No Agenda News: Nelson: Tax the rich and I’ll oppose health care bill

Hours before Democrats passed a historic cloture motion to advance the health care bill, one of its critical backers announced that his vote remains conditional on a set of demands.

It had better not tax the rich, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) said Sunday in an appearance on CNN's State of the Union, or he could withdraw his support.

CNN paraphrased Nelson as saying, "Imposing a tax on wealthier Americans, a funding mechanism employed in the House health care reform bill, could also cause him to withhold his vote for the final version of the bill."

A surtax on the wealthiest Americans is one method Democrats have considered to pay for the bill's $871 billion price tag over 10 years. But in the series of cloture votes ahead, Democrats can't afford to lose the support of a single member, so Nelson's demand is likely to be be taken seriously.