It's Wednesday. "They say the darkest hour is right before the dawn but you wouldn't know it by Pulse." (h/t P.A.)
BREAKING – “A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows some signs of improvement for President Obama and the Democrats, with a bump in trust for Democrats, and Obama's approval ratings on the economy and health care pulling even for the first time since fall. The federal budget deficit remains Obama's toughest issue.
“The Post’s Dan Balz and Jon Cohen, analyzing the poll, say it shows the most anti-incumbent electorate since 1994 but “for President Obama and his party, there are some positive signs. … The public trusts Democrats more than Republicans to handle the major problems facing the country by a double-digit margin, giving Democrats a bigger lead than they held two months ago, when Congress was engaged in the long endgame over divisive health-care legislation. A majority continues to see Obama as ‘just about right’ ideologically, despite repeated GOP efforts to define the president as outside the mainstream.”
Those polled also say they trust Obama over Republicans in Congress to deal with the economy, health care and, by a large margin, financial regulatory reform.
WHAT WE'RE WATCHING — House Democrats on Tuesday asked insurers to immediately stop using rescission and WellPoint, under fire for reports that it was targeting breast cancer patients to cancel their plans, immediately agreed. Democrats plan to continue pushing the image that they’re keeping insurers on their toes as the overhaul is implemented.
The abortion battle moves to the states as Arizona becomes the first post-health care law state to ban abortion coverage in plans sold on the public exchange (with exceptions to save the health or life of the mother). The new law, signed this weekend by Gov. Jan Brewer, requires insurers who do offer abortion coverage to sell it “as a separate optional rider for which an additional insurance premium is charged.”
Hitting mailboxes this weekend: AARP’s tutorial on what health reform means. Expect to see more like this from the advocacy groups, hoping to sort out what’s in the plan and what’s not, and what it all means.
PULSE WITH US – Thanks for your feedback on the future of Pulse. There’s lots of interest in what’s happening in the states, on the Hill and HHS and among health providers. And the song lyrics will continue, due to overwhelming demand. We’ll try to live up to your requests for no “gangsta rap” and no messing with the classics, though we’d argue that the Beatles are now public domain.
HAPPENING TODAY – White House health care “czar” Nancy-Ann DeParle speaks to the National Conference on Diabetes today at 10 a.m. at the Newseum in D.C.
Source: http://feeds.politico.com/click.phdo?i=873a8d396b5fc4e180daccf0d8bbcd45
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