President Barack Obama may get one of his Christmas wishes this year as the Senate took the first steps to advance its comprehensive health reform bill.

One of the biggest obstacles going into the Senate’s debate on a comprehensive health care reform measure was the existence of a government-run public insurance option.

As the Senate prepares to debate the $959 billion Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, one key senator in the debate says he and others will “fight and demand a public option and a strong one at that.”

Abortion prohibitions do not belong in a health care reform bill because they are two separate issues, said Maryland Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin at a news conference in the Capitol Nov. 10.

A group of six senators, representing both parties, sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell urging them to “resist timelines” set by …  Read →