Stupak is as Stupak does

The Maddow Blog writes:

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) has been threatening to derail health reform over the issue of abortion. Stupak objects to the idea that any federal money would go toward abortion services, to the point where he'd ban women from using their own money on a public exchange to buy private insurance that covers abortions.

Repeatedly Stupak has cited a block of Democrats who'll vote with him against health reform, saying at various times that he had as many as 20 lawmakers lined up to vote no. More recently, Stupak has said he has 11 lawmakers on his side -- a group that, taken with Stupak, has come to be known as the Stupak Dozen.

Yet Stupak never names the people in his dozen. Now a senior House leadership aide who has conducted an informal whip count on the abortion issue tells us this about the "Stupak dozen": "We do not see more than four or five members standing with Bart when this bill is actually brought to the floor."

The kicker here is that what Stupak is asking for -- that the Senate adopt the same anti-abortion amendment he tacked on to the House bill -- can't be done. Health reform can pass now only through the budget reconciliation process, and the only changes to the House and Senate bills that are allowed under reconciliation are ones that directly affect the budget....

What's more, the Senate bill already clearly bans the use of federal money for abortions. Stupak is asking for an impossible fix to an imaginary problem.

Also, Stupak refuses to discuss the absurdly low rent he paid for years at the C Street House. If he accepted rent subsidies without reporting them, that's going to be a problem for him. Let's see how long he can stonewall. Meanwhile, The Hill reports, Stupak's anti-abortion shenanigans have earned him a Democratic challenger, Connie Saltonstall.