TGIF: Around the Horn

It's Friday, and I've been a bit behind on blogging. Here are some quick takes to take you into the weekend.

***Reimbursement Rates . . . Medical groups say planned cuts to reimbursement rates for doctors could cause some to lose medical treatment. Sen. Kit Bond calls the current formula "unfair, unpredictable" and in need of reform.
***Going Digital . . . In about 17 months, your TV might go blank! Any non-digital sets not connected into satellite or cable systems could be left in the dark. It's an obscure issue that Sen. Claire McCaskill has kept tabs on. After recently quizzing salespeople about the switch, the junior Senator says she's concerned about how the elderly will fare.
***WarTime Contracting . . . McCaskill also cleared a major hurdle late this week when the Senate agreed to include her wartime contracting proposal into a large defense bill. She wants an independent panel to check on war contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
****E-Mail Gate . . . Missouri Dems continue to hammer Gov. Matt Blunt for deleting some of his administration's e-mails. The state party sent out this 6-second YouTube video where Blunt acknowledges e-mails are public records.
***Whip It, Whip It Good! . . . The Associated Press is out with a story that it is getting tougher for Republican Congressional leaders to keep their members in line on domestic issues. An example, the recent vote to expand Children's Health Insurance. It passed both Houses, but got 159 "No" votes in the House. Rep. Roy Blunt said he could've gotten more votes against it, but stopped once he had enough votes to uphold a veto. "I'm not going to break somebody's arm who thinks this is a hard vote back home," Blunt told reporters.
***Bond Votes For SCHIP . . . Missouri's senior Senator is lauding the passage of the State Children's Heath Insurance Plan, even though he's not too keen on the funding source.