Getting to 218
Democrats are struggling to corral the votes they need for Obamacare in the House:
Democratic leaders trying to preserve a high-stakes Saturday vote on a House health reform bill battled a swift current of rank-and-file defections Friday as the White House swung into action to help corral the final votes.
But progress was slower than expected – as a bad jobs number Friday with unemployment eclipsing 10 percent, and Tuesday’s election losses making that job harder.
President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and a number of top aides – including chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Education Secretary Arne Duncan — called wavering members.
Democratic officials said their count of hard “nos” was in the range of about 25. While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi can afford to lose up to 40 votes and still win passage, there are dozens of other lawmakers who remain on the fence publicly.
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The White House worked a pair of New York Democrats – Mike McMahon and Scott Murphy – on Friday, but McMahon told local reporters that afternoon that he wasn’t backing the bill.
First-year Democrats who came to Congress on Obama’s coattails last November, like New Jersey Rep. John Adler and Maryland Rep. Frank Kratovil, announced their opposition to the central plank of his White House campaign.
“A number of the real underlying problems that we’re trying to address haven’t been resolved,” Kratovil said.
Pelosi spent the day on the phone with wavering Democrats and even a few who were leaning against the bill, like Virginia Rep. Rick Boucher, who voted against it on the Energy and Commerce Committee.
Pelosi and her leadership team also cut last-minute deals to reassure those Democrats on the fence. In just one example, party leaders agreed to work with Indiana Rep. Baron Hill to lower a 2.5 percent on medical device manufacturers once the bill passes the House – a fact that remains up in the air.
Asked if the negotiators were any closer to a deal, Whip James Clyburn let loose an amused guffaw.
The universe of no voters represents a broad cross-section of geography and seniority in the Democratic Caucus, from veterans like Agriculture Committee Chairman Colin Peterson of Minnesota and Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton of Missouri to Blue Dog Coalition leader Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin, a fourth-term Democrat from South Dakota, and freshmen Parker Griffith of Alabama and Walt Minnick of Idaho.
Opposition has been particularly intense in the South, where an expansion of the government’s role in health care and the offering of insurance plans that cover abortion services in a new health care exchange are unpopular.
Southern Democrats such as Alabamans Griffith, Artur Davis and Bobby Bright, Tennessean Bart Gordon, Georgia’s Jim Marshall, Mike Ross of Arkansas and Mississippians Gene Taylor and Travis Childers are against the bill.
As I’ve said before, as a conservative Republican, I’m conflicted. If Democrats pass Obamacare, the country will lose, but Democrats will get crushed in 2010. If they don’t pass Obamacare, the country will win, but Democrat losses will be fewer.
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November 7th, 2009 at 6:37 am
If they don’t pass a health care bill, coupled with the economic chaos and debt and unemployment, the Left’s electoral losses will be massive. But clearly, the only way to pass a bill is to do something measured and responsible, which is what the mainstream wants. The Left appears incapable of doing so, i.e. they are demonstrating themselves incapable of governing. That appears to be the environment they are choosing to campaign in.
Not that Republicans are any better, because they still seem dominated by RINOs. But they’ll benefit by default, much like the Left benefited by default these last 2 elections.
November 7th, 2009 at 8:35 am
I’m not conflicted, PelosiCare, even one stripped of the public option, illegal immigrant participation, and abortion funding, must be stopped. Once the Feds get their foot in the door, history tells us, every entitlement & intrusion has grown; they’re impossible to cut back, much less cut-off.
Even a PelosiCare lite, would eventually lead to bankrupting the country.