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In just three days of a phase I trial, Idenix’s experimental, nucleotide-containing Hepatitis C drug (IDX184) demonstrates excellent safety and antiviral activity.

Idenix Pharmaceuticals Presents Data on IDX184 for the Treatment of Hepatitis
C Virus (HCV)

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Idenix Pharmaceuticals,
Inc. (Nasdaq: IDIX), a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and
development of drugs for the treatment of human viral diseases, today
announced presentations of data on IDX184, a once-daily novel liver-targeted
nucleotide prodrug of 2′-methyl guanosine (2’MeG) for the treatment of HCV, at
the annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases
(AASLD) currently being held in Boston, Massachusetts.

Data from a three-day, phase I proof-of-concept study evaluating the safety
and antiviral activity of IDX184 will be presented. This double-blind,
placebo-controlled, monotherapy, dose-escalation study enrolled 41
treatment-naive HCV genotype 1-infected patients into four dosing cohorts (25
mg, 50 mg, 75 mg and 100 mg). IDX184 was well tolerated in this study with no
serious adverse events reported and no discontinuations from the study.

Continue reading the entire article:
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS140350+30-Oct-2009+PRN20091030

“CVS Caremark Corp (CVS.N) has been the subject of a U.S. Federal Trade Commission investigation over some of its business practices since August, the company said on Thursday,” Reuters reports. “Various groups have asked the government to look into CVS Caremark’s practices since drugstore chain CVS bought pharmacy benefits management business Caremark Rx Inc in March 2007. They claim that changes to services in the pharmacy benefits business since the acquisition have led to higher prices, compromised quality of care and pushed patients to choose CVS drugstores over other pharmacies.”

The announcement came shortly after CVS said its pharmacy benefits business had lost billions of dollars. “CVS said it is confident that it is conducting its business in compliance with antitrust laws. It said its practices and the services it offers are designed to cut healthcare costs and expand choices for consumers” (Wohl, 11/5).

ABC News: “Even as a wave of conservative protestors took over Capitol Hill, House Democrats’ health care bill picked up the support of several influential organizations that could turn the tide in their favor among the most concerned groups: medical professionals and senior citizens. President Obama this afternoon made a surprise appearance at the daily White House press briefing to thank AARP and the American Medical Association for throwing their weight behind the House Democrats’ health care bill” (Khan, 11/5).

“Democrats hailed the backing of the AMA, the nation’s largest doctors’ group, as especially significant, since its position had been in doubt,” The Wall Street Journal reports. “But the group’s statement of support was lukewarm, saying the measure is ‘not the perfect bill.’ AARP, the largest senior citizens’ organization, officially endorsed the bill, citing the fact that it would help lower drug costs for seniors and make it easier for older Americans who don’t yet qualify for Medicare to buy insurance policies.”

The Journal reports that Obama said the AMA “would not be supporting it if they really believed that it would lead to government bureaucrats making decisions that are best left to doctors… They would not be with us if they believed that reform would in any way damage the critical and sacred doctor-patient relationship” (Bendavid and Adamy, 11/6).

The AMA’s support comes with “a big blinking asterisk,” Forbes reports. “Dr. James Rohack, the president of the doctors group, said on a conference call Thursday that the bill deserves support only if Congress also passes a separate bill that increases Medicare reimbursements to doctors, which are scheduled to be cut 21% per visit or procedure at the start of next year.” Rohack added that the bill is “‘not perfect, but it is consistent enough with our principles to warrant support,’ … echoing earlier statements that suggest the AMA believes some reform is better than the status quo.” But “[l]eft open were two major issues: reforming the medical malpractice system and changing the formula that Medicare uses to determine how much to reimburse physicians” (Whelan, 11/5).

The Dallas Morning News: The AMA committed to support health reform efforts in May, based on the calculation that the organization “could help pass a sweeping health care overhaul while securing its own prized goals: caps on medical lawsuit awards and the repeal of a formula that annually threatens to cut Medicare payments to doctors. But the House health legislation that is headed to the floor Saturday addresses neither special issue head-on. The House will vote separately on a bill to change Medicare payments, but that legislation would add to the deficit and land in the Senate, which rejected such legislation last week.” Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas, an obstetrician and member of the AMA, says “they’ve hurt themselves… They supported [the bill] too soon, and they didn’t get the things they needed” (Michaels, 11/5).

Los Angeles Times: “The bill’s endorsement by the doctors’ and seniors’ lobby groups — in addition to support announced by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network — helps counter mounting opposition among employer groups that are stepping up their advertising campaign against the bill” (Hook and Levey, 11/6).

We always have a lot of pumpkin on our hands after Halloween.  I like roasting pumpkin seeds with some olive oil, cumin, and salt for a crunchy snack or topping for salads or vegetables.  Then I’ll steam and puree the pumpkin flesh and make large batches of pumpkin bread, stir pumpkin into chili or black bean soup, and savor warm pumpkin oatmeal on chilly mornings.

Pumpkin is one of the most nutritional fruits available year-round.  Sidebar: did you know pumpkin is actually a fruit, not a vegetable?  The rule is — if it has seeds, it’s a fruit.  So technically, these are all fruits: cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, zucchini, bell peppers, green beans.  But modern society refers to all these fruits as vegetables.

Getting back to our friend the pumpkin, there are so many reasons to eat pumpkin as much as possible.  It is low in fat and calories, and packed with antioxidants, fiber, and vitamins C and E.  It boosts immunity, reverses skin damage, and reduces the risk of heart disease.  Both the seeds and flesh are highly nutritious, so take advantage of the plentiful pumpkins this time of year.  And when the season is over, go for canned pumpkin as well.  It’s one food item that is just as nutritious canned as fresh.

We’d love to hear other ways you use pumpkin, so please share favorite pumpkin ideas by commenting below!

Pumpkin Oatmeal

1/2 cup old-fashioned oatmeal
1 cup milk or soy milk
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or more if you like more spice)
Dash of salt
1 Tbsp chopped nuts
1 Tbsp dried cranberries
Honey or maple syrup to taste

1. Place milk, oats, pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, and salt in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Remove from heat and place in bowl.  Stir in nuts and cranberries.  Sweeten with honey or maple syrup to taste.

Serves 1

“Rising unemployment, swine flu and the threat of health care reform all ganged up on managed care companies in the third quarter and could hurt their performance heading into 2010,” the Associated Press reports. Nevertheless, companies reported better third-quarter profits than anticipated and one analyst noted that “they’re holding their own in a very, very bad situation.” Cigna “reported a third-quarter profit that soared 92 percent, as improving equity markets helped turn around the performance of a discontinued business the insurer maintains but no longer markets.” UnitedHealth Group also reported double-digit gains compared with the same quarter in 2008. Insurers also reported losses in enrollment, as companies laid off workers (Murphy, 11/05).

NPR examines the historical role that Rep. John Dingell has played in health care policy, including the establishment of Medicare: “When people think of health care and Congress, often the first name that springs to mind is the late Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts. But while Rep. John Dingell, (D-MI) may not be as well known, he has a legacy on health care that is, if anything, even richer than Kennedy’s was. And when the House takes up its health overhaul bill this weekend that bears Dingell’s name as its lead sponsor, it could cap more than a half century of effort on his part to bring health insurance to nearly every American.”

“Dingell’s quest for universal health care actually began in 1932, when his father, John Dingell Sr., was first elected to the House from Michigan. The elder Dingell quickly became one of the architects of the New Deal. … And when the elder Dingell died in 1955, John Dingell Jr. didn’t just take over his father’s seat, but also his quest for national health insurance” (Rovner, 11/6).

Microsoft’s research division is hitting the streets and hanging with the college crowd recently. This nationwide tour is showing off some sick technology in an effort that’s probably, although I don’t know for sure, aimed at making Microsoft look cool and hip to upcoming talent. The demos should do just that too. Think Tom Cruises’s person computer from Minority Report combined with Tony Stark’s toys from Iron Man.

Like iStartedSomething points out, some of this demo could be staged. It’s not that hard to follow a script to “simulate” a tech demo. But we’ve seen some fantastic stuff from Microsoft’s back rooms recently with the Courier, all those mice concepts, and a pressure-sensitive keyboard. I wonder what else is hidden? [via SlashGear]

Democratic Senate leaders are trying to consolidate support within their own caucus.

The Wall Street Journal reports on Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., who says she generally supports the health overhaul efforts, but would like to see more items like higher federal Medicaid payments for her state, increased coverage for foster children and more help for teaching hospitals in Louisiana before she commits to voting for the bill — all while insisting Democrats lower the cost of the bill. “As Democratic leaders enter the intensive phase of their drive to pass health legislation, they must satisfy 60 Mary Landrieus in the Senate — every Democrat and the two Democratic-friendly independents, each with individual priorities — as they try to hold together a fragile coalition with no room for error.” Others like Landrieu include Sens. Evan Bayh, D-Ind.; Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark.; and Bob Menendez, D-N.J. (Bendavid, 11/6).

CongressDaily reports that some Democrats also still have concerns over allowing states to opt out of the government-run public option for health insurance. “Some Democrats wary that the opt-out will effectively become a national public option are pushing for Reid to consider an alternative, such as the so-called trigger backed by Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine. (Landrieu) and Ben Nelson, D-Neb., who have not committed to vote for cloture and end debate on the healthcare bill, still hope to convince Reid to reconsider inclusion of the opt-out in the bill he takes to the floor” (Friedman, 11/6).

Finally, Roll Call reports that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid met with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel late Wednesday “to discuss how to get a health care reform bill through his chamber by year’s end, according to Democratic sources.” (Drucker, 11/5).

Doctors and hospital payment systems remain at the center of the health care reform debate as news outlets examine the benefits of replacing the current fee-for-service approach.The New York Times Prescription Blog reports: “In The New York Times Magazine on Sunday, economics columnist David Leonhardt poses one of the more disturbing questions of the health care debate: If politicians cannot fix America’s fragmented, ailing health care system, who will? Physicians have reshaped medicine in the past, Mr. Leonhardt argues, and a few – like Dr. Brent James, chief quality officer of Intermountain Healthcare in Salt Lake City – already are leading the way to the future” (11/4).

The blog also provides a link to the full New York Times magazine article, which notes: “The health care debate of 2009 has had so many moving parts that it has sometimes seemed impossible to follow. The crisis behind the debate, though, is about one thing above all: the scattershot nature of American medicine. The fee-for-service payment system — combined with our own instincts as patients — encourages ever more testing and treatments. We’re not sure which ones make a difference, but we keep on getting them, and costs keep rising.” The article notes that these problems aren’t likely to be fixed this year as a result of Congress’ overhaul efforts. “And yet the modern history of medicine …  offers reason for optimism. Medicine has changed before, after all. When it did, government policy played a role. But much of the impetus came from inside the profession” (Leonhardt, 11/3).

NPR reports on doctors’ payments and the rising health care costs from the 1960s to the present. It also examines the reimbursement system created in the late 1980s when “an economist from Harvard, Professor William Hsiao, finally came up with method to determine competitive prices for doctor’s care. Hsiao brought in doctors and asked them to rate every single thing they did based on how technically hard it was, how stressful, how much the supplies cost, etc. From this data, he developed the relative value scale. Medicare adopted the relative value scale in 1992, and it’s still used today” (11/4).

Reuters reports on doctors’ role in health care problems and the often irrational distribution of doctors as seen through healthcare data analyzed by Dartmouth Medical School. Reuters reports: “Access to top doctors, cutting-edge procedures and advanced life-saving technology has less to do with need and more to do with quality of life issues that any professional would consider when deciding where to live — climate, schools, and perhaps most importantly, income” (Baltimore, 11/5).

Yahoo has officially shut down Geocities.The company has said that it did not count the property among its priorities, so it is simply getting rid of it. Yahoo has shut down about 20 services in less than a year.

We learned that Yahoo would be closing the door on GeoCities back in April, so users have had plenty of time to migrate to other services. Earlier this year, for example, MSN partnered with WetPaint  to allow people to create "fansites". After Yahoo’s announcement, Wetpaint took the opportunity to announce a "bailout plan for foreclosed GeoCities properties," which it called the "GeoCities Asset Recovery Plan (GARP)."As it shuts down GeoCities, Yahoo itself is now plugging its own $4.99-a-month Web hosting service.

Ok, so there are other options for GeoCities users, but is just shutting down a community that still attracts so much traffic the right thing to do?  Yahoo’s way of going about it has been widely questioned. According to Compete data, GeoCities has still been seeing over 10 million unique monthly visitors as recently as last month. Why would Yahoo want to just shut that down?

"Then there’s the fact that Google, not Yahoo, appears to be responsible for the lion’s share of GeoCities referrals, sending about 31.45 percent of the site’s traffic its way," noted Doug Caverly upon Yahoo’s original announcement. "Yahoo’s only behind of 16.89 percent of all GeoCities visits. So by closing GeoCities, for which it paid $3.6 billion in 1999, Yahoo seems to be turning its back on a large amount of traffic.  Moreover, it’s turning down free traffic from its biggest competitor." 

"Carol Bartz may be trying to get Yahoo’s costs under control, but it looks like sticking a ‘for sale’ sign on GeoCities would be at least one preferable option compared to a closure," he added.

But alas, it looks like the sign reads "closed" rather than "for sale." So say goodbye, and in the words of Richard Marxx, "hold on to the memory."

It seems unwise from a business perspective, but what about the users? Does Yahoo have an obligation to its users who may have spent years using their GeoCities site only to have it pulled from the web? Should Yahoo provide a forwarding web address for GeoCities users? After all, it was the GeoCities users that built their sites, promoted them and put up with sometimes annoying ads. A simple forwarding of their GeoCities url to their new home would be appreciated! Do you agree?

MySpace isn’t exactly at the peak of its popularity, but there are still tons of people who use it. What if they just pulled everything? What if Google bought Facebook and decided to kill it? What if your Tweets vanished? Sure these things seem unlikely now because these services are still fresh. Well, GeoCities was once the "it" thing too. Granted, most GeoCities sites I have seen are not much to look at now, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t getting use out of them. They’re obviously getting page views.

Here’s what Yahoo is telling GeoCities users to do if they want to keep their sites:

On October 26, 2009, your GeoCities site will no longer appear on the Web, and you will no longer be able to access your GeoCities account and files. If you’d like to keep your web site, you’ll need to move your site files to another web hosting provider.

We recommend moving to our award-winning Web Hosting service, which works a lot like GeoCities but includes a personalized domain name (such as widgetdesigns.com) and matching email, terrific new site building tools, unlimited disk space and bandwidth, premium customer support, and more.

Perhaps it’s not worth it to users to go throgh the hassle of migration, but it has been nice to have their GeoCities site at least remain in tact. Well, tough luck. I hope you’ve gotten what you wanted away from it before Yahoo obliterates it. There are some sites out there that have not yet been shut down, but it appears that is only a matter of time.

What do you think of Yahoo’s decision to simply shut down GeoCities? Discuss here.

Remembering GeoCities

GeoCities held a lot of web memories for a lot of people. There was a time where you could barely surf the web without running into one GeoCities site or another. Wikipedia provides a little history:

GeoCities began in mid-1995 as BHI, which stood for Beverly Hills Internet, a small Web hosting and development company in Southern California.

The company created its own Web directory, organized thematically in six "neighborhoods". The neighborhood included "Colosseum," "Hollywood," "RodeoDrive," "SunsetStrip," "WallStreet," and "WestHollywood". In mid-1995, the company decided to offer users (thereafter known as "Homesteaders") the ability to develop free home pages within those neighborhoods. Chat, bulletin boards, and other elements of "community" were added soon after, helping foster rapid growth. On July 5, 1995 Geocities added additional cities, including "CapitolHill," "Paris," "SiliconValley," and "Tokyo." By December 1995, the company, which now had a total of 14 neighborhoods, was signing up thousands of Homesteaders a day and getting over six million monthly page views. The company decided to focus on building membership and community, and on December 15, 1995, BHI became known as GeoCities after having also been called Geopages.

"It was perhaps the first mainstream example of an open, participatory and personal Internet," writes Mark Milian with the LA Times.

In early 1999, Yahoo purchased Geocities for about $3.57 billion in stock. Now a decade later, Geocities is no more.

Do you have fond memories of the Geocities days? Should Yahoo be obligated to forward GeoCities pages to your new site? What if Facebook, MySpace or Twitter suddenly shut down? Should there be a web or social homesteading bill of rights?

>>> Share your thoughts below …

 

Related Articles:

>GeoCities Users Get a Bailout From Wetpaint

>Yahoo Failing To Consider GeoCities Alternatives?

>Yahoo Turning Lights Out At GeoCities

>Ballmer Talks About Yahoo and GeoCities

>Should You Stop Blogging?

Senators introduced legislation Thursday to extend COBRA to help unemployed workers and their families with health coverage. WKYC-TV, a NBC affiliate in Ohio, reports. “U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Robert P. Casey (D-PA) introduced a bill Thursday to extend the ‘COBRA’ subsidy which helps unemployed workers and their families afford temporary health care [coverage]. The bill would extend and expand the COBRA subsidy included in the Recovery Act, a subsidy that is set to expire Dec. 1 unless Congress acts to renew it. The bill is also co-sponsored by Sen. Al Franken (D-MN).”

“The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 (ARRA) established a nine-month subsidy to help unemployed workers purchase temporary COBRA coverage for themselves and their families. The original COBRA subsidy included in the Recovery Act was based in part on Brown’s Coverage Continuity Act (S.29) which he introduced in January, 2009. The provision in ARRA established a nine-month subsidy to help laid-off workers purchase COBRA coverage — with the federal government covering 65 percent of the health premium. The goals of this legislation were to ensure coverage continuity and prevent a spike in Medicaid enrollment” (Wendel, 11/5).

WHTM-TV, an ABC News affiliate in Pennsylvania, reports that the bill would “extend the subsidy an extra six months to 15 months. It would additionally increase the subsidy amount from 65 percent to 75 percent of the workers’ premiums.The extension would also expand eligibility to include workers who lose their employer-sponsored health benefits because of a reduction in working hours. Currently, only laid-off workers are eligible for the subsidy” (11/5).

Related KHN story: End of COBRA Subsidy Rattles The Newly Unemployed (Schmitt, 10/28).

The Hill reports that the “illegal immigration issue is emerging as the biggest threat to passing healthcare reform in the House.” Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus are upset with a last-minute threat to “bolster the House bill’s immigration restrictions to match those included in the Senate Finance bill.” The restrictions include a provision preventing illegal immigrants from accessing the health insurance ‘exchange,’ even if they were to pay for the coverage out of their own pocket.

“On Thursday afternoon, four leaders of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) traveled to the White House to meet with Obama on behalf of the entire group.” Illegal immigrants are already barred by language in the bill from enrolling in the public option or receiving subsidies from the government to purchase coverage. The Hill reports that the meeting was billed as an opportunity for Caucus representatives “to talk to the President about healthcare,” but the underlying message was clear: “Drop your insistence on preventing illegal immigrants from accessing the public exchange…”  (Allen, 11/5).

CongressDaily: “House leaders are likely to bow to pressure from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and leave tighter restrictions for undocumented immigrants out of the health care overhaul, but avoiding conflict in the House could set up a brutal battle with the Senate and possibly President Obama” (Hunt, 11/6).

Roll Call: The other hot-button issue in the House, abortion’s treatment in the bill, has not yet been finalized, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday. “‘We may not have any amendments,’ she said. However, the Speaker clarified later that Republicans would be given an opportunity to offer their 219-page alternative bill” (Dennis, 11/5).

Initial sales of Microsoft’s Windows 7 software outperformed those of Vista’s first few days on the U.S. market, according to the latest analysis from The NPD Group.

Windows 7 software unit sales in the U.S. were 234 percent higher than Vista’s first few days of sales. A combination of early discounts on pre-sales and a lack of promotional activity for the Ultimate version resulted in dollar sales that were 82 percent higher than Vista.

"Microsoft’s program of early low-cost pre-sales, high visibility marketing, and aggressive deals helped make the Windows 7 software launch successful," said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis at NPD.

"In a slow environment for packaged software Windows 7 brought a large number of customers into the software aisles."

While boxed software sales were up compared to the Vista launch, PC hardware sales ran into more of a challenge. PC sales growth was higher than any week during the high volume back-to-school third quarter, but wasn’t as strong as growth during the Vista launch.

PC sales growth during the Vista launch was stronger, increasing 68 percent over the prior year’s sales and 170 percent over the week preceding the launch. Windows PC sales were down 6 percent compared to PC sales during the Vista launch week.

"A combination of factors impacted Windows 7 PC sales at the outset, but the trajectory of overall PC sales is very strong leading into the holiday season," said Baker. 

"Vista had a slight advantage at launch, as January traditionally has a bigger sales footprint than October.  The other hurdle Windows 7 faced was sales of PCs with older operating systems (XP and Vista) were high, making up 20 percent of sales during the Windows 7 launch, compared to just 6 percent of older operating sales during Vista’s launch week."

 

Related Articles:

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>Microsoft Wants You To Bing Up Your Windows 7

 

 

It looks like some lawyers representing cosmetics giant Mary Kay have removed their figurative war paint.  In early July, Mary Kay sued Yahoo, alleging trademark infringement, but not long ago, Yahoo was able to settle the case.

Mary Kay originally objected to Yahoo’s practice of adding links of its own choosing to certain emails.  The links appeared in popups when people would position their cursors over the text, potentially creating confusion about the extra ads’ origin.

"Emails that advertise Mary Kay products are hijacked and manipulated by Yahoo and provide an unfair advantage for the unauthorized re-sellers and other competitors," claimed Mary Kay’s suit, which was filed in the Northern District of Dallas.

Now – although the terms of the settlement haven’t been disclosed – Yahoo’s presumably apologized, promised to never repeat the offending behavior, and provided at least a little in the way of cash compensation.  Such is the way these things go.

Anyway, a big hat tip also goes to Erik Larson, who noted that this settlement may have some interesting ramifications.  He wrote, "The dispute was similar to trademark lawsuits against Google Inc. in which the world’s most popular search firm was accused of wrongfully selling ad rights to keyword searches."

Related Articles:

> Skype Founders Reportedly Close To Settlement With eBay

> Power.com Suit Against Facebook Tossed

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The Washington Post reports: “Newly emboldened after Republican victories in Tuesday’s elections, ‘tea party’ protesters and other demonstrators from across the country converged on the Capitol’s West Lawn to wave flags, ring cowbells and deliver a blunt message to lawmakers: ‘Kill this bill!’” The demonstrators came from all over the country, answering rallying cries by Rep. Michelle Bachmann, R-Minn., on conservative talk-radio shows and united by anger about the growing role of the federal government and its deficit (Rucker, 11/6).

Reporting from the scene, The New York Times noted, “It’s a generally older crowd, many in their 50s and 60s, predominantly, white, and many self-identified as Christians. They are fiercely conservative and deeply skeptical of the government, many of them adamantly opposed to abortion rights.” In addition to the shouts to “kill this bill,” protestors bore signs saying “Sweeping Away Socialism One Democrat at a Time” and “Politicians Lie, Patients Die” (Herszenhorn, 11/5).

Most House Republicans appeared on the Capitol Steps overlooking the protesters, The Dallas Morning News reports. They took turns “whipping up the crowd, not that it took much effort.” Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Tex., said, “We heard from you this summer. It was like an inoculation. It was like a vaccination to prevent the illness known as Pelosi-care. … But when we came back in September, that immunity started to wane, and it started to get weak. So this is our booster shot” (Gillman, 11/6).

Some Democrats hope they can quell concerns about the most divisive issues raised by the protesters, such as immigration and abortion concerns, The Boston Globe reports. “Veteran lawmakers said they were confident they could add wording to ease the worries of colleagues and interest groups who believe — Democratic leaders say without justification — that taxpayers will be forced to fund abortions and illegal immigrants’ health care” (Milligan, 11/6). 

Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., the House minority whip, “assured reporters that there were no Republican votes for the Democrats’ health care bill, which is scheduled for a vote on Saturday,” Roll Call reports. The Republican leadership is also actively seeking to gain some Democratic votes in opposition to the reform legislation (Drucker, 11/5).

Meanwhile, “Behind the scenes … lawyers connected with the Tea Party movement are planning a legal assault on healthcare reform,” The Christian Science Monitor reports. The lawyers argue that Congress would be overstepping its authority by requiring Americans to buy health insurance just because they live in the country. They also say tax penalties on people who choose not to buy insurance would violate the 16th Amendment. Many constitutional experts dismiss those arguments (Jonsson, 11/5).

Today’s employment report contained both signs of hope for recovery and painful evidence of continued labor market weakness.

Payroll employment declined 190,000 in October, continuing the steady trend of moderating job loss that began last spring. Furthermore, the employment loss in both August and September was revised down substantially. Importantly, employment in temporary help services, typically one of the first industries to see job gains, increased by 33,700. The motor vehicle industry also posted employment gains. These are hopeful signs that the unprecedented policy actions are working to stabilize the economy and put us on a path toward recovery.

The unemployment rate, however, rose four-tenths of a percentage point, to 10.2 percent. That this occurred despite the rise in real GDP last quarter reflects both the typical lag between GDP growth and unemployment decline, and the recent exceptional increases in productivity. Having the unemployment rate reach double-digits is a stark reminder of how much work remains to be done before American families see the job gains and reduced unemployment that they need and deserve.

 

Christina Romer is Chair of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers

The Associated Press: “Voting is set for Saturday on the 10-year, $1.2 trillion legislation that embraces Obama’s goals of extending health coverage to tens of millions of uninsured Americans and putting tough new restrictions on insurance companies.” The points of contention remain abortion and immigration (Werner, 11/6).

The New York Times reports that Democratic vote counters said they don’t have the 218 members needed to pass the bill yet, but that they were confident they would them by the time of the vote. “Some Democrats from more conservative districts, like Representative Ike Skelton of Missouri, Representative Dan Boren of Oklahoma, Representative Jim Marshall of Georgia and Representative Bobby Bright of Alabama, made it clear they would oppose the measure. … Several others, including Representative Jim Cooper of Tennessee and Representative Jason Altmire of Pennsylvania, remained undecided. … ‘They are trying to get you any way they can,’ said Mr. Altmire, who also met for an hour on Thursday with conservative constituents who traveled to Washington to take part in the rally [against the bill]. ‘I am doing the best I can against competing interests.’” (Hulse and Herszenhorn, 11/5).

The Washington Post reports that there are 25 “hard no” Democrat votes. With 258 Democrats in the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi can’t lose more than 15 more and still see the bill pass, especially because there is likely to be no Republican support. “For party leaders, setting a weekend deadline for passage represented a calculated risk, one that could backfire if the vote — now expected late Saturday or Sunday — fails or must be delayed” (Murray and Montgomery, 11/6).

Politico: “The fate of the bill itself rests on the shoulders of a new generation of Democrats whose young careers will be defined, in part, by the votes they cast Saturday — votes sure to be used against many of them in 2010. But Pelosi, ever mindful of the political stakes, seems to have convinced them that there is more danger in not passing a bill after all this time, than in passing one” (O’Connor, 11/6).

Bloomberg reports that House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer Thursday “predicted the House will narrowly pass the overhaul. ‘It’s going to be close,’ he told reporters. ‘This is a huge undertaking; there are legitimate concerns’” (Rowley and Dodge, 11/6).

The Hill reports that others, however, remain confident: “‘It’s coming together,’ said House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), adding that scheduling the vote for Saturday night helped because, ‘it’s always easier to whip when people want to go home’” (Soraghan, 11/5).

Officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, in the meantime, say it’s unlikely they will be done with their cost estimate of the House bill before the vote this weekend, The Hill reports in a second story. The Congressional Budget Office has already scored the bill, but Republicans are pressing for the CMS score estimate. “Regardless of what (CMS) concludes, Congress is bound by CBO estimates. However, a high CMS score could persuade some Democratic centrists to vote no” (Young and Cusack, 11/5).

The Newshour has a preview of the House activity with KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey (Bowser, 11/5).

The House will meet at 9 a.m. Saturday, though a final vote on the health care reform bill isn’t likely until the late afternoon, Roll Call reports (Bendery, 11/5).