As the House of Representatives prepares to vote on historic health care legislation today, the chairman of the Democratic caucus predicted victory: Speaking on ABC News' This Week, the AP reports that Rep. John Larson (D-Maryland) said, "We have the votes now -- as we speak." However, there's still some uncertainty that the Democrats have enough votes—the NY Times says that late last night, they "acknowledged that the margin of victory would likely be razor thin even under their most optimistic scenario."
President Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Caliornia) and other Democrats have been pushing to gather the 216 votes necessary to pass the bill—even former president Bill Clinton called some undecided Democrats yesterday. The Washington Post reports, "With all 178 Republicans and at least two dozen Democrats vowing to vote no, the legislation's fate lies in the hands of about 20 Democrats who remained uncommitted late Saturday," and has a very interesting tracker showing which votes are in play, showing all the House members' expected vote, previous November 7 vote, how much funding they get from health concerns, and the percentage of uninsured in their district. The Times also has an interactive look at 18 undecided Democrats, whether their district voted for McCain, whether they are a freshman, etc.
Opposition to the bill remains fierce—besides Republicans railing against it, some protesters allegedly hurled slurs at Democrats. Some black lawmakers were allegedly called slurs and spat on; Rep. John Lewis (D-Georgia), a civil rights icon, said, "I haven't seen heard anything like this in more than 40 years, maybe 45. Since the march from Selma to Montgomery really...Yeah, but it's okay. I've faced this before. So, it reminded me of the 60's. There's a lot of downright hate and anger and people are just being downright mean." And a CNN producer also heard someone called Rep. Barney Frank (D-Massaschusetts) a "faggot"; Frank said, "I'm disappointed. There's an unwillingness to be civil... [The health care debate has become] the proxy for a lot of other sentiments. A lot of which are perfectly reasonable but some of which are kind of ugly.
Some resources: Here's a point-by-point comparison of the Senate bill, House bill, Obama's proposal, and the House's reconciliation from the Wall Street Journal. The WaPo, which also looks at the Senate bill vs. House reconciliation, has five answers to big questions, like "Why is the process so confusing?" and "What is the House voting on?" The NY Times has a timeline of overhauling health care.
