Blue Dog Ben Nelson Says Health Reform Should Have Super-Majority of 65 Votes

By Joshua Holland, AlterNet

With public support for an overhaul of America's health care system -- one with a robust public option -- on the rise, the Senate Finance Committee takes up the bill proposed by Max Baucus, D-Mont., today. CNN reports: "Sens. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia and Chuck Schumer of New York ...plan to put their Democratic colleagues on the spot on Tuesday by offering amendments on whether to give uninsured Americans the opportunity to join a government insurance program." Talking Points Memo's Brian Beutler is live-blogging the hearings here.

In a sign of the tensions simmering between progressive Dems and their Blue Dog counterparts, Senator Ben Nelson, D-Neb., is threatening to oppose any reform that doesn't receive the support of at least 5 Republicans -- an all but impossible task given that even the GOP's so-called "moderates" have opposed even the most business-friendly of the Democrats' proposals.

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