Several bloggers are putting in their two cents following news that some prominent liberals, including former Democratic National Committee chair Howard Dean, are calling to “kill” the Senate health bill.  Following the pronouncement, Markos Moulitsas, founder of the liberal mega-blogging community DailyKos, wants the individual mandate requirement to purchase health insurance dropped.

Later that evening, cable news host Keith Olbermann joined suit (in a post on DailyKos, coincidentally). Video below:

The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein responds to Kos, explaining his support for an individual mandate: “This is called an insurance death spiral. If the people who think they’re healthy now decide to wait until they need insurance to purchase it, the cost increases, which means the next healthiest group leaves, which jacks up costs again, and so forth.”

The New Republic’s Jonathan Cohn, a long-time supporter of health reform, says “The Left Is Playing With Fire.” He is particularly displeased with the new attacks on an individual mandate, writing: “there’s a fine line between being constructive and destructive. This latest gambit, I think, crosses it.”

Time’s Joe Klein gets passionate about emerging liberal opposition: “The opposition by Republicans was no surprise, nor was the chicanery of a few Democratic conservatives in the Senate, but I’m just dumbstruck by those on the left who would oppose this for whatever ideological fetishes they imagine are being traduced. It is simply amazing and absolutely disgraceful. Grow up.”  In a separate post, he says the events “calls into question the ability of the Democratic Party to govern this country.”

The American Spectator’s Joseph Lawler thinks Dean’s rejection of the Senate bill as it stands is further evidence of ”alignment” between conservatives and liberals: ”It’s amazing on how many topics the administration and congressional leadership have managed to force progressives and conservatives into alignment. The Fed’s record, and to a lesser extent Afghanistan, comes to mind. The important legislative battles right now are big business Obamanomics vs. everyone else instead of right vs. left to an extent that I wouldn’t have thought possible.”

 Cato’s Michael Cannon also finds himself on a similar page with critics, and has a special request: “My question for Walker, and for Howard Dean, and for Markos Moulitsas is: will they join me in calling for the Senate to obtain a CBO cost estimate of the off-budget part of the insurance-industry bailout (i.e., the individual and employer mandates)?  Do they think Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid should at least be up front with his base about what he’s asking them to swallow?  Do they think that We, the People deserve to know the whole truth about this bill?”

The newest issue of the conservative Weekly Standard — complete with a menancing cover – zeroes in on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.  The premise of Jeffrey Anderson and Andy Wickersham’s piece  is: “Voters punished Democrats for Hillarycare. (in 1994) They’ll do the same for Obamacare.” 

The New Republic’s Jonathan Cohn warns his readers, “Pssst. This isn’t over.”  Though Sen. Lieberman indicated his support for the bill after an agreement to drop the Medicare buy-in and a public option, Cohn thinks Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., is the real issue:

A lot of people are treating today as the end of the debate, for better or worse, now that the Democrats have shelved the public option and Joe Lieberman appears ready to support the Senate bill. But that’s only because everybody (pro- and anti-reform) has focused too much on the public option. On Capitol Hill, operatives and staff have said all along that Nelson, not Lieberman, would be the most difficult member of the caucus to win over. And his primary focus is abortion, although he has other concerns, as well.

This morning Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey has a different angle on Nelson: “the Obama administration has targeted the last remaining Democratic holdout, at least among moderates — and they’re willing to damage national security to extort his support.  The White House has threatened Ben Nelson (D-NE) with the closure of Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska if he opposes Reid’s latest version, despite its status as the headquarters of US Strategic Command.” 

Former Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean’s pronouncement on the agreement to drop the Medicare buy-in (“This is essentially the collapse of health care reform in the United States Senate. And, honestly, the best thing to do right now is kill the Senate bill and go back to the House”) got an unexpected endorsement, from Heritage’s Conn Carroll  this morning:

It has become obvious to any American following the debate that President Obama has adopted a get-a-deal-at-any-cost mentality that puts a higher priority on the political victory of passing any bill over the policy substance of what is actually in the bill and how it would effect the American people.

Finally, the Washington Post’s Ezra Klein reports: “Joe Lieberman’s successful effort to tank the public option and Medicare buy-in does not mark the end of his involvement in health-care reform, But his next major initiative is actually good: He’s partnered with Jay Rockefeller and Sheldon Whitehouse to save — and even strengthen — the Medicare Commission.”  Klein says the group of senators “are all pushing in the right direction here. Whether other senators support this amendment will say a lot about how committed they actually are to controlling costs.”

 Online controversy errupted this week after The Business Insider reported that a coalition of health insurers called “Get Health Reform Right” were offering freebies on Facebook in return for users sending a letter to Congress opposing the health overhaul bills.  The offer automatically sent a message expressing “concern” after completing a survey, in order to receive virtual currency for various Facebook games.

Elsewhere, other news has The New Republic’s Jonathan Cohn shuddering.  The reason? “[O]n three separate occasions this week I heard two words I hadn’t heard before [about when a health reform bill will be finished]: ’Valentine’s Day.’  For what it’s worth, I don’t think it will take that long, for reasons I’ll soon explain. But I thought I’d share that information anyway.” Health care and politics reporters may all shudder now…

Austin Frakt takes issue with former Labor Secretary Robert Reich’s claim that health insurers are consolidated, so they have little incentive to be more efficient.  Frakt argues: “Though it is true that insurers with higher market power can charge higher premiums, they also obtain lower prices from providers. The optimal balance of power that results in the lowest premiums is not one in which insurers are weakest. In fact, insurers need a certain level of market power just to offset that of providers.”

The New York Times’ Room for Debate takes on a Medicare expansion to those ages 55-64.  The editors recruited health policy power hitters from all sides of the spectrum, including Stuart Butler, Jonathan Oberlander and David Himmelstein.

But Bob Laszewski is declaring the buy-in deal “dead,” and thinks it spells trouble for the Democratic coalition: “So it is no longer the moderate Dems who are the swing votes. It is all of those liberals in the Senate and House who said they would not vote for a health bill that did not have a public option. True, the latest version in the Reid and Pelosi bill was nothing more than the neutered variety but at least the liberals had some political cover. Now they will have none.”

Time’s Amy Sullivan reports that the Catholic bishops conference is still promising to oppose health reform if the controversial Stupak amendment is dropped from the final legislation.

Finally, The Heritage Foundation has spent time lately objecting to the individual mandate, and posts a video today of Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch speaking at their building on the issue: