U.S. House to pass health care reform bill today or tomorrow
The U.S. House of Representatives is debating its final version of the health care bill today. President Obama stopped by for a pep talk to the Democrats, while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi vows the vote will be held today. The Washington Post has notes on what to look for, while CSPAN is broadcasting the floor debate.

A deal was struck last night to prohibit federal funds for abortions, which was a sticking point with some Democrats. Hopefully this'll secure the 218 votes (which will all be from Democrats, not a single Republican is expected to vote for the bill) needed to pass the bill.


15 comments submitted.
It's going to the floor for sure, although this may be old news by now.
Have been avoiding the CSPAN for my health but just saw a clip on one Rep. using a baby as a prop. Dear lord.
Wonkette's on it. Guess they couldn't take the weekend off with this going on. Too much irresistible satirical fodder!
Kos is liveblogging and commentating; if you don't mind the sometimes shrill partisanship (I happen to agree with most of it, but still, not exactly a neutral source), they're getting to the nub pretty well. Politico's doing shrill in the other direction, but doesn't seem to be liveblogging?
Sorry, forgot the Kos link
Anthony Weiner wins my admiration.

/ not quite liveblogging but listening here and there while doing various housework
That WaPo link was enlightening on House arcana, thanks BB.
Speaking of the WaPo, someone at the Post just said to the BBC that one Republican may vote in favour of the final bill.
I cannot believe the Stupak abortion amendment passed. And with so many votes.
Passed at about 11:15, final vote very close at 220-215. Cao (Louisiana) was the only Republican to vote for it. There was applause when the vote tally reached 218, again when the single Republican vote popped up a couple minutes later, and a countdown and big cheers when the time ran out. All night I was seeing estimates of a 5 vote lead, so this was even a smaller margin of victory than expected.
Christ, that was nerve-wracking.

#hcr was spawning thousands of twits per minute for awhile there. Drudge has yet to update, though. Gee, I wonder why that would be...
Salon has a good article about Cao.

Yes it was quite tense to watch. Even making fun of Boehner mispronouncing "hyperbole" was just to cover the growing anxiousness. Whew, big hurdle done.
220 is close. The Senate process is not going to be pretty.
Current talk is somewhat hopeful that the Stupak amendment will be pulled or watered down in the Senate or in reconciliation. I don't really see that happening in the Senate, but possibly in conference, so it's not a totally done deal yet, but it sucks that it managed to make it this far, though some argue it wouldn't have come to this if Pelosi and company had considered pro life stances earlier in the negotiations. Not sure I'd agree with that, as abortion needs to be deeply divisive with little compromise possible, but it would have good to see more outreach from pro choice Democrats.
If a government plan is part of the deal, "as a matter of conscience, I will not allow this bill to come to a final vote," said Sen. Joe Lieberman...

Whether Lieberman actually has a conscience or not is a matter yet to be determined, but regardless -- this doesn't look good.
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