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Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) offered the first amendment to Harry Reid’s government-run health care experiment. Her stated intention is to ensure that women are guaranteed insurance coverage for preventative medicine, like mammograms. In reality, she’s just trying to help Democrats avoid more embarrassment because their bill directly empowers the government panel responsible for the mammogram controversy, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, with mandating benefits for all Americans. To do this, Sen. Mikulski plans to allow the Health Resources and Services Administration to have authority over benefits mandates with respect to women.

This is obviously all for show. Politico was wise to her game:  

It shows the debate, at this point, is as much about messaging as legislating. The first day of the debate will garner media attention, so the lead amendment on both sides reveals strategy. Women are a key constituency who need to be sold on the benefits of this bill.

So what will ... more