OK, the plan is out. Basically, it splits the difference between the House and Senate bills, with a set of measures that can be passed through reconciliation. Igor Volsky has a nice table doing the comparison. Since the House bill is better than the Senate bill, and the Senate bill is much better than nothing, this should be a go.

What I hear is that at this point the House is a bigger problem than the Senate. Pelosi — and Obama — have to drive home the following points: 1. This is the last chance to do HCR for years to come, and America desperately needs this 2. For their own sake, Democrats have to run on a record of having achieved something.

I’m not in a position to do nose-counts, but I’m guardedly optimistic.