As BTD has been writing this morning, the new CBO report (pdf) is out crunching numbers on the proposed health care legislation. For those interested in the effect of the excise tax on high-end, small-group insurance plans, here's my take on what it says (shorter verison: ditch your plan for one providing fewer benefits if you want to avoid higher premiums):

First, what the excise tax is:

Beginning in 2013, insurance policies with relatively high premiums would be subject to a 40 percent excise tax on the amount by which the premiums exceeded a specified threshold. That threshold would be set initially at $8,500 for single policies and $23,000 for family policies (with certain exceptions); after 2013, those amounts would be indexed to overall inflation plus 1 percentage point.

Next: the effects of the excise tax on high-premium insurance policies offered through employers: [More...]

TPMDC spins (here's Ezra spinning) the CBO report on the effect of "health care reform" on insurance premiums:

According to CBO, average premiums in the individual market would increase 10 to 13 percent because of provisions in the Senate health care bill, but, crucially, most people (about 57 percent) would actually find themselves paying significantly less money for insurance, thanks to federal subsidies for low- and middle-class consumers.

You see, if the government ASSISTS you in paying your health insurance premium, you will pay less of the amount due for your health insurance premium. Who'da thunk it? Thanks Gawd for the Exchange, which actually does nothing for anyone (indeed, it actually raises premiums for non-subsidized participants), except the private insurance companies (and the Stupak Amendment.) But the Village Pom Poms will insist it is the "most important part" of "health care reform." Got it?

Speaking for me only

Jane Hamsher rails against those of us who support the opt out provision for the public option. It is amusing to me in the sense that single payer advocates rail against Hamsher and the rest of us for selling out single payer.

Just goes to show you, there is always someone more outraged than you are. Now, on the substance, Hamsher is wrong. Harry Reid went with a public option, in part, BECAUSE of the opt out. I believe that without it, he never would have put a public option in. I could be wrong, but that is my judgment. Now the question is where are we with regard to future political bargaining. I think there are two main questions in the health care reform process - the public option and the financing mechanisms. The question now is how do you move forward? Without forcing reconciliation, the public option is dead. (Could be that the health care bill is dead as well. Not sure I see how this needle gets threaded without using reconciliation.) More . . .

Remember the whole 'the Nobel Peace Prize is aspirational' line? Kevin Drum wonders how that work'd out?

On Tuesday Barack Obama will announce a major escalation of the war in Afghanistan. A week later he'll be in Oslo accepting his Nobel Peace Prize. Pretty good timing, no?

While they complain about Jon Meacham, what would the Village Bloggers do without him? I mean waving poms poms can only hold their audience for so long. Meacham provides them catnip.

This is an Open Thread.

The embarrassing display from the Pom Pom Brigade (the Village blogs) continues. Here is Matt Yglesias disingenuously citing PUBLIC OPINION to support his drive to drop the public option:

[A]n interesting item from the NYT points out that this popularity masks something of an underlying indifference: ["]Two weeks ago, the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press asked respondents the main reason they either supported or opposed the health care bills. Among supporters, only 2 percent cited the public option. Among opponents, only 3 percent did so. [...]

[. . .] I think this is a pretty rare instance of the broad public actually being closer to the mark than political activists. [. . .] At this point, the most important question determining the quality of the health insurance options that will be available to Americans in the future probably has to do with the design and implementation of insurance exchanges.

More. . .

Briefly putting away the pom poms, after restarting the six month campaign against the public option, Josh Marshall publishes a reader e-mail against the excise tax:

The big issue, it seems to me, is whether or not the Senate's revenue mechanism -- including health care benefits worth greater than $8000 per year as taxable compensation for individual and household filings -- or the House's, which is a surtax on incomes above $500K: much more progressive and much more consistent with the basic Keynesian economic (as opposed to moral) justification for social benefits, that they encourage more efficient distribution of income by creating a broader base of consumption. (Ie, more people with adequate disposable income and fewer people with excess wealth that is not spent).

[MORE . . .]

A hectic day after a long weekend.

The news is filled with Tiger Woods.

The Village blogs are getting the pom poms out.

I've got the Game of the Decade! on my mind.

This is an Open Thread.

Here's the neighbor's 9/11 call in the Tiger Wood's case.

And here comes Gloria Allred, who is getting ready to represent Rachel Uchitel. Rachel flew from NY to LA today where Gloria picked her up at LAX. Gloria and her "maligned" client list go way back. It seems all of her clients are "maligned" females, from a "biting victim" in the Marv Albert case to Amber Frey to a nanny in the Rob Lowe lawsuit and the Octomom, and countless others. (Note: I like Gloria personally.) Go, Gloria, if anyone can keep the Enquirer on their toes, it's you. Come to think of it, how come Rielle Hunter didn't call Gloria?

On HBO now, the four hour Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert from October 29 and 30th. Just finished: David Crosby, Graham Nash, Steven Stills and Bonnie Raitt (Love Has No Pride). On now: Jackson Browne singing The Pretender; Still to Come: James Taylor, Paul Simon - Simon & Garfunkel, Dion, Little Anthony & the Imperials, Stevie Wonder, John Legend, Sting, Smokey Robinson, Jeff Beck ("Superstition"),Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, and many more. Set list for night one here and night two here. Good photos are here.

Watching these rockers, I'm almost convinced 60 is the new 30. Also cool: This automated Springsteen bot on Twitter with links to his videos by song.

Also on tonight: Desperate Housewives, Brothers and Sisters and a new Next Iron Chef. No TV? Amazon has their Cyber Monday Deals up tonight.

I'm so glad I have more than one tivo. This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The Senate will begin debating the health care bill Monday.

The New York Times today has a long editorial on why it should pass, and opines the limited public option should not be an impediment:

Even a weak public plan would be better than no public plan. It would expand the choices available to millions of Americans and could help slow the relentless increases in the cost of health insurance.

It also lays out what the public option would and would not do in both the House and Senate versions.

Tiger Woods has refused a police interview for the third time today. Smart move. He's under no obligation to talk to them. His traffic accident is under investigation and the Fifth Amendment applies as much to celebrities as anyone else.

He also put a statement on his website taking full responsibility for the accident and saying his wife did nothing but come to his aid after seeing he was injured. As of now, his website is taking comments.