This Weekend's Showdown: Health Care Reform

After a dramatic lead-up to passing Health Care Reform in the US House of Representatives, it is now the US Senate's turn to do the same.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has no easy feat on his hands. Whipping support among his fellow party members -- some of whom are in tough re-election scenarios -- is about as easy as herding cats. (Luckily for New Mexicans, our two Senators are behind the reform efforts.)

With the Democratic Party providing little in the way of a litmus test for candidates, our proverbial "big tent" houses lots of folks from a diverse set of backgrounds.

So as Reid soldiers on towards reform in the Senate, we are happy to hear this morning that Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) -- a fairly conservative Senator from an even more conservative state -- has indicated his support for bringing the issue of health care reform to the Senate floor.

This leaves two Senators -- Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Mary Landrieu -- the focus of Reid's efforts to bring the bill to debate. Recent polling has shown that voters in Kansas, Louisiana, and Arkansas overwhelmingly support both bringing the bill to the floor for debate as well as eventually voting on the bill.

We don't understand the harm of debating the bill and given the positive score from the Congressional Budget Office, there is even less of a reason for delaying debate on this bill -- which includes a public option.

The longer the delay to debate, the higher the chances of hacks like Glenn Beck can mislead and misinform the American public. In his latest rant, Beck compares the health care reform bills to the unmitigated downfall of America as we know it(!):

Arianna Huffington (while on MSNBC) accurately calls Beck's outbursts "fear-mongering." The Anti-Defamation League concurs.

While we New Mexicans are notorious for resisting the influence of others -- recently noted by Vice President Joe Biden on a stop in Albuquerque -- it is hard to stay immune to such pernicious speech.

With visits to New Mexico from RNC Chairman Michael Steele and an upcoming visit by Sarah Palin, as much as we try to resist, folks like Beck & Co. will be trying harder than ever to leverage their influence in the upcoming elections -- it is up to us to call them out on it.