Former McCain staffer Michael Goldfarb claims on the Weekly Standard's blog that a source tells him the Obama administration is pressuring Sen. Ben Nelson to support health care reform:

According to a Senate aide, the White House is now threatening to put Nebraska's Offutt Air Force Base on the BRAC list if Nelson doesn't fall into line.

First, note that Goldfarb describes his source as “a Senate aide” -- not “a Democratic Senate aide.” Given that his source would be much more credible if described that way, we can probably assume that Goldfarb's (only) source is a Republican Senate aide. And the source's quotes certainly sound rather Republican:

As our source put it, this is a “naked effort by Rahm Emanuel and the White House to extort Nelson's vote.” They are “threatening to close a base vital to national security for what?” asked the Senate staffer.

So how would this presumably Republican aide be in a position to know what the White House is “threatening” to do to Democratic Senator? Goldfarb doesn't say. (Even if the “source” is a Democrat, there's no indication s/he is in a position to know anything.) So, there's a pretty good reason to be skeptical right there.

Now, moving on to the supposed substance of the alleged threat. The BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) process is specifically designed to minimize political considerations in base closing decisions. The Defense Department applies legally-mandated criteria to assess bases; an independent commission (chosen in consultation between the President and Congress) makes closure recommendations; Congress has the ability to reject those recommendations; the whole thing is a lengthy and high-profile process.

In short: if “Rahm Emanuel and the White House” want to “extort Nelson's vote,” it isn't likely they would do so by trying to meddle in the BRAC process. And it's even less likely considering the risk they'd be taking -- getting caught meddling with BRAC would look significantly worse than getting caught cutting off highway funding, for example.

Basically, Goldfarb's post doesn't pass the laugh test.

And that's even before you consider the fact that Michael Goldfarb is a liar.