Nelson on board health care reform (updated)

By Rick Moran

Ed Lasky sends us this from Politico:

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) plans to vote for health-care reform, giving Democratic leaders the required 60 votes and putting the Senate on track to pass the bill by Christmas, a top congressional source said. The House, which has already passed a health-reform bill, and Senate would have to reconcile their versions in January. Leaders hope to send a final bill to President Barack Obama's desk before his State of the Union address in late January or early February.

This was not unexpected once it became clear that Reid and Obama were sacrificing everything to process - cutting any deal, with any Democratic senator in order to get reform passed in the senate.

This doesn't change the fact that liberals in the House are sharpening their knives in anticipation of the war that will break out over a public option. That alone guarantees that there is still a considerable distance for this bill to go before it becomes law.

UPDATE

Clarice Feldman sends us a link to the "manager's amendment" (pdf required).