Ben Nelson

Yesterday, I asked Senator Dick Durbin if he thinks Obamacare's contraception/abortifacient mandate still violates the religious liberty of Catholic churches, like the Archdiocese of Washington. Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, said he didn't know.

Politico reports:

Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska will announce today that he is retiring after two terms, a serious blow to Democratic efforts to hold onto their majority in the chamber next November.

Despite press reports that have indicated Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia would not support a debt ceiling deal that involves tax hikes, the senator won't reveal, when asked in person, where he actually stands on the contentious issue. 

"I’m for a plan that’s fair," Manchin, who is up for reelection next year, said in the Capitol yesterday afternoon. "Just a fair plan for everybody."

Ben Smith reported this morning that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee sent out a fundraising email, signed by Harry Reid, that tries to ride the anti-Koch bandwagon. Here's the relevant part of the email:

As a Democratic Senator somehow elected last year in a state where Barack Obama has some of his lowest approval ratings, Joe Manchin is a curious bellweather. The more he has to run from Obama and the more he feels empowered to publicly criticize the head of his party, the more Obama it suggests the President is out of touch with the kind of blue collar voters and Reagan Democrats he's going to need to win the White House again.

Via Ben Smith, Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska will vote for the amendment to repeal "don't ask, don't tell." Even if Robert Byrd joins Jim Webb in voting with Republicans against repeal, there will still be enough votes to pass repeal out of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

A friend of TWS writes:

For those Democrats for whom the right to life is more than just a political calculation:

If there are any wavering pro-life Democrats in this late hour who need to be persuaded about how awful the Senate health care bill is, they should read two memos that make it clear how the Senate bill would allow community health care centers to directly fund abortions with federal money. The first memo (download it here) is by the pro-life secretariat at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, an organization that would support the health care plan if the bill didn't fund abortions with tax dollars. The other memo is by the National Right to Life Committee.

They just can't help themselves:

Via Daniel Foster, Nebraska's Democratic senator Ben Nelson now claims that his big plan all along was to filibuster for the Stupak language if it wasn't included in the conference report. But that's not what Nelson was saying after he provided the 60th vote to pass cloture. Here's Nelson's interview with LifeSiteNews:

Mary Katharine notes below that President Obama tells ABC: