21 Dec 2009: Today's Democracy Now!

Health Bill Passes Key Senate Hurdle; Legislation Restricts Abortion Funding, Stripped of Public Option, Medicare Expansion
The Senate took a big step toward passing its sweeping healthcare bill early today. Shortly after 1:00 a.m., the Senate voted 60-40 along party lines to break a Republican filibuster and approve a motion to move the legislation to final passage later this week. The legislation has no public option, no expansion of Medicare eligibility, and includes restrictions on the use of federal funding for abortions. We speak with Salon.com blogger, Glenn Greenwald. [includes rush transcript]

U.S.-Led Copenhagen Accord Decried as Flawed, Undemocratic
The climate summit in Copenhagen came to a close Saturday with the world’s nations reluctantly agreeing to “take note of” but not endorse a non-binding accord President Obama announced Friday night. The 12-page agreement seeks to limit global warming to a maximum of a 2 degree Celsius rise in temperature. But it does not specify targets for cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. We speak with Guardian columnist, George Monbiot and Lucia Green-Weiskel of China-based organization, Innovation Center for Energy and Transportation.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on How to Tackle Climate Change: "We Must Go From Capitalism to Socialism"
We speak with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez about climate change, the Copenhagen summit and President Obama. Chavez accuses calls the COP15 summit undemocratic and accuses world leaders of only seeking a face-saving agreement. “We must reduce all the emissions that are destroying the planet,” Chavez says. “That requires a change in the economic model: we must go from capitalism to socialism.”

Headlines

UN Climate Talks End in Failure Without Binding Deal
23 Climate Protesters Arrested in Australian Coal Protest
Key Procedural Healthcare Vote Passes in Senate
Feingold Blasts White House for Not Supporting Public Option
Study: $635 Million Spent on Healthcare Lobbying
Report: Obama Ordered US Military Strike on Yemen
Senate Approves $636 Billion Military Spending Bill
Prominent Iranian Dissident Cleric is Buried
Mother of Detained American Hiker Pleas for Iran to Release Daughter
Israel Arrests Palestinian Coordinator of Stop the Wall Campaign
Rights Group Urges US to Ratify UN Women’s Rights Treaty
Report: White Businesses Received Vast Majority of Stimulus Loans