Sunday, March 21, 2010

UPDATE 8:20 a.m.

The potentially historic House session today to decide the fate of the health care overhaul isn't just one vote, but three.

The first will be on a "rule to establish debate guidelines.

The next will consider a package of changes to a Senate-passed bill, including deletion of special Medicaid benefits for Nebraska.

Then, finally, will come an up or down vote on the bill already approved by the Senate, which has been the focus of intense national debate for months. President Barack Obama will sign that bill, and the Senate will vote on the changes measure approved by the House.

House Democrats need 216 votes each time.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer says Democrats will have the 216 votes needed to pass health care reform when it comes to the floor for a vote.

The Maryland Democrat predicts that the bill, President Barack Obama's signature domestic policy, will pass on Sunday because the majority of Americans want it.

But House Republican leader John Boehner says the Democrats have yet to lock in the 216 votes required for passage. The Ohio Republican says the plan is a government takeover opposed by the vast majority of Americans.

The House leaders, speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," condemned the racial taunts hurled at congressmen during protests on Capitol Hill on Saturday.

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UPDATE 4:57 p.m.

March 20, 2010

President Obama ABM says House Democrats should vote Sunday for a massive health care bill to help Americans. But he says it will also end up being good politics.

Mr. Obama acknowledged to a meeting of House Democrats that backing the bill is a tough vote. But he said he believes it will end up being "the smart thing to do politically."

In his televised remarks to the Democrats, he said, "Don't do it for me, don't do it for the Democratic Party, do it for the American people. They're the ones looking for action right now."

The president singled out two Democrats who will support the bill after opposing an earlier version last year, Reps. Betsy Markey of Colorado, and John Boccieri of Ohio.

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President Barack Obama is making a final push for the health care overhaul as he heads to Capitol Hill to meet with rank and file House Democrats ahead of tomorrow's scheduled vote.

Democratic leaders and Obama are focusing last-minute lobbying efforts on two groups of Democrats. They include 37 who voted against an earlier bill, and 40 who voted for it only after first making sure it would include strict abortion limits.

President Obama claims the momentum is there, but the divisive issue of how to keep federal funds from being used to pay for abortions emerged once again as a potential last-minute obstacle.

In the weekly Republican radio and Internet address, House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio says the bill "requires 10 years of tax increases and 10 years of Medicare cuts just to pay for six years of supposed benefits."