a vote on the healthcare bill at 6 p.m.

Health bill reaches moment of truth
By Jared Allen and Molly K. Hooper - 11/07/09 06:00 AM ET
The House healthcare bill has taken more twists and turns and has zig-zagged its way through more Democratic districts than the Mississippi River.

And after a month’s worth of legislative wrangling and deal-making, the bill is approaching its final destination: a vote on final passage, expected sometime before the sun rises on Sunday. Pressing toward dawn on Saturday, the Rules committee passed a rule after nearly 12 hours that would set up a vote on the healthcare bill at 6 p.m.



No Congress has ever come this close to the goal – first proposed by President Theodore Roosevelt – of providing universal health insurance.

But the healthcare waters are as perilous as they’ve ever been for the current group of Democratic leaders. Even on the day that many Democrats have been waiting decades for, and that some have based their entire careers around, a majority of votes for legislation to extend health insurance coverage to 36 million uncovered Americans remained elusive.

Democratic leaders, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), have given away as many concessions as they could spare in an effort to get to 218 "yes" votes.

And they continued to try to do so even late into the day Friday, as a pocket of pro-life Democrats needed further tweaking of language designed to guarantee that federal funds won’t find their way to insurance plans offering abortion coverage. Into the wee hours of Saturday morning, the Rules committee approved an up-or-down vote on an amendment blocking any money in its healthcare overhaul from funding abortions, risking the votes of members who support abortion rights.

Anti-abortion Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) had told a bleary-eyed panel that a deal struck earlier in the day to move forward on the issue was off, before the rule was approved 6-4.

Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), who had been trying to broker a deal between as many as 40 pro-life Democrats and a number of abortion-rights Democrats, warned Friday evening that if one side needs to win, the entire bill would likely fail.

“I would like the [U.S. Conference of Catholic] Bishops, who as I understand it want a bill, to help us work out a plan where we don't have winners and losers,” Waxman said. “Because the losers will make us lose the bill and the winners won't have won anything.”

Abortion is just another in a long line of problems that Pelosi has had to steer around.

But between the concerns of anti-abortion Democrats, and additional unresolved concerns about the bill's cost, impact on the deficit and ability to control federal health spending from Blue Dog Democrats, and the possible revolt from a few liberal members who believe that the bill veered too far to the right during its infancy, Pelosi’s vote count appeared to still be short – perhaps by a considerable amount – heading into Saturday.

In fact, throughout the day Friday, Pelosi appeared to be losing more votes than she was locking down either through concessions or arm-twisting.

By 6 p.m. Friday, Democratic freshmen Reps. Frank Kratovil (Md.), Bobby Bright (Ala.), Walt Minnick (Idaho), Suzanne Kosmas (Fla.), Harry Teague (N.M.) and Mike McMahon (N.Y.) all announced their opposition to the bill after months on the fence.



http://thehill.com/homenews/house/66787-...