Reid Goes Nuclear, Iran May Not

++Harry Reid has finally gone nuclear in the Senate. In a move to change filibuster rules for executive nominations, by late last night lingering Democrats signed on. The vote failed cloture this morning by three votes and Mitch McConnell moved to adjourn the Senate.

++Meanwhile in Geneva,negotiations have started on a nuclear deal with Iran, which would require them to suspend their nuclear program for six months until a comprehensive deal is negotiated. At the same time UN inspectors will be in the country examining sites. In return, Iran will get use of the funds that have been frozen and maybe a few of the UN sanctions will be eased. Israel and Senate Republicans are lobbying against the deal.

++Yesterday, legendary civil rights leader Bayard Rustin received the Presidential Medal of Freedom,along with many others. Receiving the award in his memory was his partner Walter Naegle. Unfortunately,press reports on the ceremony focused on the celebrity honorees and omitted his name. In the announcement, Bayard was honored for being an openly gay man who worked alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. But there was no mention of his great organizing achievement--the March on Washington.

++The Council of Economic Advisers released a study that showed health costs rose at the lowest level in fifty years after the ACA passed. They reported that 80% of those already insured were unaffected by ACA. Only 1.5% will have to pay higher for better policies. The report triggered an OMB report that calculated that Medicare and Medicaid would cost 10% less in the future because of this information. Jonathan Gruber, who worked on Romneycare in Massachusetts and Obamacare,said that the bulk of the savings was found in Medicare after the reforms. He dismissed the Recession as the reason because the economy has picked up but healthcare costs have not.

++The New York Times published a story on the GOP's memo about their unceasing campaign against Obamacare with details of the steps they will pursue to try and stop it. One of the new litmus tests for the Right is the prevention of the expansion of Medicaid.

++We are heading to another Government shutdown as Mitch McConnell met with GOP House leaders to tell them that there would be no budget deal unless there was substantial entitlement reform. Democrats want the sequester cuts lifted but GOP leadership insist on the budget caps. 

++Luckily, Bloomberg reports that the debt ceiling will probably not be reached until May or June of next year, which would decouple the budget issue from the cataclysmic collapse of the global economy.

++While the GOP is doubling down on anything anti-President Obama, Democrats are beginning to get their sea legs on economic issues. Incredibly,ENDA, the bill against discriminating against gays and lesbians in employment, polls in the majority in every congressional district in America. But the bill will not come to the floor in the House. 29 states allow for the firing of an employee because he or she is gay or thought to be gay. Immigration reform still remains a Democratic issue and the House will not put it to a vote because it would pass. President Obama speaking to the Business Council, said he would agree to a piecemeal approach in the House as long as all the pieces were passed. On raising the minimum wage, Massachusetts just raised it to $11 per hour,New Jersey just passed it over-riding Chris Christie's veto, and Senate Democrats have taken up President Obama's call to raise the minimum wage to about $10 bucks. Instead of succumbing to the endless litany of cutting Social Security benefits,Elizabeth Warren, Sherrod Brown and Bernie Sanders are advocating an expansion of Social Security and strengthening it for a longer lifetime.If Democrats can hold tough on ACA, they re heading into the progressive direction.

++Contrary to these hopeful signs, the anti-Obama fervor continues its feverish rhetoric and pace. The new meme of the Right is that the President is a liar. I guess because of his statement on You can Keep Your Insurance if you want to. Rep. Darryl Issa is going to open an investigation of the Census Bureau's jobs report prior to the election, believing that tilted the election. Larry Klayman of Judicial Watch is calling for a Continental Congress to vote for a shadow President. He has given President Obama until Black Friday to resign. The Koch Brothers have ramped up their Anti-ACA ads against vulnerable Democratic Senators.