The Senate began debate on the first amendments to Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-NV) healthcare overhaul proposal on Tuesday, and media reports note that, as expected, the rhetoric contained a heavy dose of partisanship. However, several media outlets noted that Senate Democrats continue, behind closed doors, to negotiate in an effort to convince 60 members to support the legislation. The AP (12/2, Alonso-Zaldivar) reports GOP Sen. Tom Coburn (OK) "asserted Tuesday during a rancorous floor debate that President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul will shorten the lives of America's seniors by cutting Medicare." Coburn said, "I have a message for you: You're going to die sooner." The AP adds Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) "defended the healthcare legislation, saying it would make Medicare a smarter buyer and improve prescription coverage and preventive benefits for seniors."

        The New York Times (12/2, A24, Pear, Herszenhorn) reports that in a "day of desultory debate on sweeping healthcare legislation, senators appealed to two potent political constituencies on Tuesday, with Democrats seeking additional medical benefits for women and Republicans vowing to preserve and protect Medicare for older Americans." The Democrats' "first amendment, offered by Senator Barbara A. Mikulski of Maryland, would require insurers to cover more screenings and preventive care for women, with no co-payments."

        The Washington Post (12/2, Murray, Montgomery) reports that "even as partisan divisions hardened and contentious amendments stacked up, Democrats increasingly expressed optimism that they would succeed in passing a bill before Christmas." The "second amendment, authored by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), would strip out the bill's primary revenue source, nearly $500 billion in Medicare cost savings. Although AARP and other seniors groups have said otherwise, Republicans are attacking the cuts as a threat that could eventually shorten lives." McCain said, "They've paid all their working lives into the Medicare trust fund, and now they're in danger of having $483 billion cut out of it, which would eventually lead to rationing of healthcare for seniors in order to fund a new, government-run healthcare system in America."

        The Wall Street Journal (12/2, Hitt, Adamy, subscription required) reports that Democrats accused McCain of flip-flopping on the Medicare cut issue, noting he had previously supported spending cuts in his 2008 presidential run. The Los Angeles Times (12/2, Levey) reports that Senate Democrats "had to delay votes on the first set of amendments to the healthcare bill Tuesday in the face of stiff Republican opposition, underscoring the fiercely partisan floor debate and threatening the tight timeline for passage." Party leaders, "scrambling to pass a bill by Christmas, had hoped to approve a proposal to expand access to mammograms and other preventive services. Instead, lawmakers spent much of Tuesday tussling over the bill's potential impact on Medicare."

        Bloomberg News (12/2, Litvan, Jensen) reports that Sen. McCain's amendment targets "a series of planned changes to projected Medicare spending, including $118 billion in cuts to insurers under Medicare Advantage." The provision "would also stave off reductions in reimbursements to hospitals and other providers totaling about $150 billion and eliminate a proposed federal Medicare payment commission."

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