" health insurance plans that offer broad coverage at a much higher-than-average price.

Reid is using the Finance Committee bill and another from the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to forge a Senate bill expected to come before the full chamber before Thanksgiving.

However, Democrats in the Senate have been under intense pressure from unions to drop the tax on Cadillac coverage. Organized labor is a key Democratic party constituency, and many rank-and-file union workers have high-cost plans they received by scaling back pay demands at the bargaining table.

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Harry Reid is hoping to start debate on Senate health care legislation next week.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The first crucial showdown over health care reform by the full Senate could come as early as next Tuesday.

That's when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid hopes the chamber will vote to start debate on health care legislation.

Though Reid put the wheels in motion for next week's vote, nothing is guaranteed.

Democrats need 60 votes to pass the motion to start debate. While there are 60 members in the Democrats' coalition, Ben Nelson, a moderate Democrat from Nebraska – says he hasn't decided whether he will give his party his vote, and won't until he sees the actual bill.

In fact, no one has seen the senate health care bill yet. Reid won't release the legislation until he knows the cost of the bill. Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, has been waiting nearly three weeks for the non partisan Congressional Budget Office to return its score, or cost, of the bill. Aides to the Senate Majority Leader say they expect the CBO information on the cost of the bill by the end of this week.

Saturday the House of Representatives voted 220 to 215 to pass their version of health care reform. Any legislation that emerges from the full Senate would then have to be reconciled with the House bill.

CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report

Two sources tell CNN that the idea for having former President Bill Clinton talk with Democratic senators about health care came from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Washington (CNN) – Two sources tell CNN that the idea for having former President Bill Clinton talk with Democratic senators about health care came from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. A senior administration official says Reid asked Clinton to do it, and the White House had a role in helping to arrange it.

On Capitol Hill, a senior Democratic leadership aide confirms to CNN that Reid invited the former president after discussing the idea with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who worked in the Clinton White House. The leadership aide says Clinton is expected to discuss "what's at stake - the historic moment" and to call on Democrats to "finish the job."

Reid: No timetable for Senate approval of health care bill.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid refused Tuesday to offer a prediction for when the chamber would pass a health care bill, possibly signaling difficulty in generating support from his entire Democratic caucus.

President Barack Obama has said he wants to sign a health care bill this year, and both the House and Senate are expected to take up differing versions of comprehensive proposals in coming weeks.

However, Reid declined to offer a timetable when asked at a news conference if he believed the Senate would pass the bill this year.

"First of all, we're not going to be bound by any time lines," Reid said. "We need to do the best job we can for the American people. We want quality legislation, and we're going to do that."

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WASHINGTON (CNN) – As Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pushes for a health care reform bill that includes a public option, national polling suggests a rise in support among Americans for a government-financed plan that would compete with private insurance.

According to an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released Tuesday, 48 percent of those questioned favor a public option, with 42 percent opposed to such a plan. That's a 10-point swing from August when 47 percent were opposed and 43 percent in favor.

The NBC/WSJ survey joins two polls released last week, CNN/Opinion Research Corporation and ABC/Washington Post, that also indicated a jump in public support for a government option.

"The latest CNN poll found that support for the public option grew most among independents, who were essentially split on that proposal in August but supported it by a 61 percent to 38 percent margin in October," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "But one group - senior citizens - still oppose a public option proposal, and their opposition has barely budged between the summer and fall."

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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told CNN Monday that a budgetary procedure called reconciliation is an option to pass a health care reform bill in his chamber.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - After announcing his intention to move forward with a health care reform bill in the Senate that includes a version of the public health insurance option that would allow states to opt out, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told CNN that he has not ruled out using a budgetary procedure called reconciliation which would allow Democrats to pass the bill with a simple majority.

"It's always an option," Reid told CNN when asked about reconciliation Monday.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, told CNN he hopes Democrats don't need to go that route and remained open to putting a bill on the Senate floor that does not include a public option, should the Reid-pushed bill fail. A proposal without a public option would still require 60 votes to move forward in the Senate.

In an interview prior to Reid's announcement Monday, House Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn, D-South Carolina, made a public appeal to Reid to use reconciliation.

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The Senate Majority Leader announced Monday that he intends to move forward with a health care bill that includes the 'opt out' version of the public health insurance option.

WASHINGTON (CNN) –Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Monday that he intends to move forward with a health care bill including a public insurance option allowing states to opt out.

Reid, a Nevada Democrat, has been melding legislation from the more conservative Senate Finance Committee and the more liberal Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. The Health Committee included a form of the public option in its bill; the Finance Committee did not.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has insisted the House of Representatives will pass a health care reform bill including a public option.

President Barack Obama has indicated his preference for legislation including a public option, but has not indicated he would a veto a bill without one. Several top Democrats have previously expressed concern that the traditionally conservative Senate would not pass a bill with a public option.

The public option is "not a silver bullet," but will ensure healthy competition and a more level playing field for consumers, Reid told reporters on Capitol Hill. Public opinion polls show that a wide majority of Americans support a public option, he said.

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It's unclear whether Reid has the 60 votes necessary to move forward with his plan.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will announce Monday his plans for the Senate health care bill on Monday afternoon, and multiple Democratic sources tell CNN he will discuss his decision to move forward with a bill that includes a public option, but with a provision allowing states to opt out.

CNN first reported Sunday that Reid was poised to finalize a Senate health care bill as soon as Monday and send it to the Congressional Budget Office so it could begin to determine the bill's cost.

Reid hopes his proposal will appeal to liberal senators who have been insisting on a public option as well as to conservatives who are wary of a government-run plan but could persuaded to support one if states have the authority to opt out.

Several Democratic sources tell CNN that Reid does not yet have firm commitments from 60 senators for this idea, which he would likely need even for a vote to begin Senate debate.

For that reason, multiple Senate Democratic sources concede this strategy is risky. But a Reid aide told CNN Sunday that the Senate Majority Leader is cautiously optimistic, based on a series of conversations with Democratic senators, that he will ultimately find the votes.

An administration official went so far as calling Reid's move "dangerous," but quickly followed by saying Reid knows his caucus better than anyone, and will therefore have the support of the White House.

A senior aide tells CNN that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is likely to include an 'opt out' version of the public insurance option in the Senate health care bill Reid is currently crafting.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is poised to proceed with plans to introduce a Senate health care bill with a public health insurance option that would allow states to opt out, a senior aide to Reid told
CNN on Sunday.

The aide, who did not want to be quoted by name when talking about private deliberations, said a final decision would be made Monday.

Reid is likely to make the move without having firm commitments of support from 60 senators, the number needed to break a filibuster, according to the aide. Describing the move as a "risky strategy," the aide said Reid believes including the public option is the right approach, and that the senator is "cautiously optimistic he can get the votes necessary."

The Senate fate of any bill with a public option is unclear, due to unanimous Republican opposition and concerns by some conservative and moderate Democrats.

A public option was considered virtually dead a few weeks ago, but Reid revived it last week by canvassing support for a plan that includes the public option while allowing states to opt out.

According to Reid's aide, the Nevada senator hopes to finalize the bill by Monday afternoon to send to the Congressional Budget Office for scoring - an analysis of what it will cost. Reid then would present the bill to all Senate Democrats at their weekly policy lunch on Tuesday, the aide said.

Several Democratic sources acknowledged to CNN that Reid's decision to include a public option in the Senate health care bill reflects a desire to calm an increasingly angry Democratic base. According to the Democratic sources, the party's base is furious with President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats for moving slower than desired on issues such as closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and reversing the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy for gay soldiers.

Even if the Senate votes to drop the public option, Reid could still argue he tried to get it included, the sources noted.
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Liberals are attacking Harry Reid in a new television ad.

(CNN) - Days after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid launched a pair of campaign ads in anticipation of a potentially difficult reelection bid, the Nevada Democrat is taking heat in his home state from liberal activists upset over the likelihood that the final Senate health care bill will not include a public option.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a liberal political action committee with the express goal of electing progressive candidates to federal office, is launching a new ad in Nevada this week that asks, "Is Harry Reid strong enough?"

The 30-second commercial features a longtime Nevada nurse, Lee Slaughter, whose health care is refusing to pay for complications dealing with broken hips.

"I…voted for Senator Harry Reid many times," Slaughter says. "But in 2010, I'll only be voting on one issue. I'm watching to see if Harry Reid is strong and effective enough as a leader to pass a public health insurance option into law."

The ad will begin running Wednesday in the Las Vegas media market on broadcast and cable. The group, which boasts a membership of 225,000, is hoping to raise $100,000 to keep the commercial on the air. The group's recent ad taking aim at Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Montana, raised over $230,000.

The spot comes 5 days after Reid went up with two campaign ads in Nevada, "Hard Work" and "Jobs," as the four-term senator braces for what will likely be tough re-election fight.

The most recent poll of Nevada voters suggests Reid trails both his Republican rivals in hypothetical 2010 match ups. According to a Mason-Dixon survey commissioned by the Las Vegas Review-Journal and released last week, Reid is down 10 points to Nevada GOP Chairwoman Sue Lowden and down 5 points to businessman Danny Tarkanian. The poll also indicates that half of Nevada's voters have an unfavorable view of Reid, with 38 percent viewing him favorably.

Reid is also facing fire from the right meanwhile as the Republican National Committee begain running a radio ad in the Reno media market last week that links the Nevada Democrat to what it calls the failed economic stimulus package.

Reid is out with two new campaign ads.

(CNN) - Harry Reid is picking up the pace as he plunges into what could a very tough re-election bid next year.

The Senate Majority Leader and senior congressional lawmaker from Nevada is going up with the first television commercials of his campaign, with more than a year to go until the 2010 election.

Reid's campaign says the two commercials will begin running on TV in Nevada Friday. One of the ads, called "Hard Work," highlights the four-term senator's deep roots in the state and touts his economic record.

"You know it's never easy, but we've got the people and the resources to come back stronger than ever," says Reid in the commercial, which is scheduled to air in the Reno, Nevada television market.

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Harry Reid has a disapproval rating in Nevada of 50 percent.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – When it comes to questions about his sagging poll numbers, Sen. Harry Reid has a simple response: Everything is fine.

At a press conference on Capitol Hill Thursday, the Senate Majority Leader was asked if he's willing to risk his political career to carry the Democrats' often contentious agenda through Congress.

"I don't answer hypothetical questions," Reid answered, grinning.

"Everything is going well in Nevada," he continued. "We have an economy that is very difficult in Nevada and we all know that. But it's going to get better there."

Reid said that realtors in Las Vegas told him last week that they see signs of economic recovery, and the senator noted that hotels in the resort city remain full on weekends. "We're doing fine," he said.

The Democratic leader said his poll numbers are also "fine," even though a recent poll shows his disapproval rating in his home state at 50 percent. The poll, Mason-Dixon survey commissioned by the Las Vegas Review Journal last week, showed Reid would lose his re-election bid next year in hypothetical match-ups against two potential Republican challengers.

"All my polling numbers are fine," he said. "They are not from a newspaper in Nevada that you guys tend to focus on. All my polling numbers are fine. And I'm continuing to do the best I can for the people of this country and the people of Nevada."

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid won't be the only member of his family facing Nevada's voters in 2010 now that his son is officially joining the state's gubernatorial campaign.

Rory Reid, 47, will kick off his campaign for Nevada's top job at a rally in Las Vegas on Wednesday evening. Currently serving his second term as Commissioner for Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, the younger Reid says he expects to make the election one about ideas and policies, not his family ties.

"Nobody has asked me who my father is. I think people want to go back to work. They want to know they have a secure future here in our state," Reid recently told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The senior Reid is already facing a tough re-election campaign, with recent polls showing him lagging behind several potential Republican opponents. A Mason-Dixon poll released Tuesday indicated just 38 percent of Nevadans approve of the senator's job performance, while 50 percent disapprove.

A spokesman for the Republican Governors Association said the GOP was delighted by news of Rory Reid's candidacy.

"Harry Reid doesn't do many favors for Republicans, but we could not have asked for a better present than having two Reids on the ballot instead of just one," RGA's Mike Schrimpf said in a Wednesday statement. Reid's candidacy is expected to clear the Democratic field so that he can focus on the general election, while Nevada's embattled Republican governor, Jim Gibbons, faces a likely primary challenge

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is up for re-election in 2010.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid might be trailing two Republican challengers in polls surveying the 2010 landscape in Nevada, but he's also one of the better-funded candidates in the country.

Reid's campaign announced a substantial third quarter fundraising haul on Tuesday, reporting more than $2 million raised over the last three months. Even more impressive: the Democrat has collected over $12 million for his campaign, and can boast of $8.73 million in the bank - all with more than a year to go until Election Day.

The Reid camp is pledging to raise $25 million for his re-election bid, as polling indicates a tough road ahead for the Senate leader.

Reid trails Nevada GOP chairwoman Sue Lowden, 49 percent to 39 percent, according to a Mason-Dixon poll commissioned by the Las Vegas Review-Journal and released Sunday. Reid is also losing by a 48-43 margin in a hypothetical race against another leading candidate for the Republican Senate nomination, businessman Danny Tarkanian.

In more bad news for Reid: Nearly 100 percent of Nevada voters know who Reid is, and 50 percent of them hold an unfavorable view of the Democrat. Just 38 percent have a favorable opinion.