If you haven't been following The Treatment lately, you really need to check out the two most recent posts by non-Chait Jonathan. Here he has a huge scoop (I think! I haven't seen it anywhere else) that Democrats have an agreement to do health care reform through the budget reconciliation process by October 15 if a bill has not emerged by then.
And if you want to understand why this is crucial -- even beyond being able to pass a bill through the Senate with 50 rather than 60 votes -- you need to read Jon's next post here. This is an absolutely crucial, decisive development.
--Jonathan Chait