Monday morning at 1 a.m., Senate Democrats scrambled over a major hurdle in their attempts to pass a comprehensive health care reform bill through Congress.  But in order to secure the 60 votes necessary to move forward, the proposed health care bill had to undergo a series of concessions and transformations that altered some of its original mainstays (no more public option, triggered or otherwise, and no Medicare expansion).  The compromise, some detractors say, may cost Democrats politically in the long run.

The Takeaway discusses the merits and shortcomings of a bill that aims to extend coverage to 31 million uninsured Americans with Theda Skocpol, professor of sociology and government at Harvard University.  Hanging over the discussion, a larger question looms: is there a problem with the mechanics of how a bill becomes a law?

• Money Takeout: New York Times business and finance reporter Louise Story reports on the bankruptcy filing of Citadel Broadcasting Company - the third largest radio group in the country and the home of popular syndicated programs from Don Imus and Rush Limbaugh, among others.
• Sports Takeout: Ibrahim Abdul-Matin recaps the weekend's NFL action, which leaves us with only one undefeated team in the league, a clearing playoff picture in the NFC but a murky one in the AFC.
• Listener Responses: Listeners keep calling in with great stories (and great tragedies) that came in the fine print of their student loans.

We look ahead to the coming week with Chris Hayes, Washington editor for The Nation, and Jill McGivering, BBC's Asia editor.  On the agenda: this morning's Senate deal on health care reform; where U.S. and Pakistani relations are headed; when Guantánamo Bay might close; the end results of climate meetings in Copenhagen; and the president's coming vacation in his home state, Hawai'i.

We're watching more turmoil in Iran this morning. Over the weekend, 87-year-old Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, one of the Islamic republic's founding leaders, passed away in his sleep. The revered ayatollah was a fierce critic of  the nation's current leadership ... and the country's opposition took to the streets in mourning yesterday.

Joining us is Robert Worth, the New York Times Beirut bureau chief.

Getting together with one's family during holidays is a pretty natural affair. But it’s also a time when you all get together and rediscover each other’s differences ... and this can be particularly true when it comes to religious beliefs.

How you do respectfully take on those differences, particularly when your kids may have become MORE religious than you? We talk with Lisa Belkin, who writes the family and parenting blog Motherlode for our partner The New York Times, and Laurie Dinerstein-Kurs, who has some of her ten grandchildren home at big holidays.

The climate change summit in Copenhagen wrapped up over the weekend - and a muted response has greeted what some are calling a toothless agreement, which observers note is merely a statement of intent rather than a binding document. David Biello, associate editor of environment and energy at Scientific American, was at the summit in Copenhagen. He says if you try to pick winners and losers from the conference you'll find that no nation really came out on top. And Kathleen McGinty, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality during the Clinton administration, says that the White House blew an important chance for diplomatic action.

• Finance Takeout: New York Times business and finance reporter Louise Story tells us about a new program from the United Health Group that lets patients "visit" doctors online for about $45 a pop.
• Sports Takeout: Ibrahim Abdul-Matin previews the Monday Night Football matchup between the New York Giants and the Washington Redskins. The Giants need to win this game in order to keep their playoff hopes alive. We also discuss Kobe Bryant, who has also been on an incredible scoring streak despite playing with a broken finger.
• Listener Takeouts: Listeners called in and wrote us to share their student loan stories and also to share the stipulations they found lurking in their fine print.

The military has spent a year looking for non-American citizens to boost the number of service members with diverse language skills, in the "Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest" (MAVNI) program. As the program wraps up, Army recruiter Staff Sgt. Khori Grant discusses how the recruitment campaign has gone and introduces one of his new international recruits, Srinivasa Dandu.

Advertisements for extended auto warranties are everywhere on television and in mailboxes, but some customers have been complaining that when the repair bills come due, the warranty guarantors are nowhere to be found. Consumer watchdogs are looking sharply at some of the warranty companies, and reporter Scott Graf, from WFAE in Charlotte, NC, says it looks like the boom times for bogus insurance may be ending. 

The Twin Peaks cast sings "The Twelve Days of Christmas," Charlie Brown gets remixed...and more! We kick off our week-long "Remixing the Holidays" series with the best and worst Christmas music as selected by Jon Solomon, a DJ who's hosted a 24-hour Christmas show for each of the last 20 years.