It's here!

March Madness is obviously what we are talking about, though something else is expected to drop today; can't quite remember -- oh, the health care bill. You know, the long-awaited health care bill.

Here's the plan:
- Bill drops today, giving House members a chance to look at language, etc.
- Updated CBO score comes out tomorrow.
- House Rules Committee (the only one that really matters right now) takes up bill Saturday.
- Full House votes on Sunday afternoon.

As of this morning, people who know these sorts of things say Dems are still eight votes short. Dennis Kucinich put on the Obama hat yesterday, announcing his 'yes' vote for the bill. He did so after several meetings with the president, something Senator Blanche Lincoln said she's never had (to which I say, good move Mr. President).

Here is a pretty cool list of members who could be switched before this thing is voted on, thanks to Politico Pulse:

NO-TO-YES: 1) Kucinich, 2) Gordon, 3) Baird, 4) Tanner, 5) Boccieri, 6) Boyd, 7) Scott Murphy, 8) Kosmas, 9) Kissell, 10) Altmire, 11) Markey, 12) Teague, 13) Matheson, 14) McMahon, 15) Childers, 16) Barrow, 17) Chandler

YES-TO-NO: 1) Stupak, 2) Lipinski, 3) Costello, 4) Ellsworth, 5) Donnelly, 6) Driehaus, 7) Kaptur, 8) Dahlkemper, 9) Arcuri, 10) Carney, 11) Cuellar, 12) Berry, 13) Pomeroy, 14) Mollohan, 15) Mitchell, 16) Titus, 17) Space, 18) Foster, 19) Bean, 20) Owens, 21) Hill, 22) Kanjorski, 23) Rahall, 24) Ortiz
With Frates

Brian Baird is the Rep. from the Washington 3rd district and is retiring at the end of the session, which is something to look at for sure.

Should be an interesting day.



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Other stuff:

If you're a Husky fan, check out Percy Allen's blog that he will maintain in San Jose.

Everyone else, watch NCAA tournament games here.

Funny look at the quirks of where the NCAA sends teams. I don't agree with him, mind you, for a couple of reasons. One, a big part of the NCAA tournament is getting to go somewhere else to play games, just like Bowl season. No one wants to play a hometown bowl game. But, even if that were the case, Gonzaga, an 8-seed, doesn't really deserve to play a 9th-seeded team in an arena it plays in during the regular season. Period. Especially when that 9th-seeded team is Florida State, which would have to travel about as far as they can travel for a game.

At some point today or through the weekend, I have planned to write something on Ernie Kent, recently fired coach at Oregon, as well the new curriculum being discussed in Texas. Stay tuned.

Happy March Madness! Have your One Shining Moment.