House Health Care Vote: Breaking Updates
10:30 PM ET -- GOP health care alternative rejected. The Republicans' alternative health care bill was voted down in the House, 176-258.
Rep. Timothy Johnson (R-Ill.), an obscure member of the party, was the lone Republican to vote against the GOP plan. The purpose of doing so was unclear. Speculation had surfaced on Saturday that, if there were one Republican defection, it would have been Louisiana Republican Rep. Joe Cao. He ended up supporting Boehner.
Commenting on the Johnson vote, one Democratic health care activist emailed: "random."
-- Sam Stein
10:19 PM ET -- Blue Dog Democrats' anti-abortion amendment passes. The House has passed a provision advanced by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) that severely restricts women's reproductive health choices under the health reform bill.
The vote was 240-194, with 64 Democrats voting in favor of the amendment (and 1 Republican, Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.), voting 'present').
HuffPost's Ryan Grim detailed the Stupak amendment earlier:
Stupak's...amendment...would ban the public health insurance option from funding abortion and also ban any private plan operating within the exchange from funding abortions. Under Stupak's plan, a woman buying private insurance from within the exchange with her own money would not have a choice of a plan that covered abortion.
Here's a statement Reps. Louise M. Slaughter (D-N.Y.) and Diana DeGette (D-Col.), co-chairs of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus:
"Placing onerous new restrictions on a woman's right to choose sets a terrible precedent and marks a significant step backwards. This effort will effectively ban abortion coverage in all plans, both private and public - marking a significant scaling back of the options offered under existing laws. Such a terrible, last minute amendment to a critical, historic piece of legislation is a shame. This kind of outrageous interference in health care by the government marks a sad day in this struggle and will result in women across America losing the right to health care."
10:08 PM ET -- "Dean of the House" delivers final health care speech. Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives, who has introduced a national health care bill at the beginning of every session of Congress since he came into office, received a standing ovation as he began the final Democratic health care speech of the night.
9:54 PM ET -- A Republican vote for health care? Roll Call reports that Louisiana GOP Rep. Joseph Cao may vote in favor of the final health care bill if Rep. Stupak's anti-abortion amendment passes. Rep. Cao defeated scandal-plagued Democrat William Jefferson in 2008, and faces a major up-hill climb in keeping his seat in 2010 in his overwhelmingly Democratic district.
Multiple sources tell HuffPost that the White House has been working hard to win his vote, and that with the abortion amendment in play, his vote is up in the air.
9:31 PM ET -- "Republican ideas are already in there, thanks!" Debate is still taking place on the Republican health care alternative that will be voted on later this evening, before the vote on the Democratic-favored health care bill.
Several GOP members have argued tonight that the Democratic bill doesn't contain bipartisan ideas. Not so, say Dems, who have been distributing quotes from various Republicans declaring that they agree with most of the Democratic health care bill.
Rep. Eric Cantor: "[Cantor] said Republicans and Democrats agree on 80 percent of fixing the nation's healthcare system, but could not show the crowd a detailed plan that has been endorsed by House Republicans." [The Hill, 9/10/09]
Rep. Aaron Schock: "My hope is we could start over and focus on the 80 percent we both agree on," Schock said. "My hope is we could focus on a clean bill.'" [Herald-Review, 9/15/09]Rep. Charles Boustany, after giving his party's official response: "In fact, I would venture to say that we agree on about 80% of the issues right now. It's just a matter of hashing out those few areas where we disagree." [MSNBC, 9/10/09]
Rep. Steve LaTourette: "LaTourette estimates that Republicans and Democrats agree on 80 percent of health care reform ideas, although they have serious disagreements on how to take care of underinsured and uninsured people in a way that won't harm those who have insurance." [Cleveland Plain Dealer, 10/17/09]
Here's a sample of the debate on the GOP alternative -- video of Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), who was interviewed earlier tonight by HuffPost's Ryan Grim (see below).
Democratic aides: We've got the votes. "Today we will pass the Affordable Health Care for America Act," Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said on the House floor Saturday evening. Politico is reporting that Democrats have at least the 218 votes needed to pass the bill. Four Democratic aides tell HuffPost the same thing.
Kristie Greco, a spokeswoman for Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), declined to confirm the number.
The news that Pelosi has the votes can have unpredictable effects on undecided members. Some members, seeing the bill passing, may want to pile on and get on the side of history. Others react by thinking that they can now oppose it, look tough at home, but not jeopardize passage. Toward that end, watch for a handful of no votes to dribble out from Dems over the next hour or so.
A note of caution: Republicans are still allowed a parliamentary procedure known as a "motion to recommit." Within that motion, they could include any sort of mischief they see fit: conventional wisdom is that the motion will include some language concerning illegal immigration, but if any decision has been made, aides are being mum about it. Depending on whether it passes and how it impacts the bill, it could sway a vote or two on final passage, but it's unlikely, because the motion can be ignored as the House and Senate work to merge their bills later in the legislative process.
A Dem aide guessed that 9:30 PM ET was looking like a rough approximation of the time for a final vote.
Here's Pelosi's speech on the floor:
-- Ryan Grim
8:20 PM ET -- Democratic Rep.: "It sounds corny but..." Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) guesses that Democrats have 225 votes for health care reform (218 are needed for passage), he told two reporters in the Speaker's lobby, one from Politico and one from HuffPost.
Miller, as chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, played a key role in drafting the bill.
Politico asked him what would happen to freshman being forced to "walk the plank."
"Who's walking the plank?" Miller asked. "For national health care?"
Voting against the bill could, in reality, come back to hurt Democrats who broke with their party, National Journal is reporting.
Rather than danger, Miller saw a historic victory.
Asked by HuffPost how he felt about the impending passage, he said: "It's incredible, when you think you really have this possibility and you know the history. You know, obviously, over 35 years I've participated in a couple of efforts. So in that sense yes, it sounds corny, but this is the kind of thing that makes you proud to be a member of Congress. You get to do something like this. You get to participate in something like this. You get to participate in trying to figure out how to make this work in our society. So it's a real privilege. A big, big, big privilege is what it is, to be able to participate in this."
Is the vote solid?
"I think it's good. Yeah, I think it's good," he said.
Told that both HuffPost and Politico were reporting Dems had the votes, he jokingly called to Pelosi: "Madam Speaker! Take a rest."
With 218 needed, Miller's prediction of 225 would make it a fairly close vote. Politico asked if he was upset it wasn't higher.
"Look, you go through this entire history and nobody's done it? Take it," he said, punching one hand with the other. "Whatever it is."
-- Ryan Grim
7:49 PM ET -- A reporter takes a spill. After a full day of debate, House staffers and reporters are passing around this video today for comic relief.
7:30 PM ET -- Michele Bachmann wears a lei, critics go to town. Outspoken Minnesota Republican Michele Bachmann (somewhat inexplicably) was sporting a Hawaiian lei when she spoke out against health care reform tonight. She said she was doing so because people in Hawaii told her to vote against the bill.
A Democrat blasted out an email: "I feel it is my duty to point out that Hawaii has a health care mandate where EVERY employer has to provide health care benefits to ALL employees who work over 20 hours a week."
7:00 PM ET -- The newest member of Congress speaks: My district needs this. Speaking on the floor of the House of Representatives for one of, if not the, first time since being elected to office, Rep. Bill Owens (D-N.Y.) made it clear that he would vote for health care reform and viewed the legislation as a boon for small business.
"My district needs one thing: jobs," said the newly elected Democrat. "In upstate New York, small businesses are the jobs engine. Over the past 15 years, they have been responsible for nearly two-thirds of all the jobs created in [the area]. But the cost of health care is grinding the engine down. Over the last decade, small business insurance premiums are up 129 percent. That means much higher expenses, more businesses dropping coverage, and a sicker, more financially-strapped work force, and enormous pressure on small business owners...
"This bill can change that. It creates a competitive marketplace where individuals and small businesses can shop for polices at fair rates. It guarantees preventive care for a healthier, more productive work force, and it encourages Americans to start businesses of their own because the cost of health care will no longer tie them to the same job. The people of my district need jobs. They need me to vote yes. I came to congress to move America forward. This will do that."
Owens' vote, in the end, likely won't be the deciding margin if the House passes health care legislation Saturday evening. While the margin of the final vote seems likely to be small, it's mainly because Speaker Nancy Pelosi will have allowed a group of moderate Democrats to vote against the legislation for electoral purposes.
But Owens' vote is indeed a potent symbol in the eyes of Democratic leaders. Earlier in the day, President Barack Obama pointed to Owens' victory in upstate New York earlier this week as a reason that the party should rally behind the House's legislation.
"He said to look at Bill Owens," a senior Hill aide who was at the meeting recalled. "There is a House seat that's been in Republican hands for more than one hundred years. But Owens didn't run away from reform. He campaigned on it. And he still got elected."
5:46 PM ET -- How Rep. Clyburn introduced Obama. An aide to Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) passes on the speech he made earlier today while introducing the president to the Democratic caucus:
"As I listened to the previous speakers, I thought about last year's campaign. Congressman Marion Berry and I spent a few days together traveling throughout South Carolina in a little RV that I leased for about 10 days. Accompanying us on parts of those trips was my grandson. As the father of 3 wonderful daughters, having a grandson was a real blessing to me. But he arrived three months before he was expected. He was three pounds and eight ounces at birth, and had three operations before he was 20 pounds. I can still remember the looks of excitement on the faces of my daughter and son-in-law when they made the last payment on their 15% co-payment.
"One day as we rode around in that RV, we watched on a television monitor as then candidate Senator Barack Obama was talking about the need for health care reform. I looked at that young man and thought about how fortunate he was to have had the best doctors and treatment available.
"Today that young boy is 15 years old, and while playing golf with him not long ago, using my driver, I had made one of my longest drives of the day. He pulled out his three-wood and drove his ball right past mine. He is where he is today because of what we're trying to do for every child. He was fortunate to be born to parents who had health insurance. But every child born in America should have the same chance he had. That is what we are trying to do today, and the man who has brought us to the point of being able to do just that is here with us today. Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United State of America, Barack Obama."
4:54 PM ET -- Rep. Rangel to GOP Leader Boehner: "Shame on you." Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) just got into a testy exchange when Boehner asked Rangel if he would guarantee that pro-life language in the House version will remain in the bill through conference committee with the Senate.
"You've been here long enough to truly understand how this system works," Rangel responded, saying that he couldn't guarantee him anything. Even if he could, said Rangel, who is under ethics investigations, such a guarantee "might be a violation of our ethics laws."
The press gallery and the House floor erupted in laughter.
From there it heated up, with Boehner saying that allowing a vote on the amendment was a "shell game" because the party planned to remove it later.
"Shame on you," responded Rangel, with one of the more direct insults you'll see on the House floor, where speakers are supposed to direct their comments to the chair, not directly to other members.
-- Ryan Grim
4:39 PM ET -- Progressive group releases new poll timed to health care vote. In light of a tough loss in Virginia's gubernatorial election, a progressive advocacy group is trotting out some new poll numbers making the case that the Democratic Party lost by abandoning the principles of its base.
A Research 2000 Virginia Poll conducted for the Progressive Change Campaign Committee reveals that 64 percent of Virginians who supported Barack Obama but did NOT vote in 2009 said that the party's gubernatorial candidate, Creigh Deeds, was "not progressive enough." Driving the point home further, 58 percent of Virginia voters who are registered as Independent but supported Obama in 2008 election, likewise, said that Deeds was "not progressive enough."
The findings cut against the argument that emerged from the 2009 gubernatorial elections, which held that Democrats lost in Virginia and (to a lesser extent) New Jersey because they were not moderate enough.
Only eight percent of Democratic Obama voters in Virginia and 16 percent of Independent Obama voters in Virginia said they thought Deeds was "too far to the left."
In its survey, PCCC also looked at how a public option for insurance coverage played in the Virginia governor's race. It concludes that Deeds was hurt by his opposition to the public plan. Forty-one percent of respondents said that Deeds' declaration that he would consider opting out of a public plan as governor made them less excited about his candidacy. Only six percent said it made them more excited.
-- Sam Stein
4:22 PM ET -- GOP Rep. uses "granddaughter" (not his own) as political prop. Things are getting a bit weird on the House floor, as Republicans and Democrats continue their daylong debate over health care legislation.
At roughly 3:40 p.m., Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz) took to the microphone with a baby girl in hand. Named "Maddie," he began by proclaiming that the child was not, in fact, his granddaughter. But he didn't say whose it was.
And yet, for the next minute, there was Shadegg bopping the baby up and down and using her as a prop to rail against the government option.
"I wish this was my granddaughter," Shadegg said. "This is Maddie. Maddie believes in freedom. Maddie likes America because we have freedom here. And Maddie believes in patient choice health care. She asked to come here today to say she doesn't want the government to take over health care. She wants to keep her plan."
The chamber was either a bit freaked out or slightly humored. It was difficult to say.
"Mr. Speaker that was a remarkable child and a great ventriloquist," responded Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.).
-- Sam Stein
4:18 PM ET -- Rep. Stupak on progressives: You can't be crying wolf all the time because you lose your wolfiness. For weeks, the Congressional Progressive Caucus threatened to withhold substantial support from the health care bill if it didn't include a robust public option tied to Medicare rates. For weeks, a gang of pro-life Blue Dogs threatened to withhold the support of at least 40 members -- to "take down the rule," in House speak -- if it didn't include language tightly restricting reproductive rights.
There is no robust public option, but the abortion language is in.
HuffPost asked Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), the lead Blue Dog negotiator, why he succeeded and the progressives failed.
"Because I didn't threat[en]. These are the facts," he said.
But you did threaten, a reporter pointed out.
No, Stupak said, it wasn't a threat. It was a promise. "No, they know I'll vote against the rule," he said.
Stupak said the Blue Dogs have gradually been sending a message to leadership and that much of it goes back to a previous vote involving an appropriations bill that Blue Dogs wanted to include pro-life language.
In July, the House considered a Financial Services Appropriations bill that would allow publicly-funded abortions in the District of Columbia. Stupak and allies were not allowed an amendment, so they sought to "take down the rule" -- in other words, round up enough votes to deny he bill a chance to get voted on on the floor. When time expired, the pro-lifers had prevailed. But Pelosi held the vote open for extra time and persuaded four members to switch their votes.
They didn't win in the end, Stupak said, but they accomplished their goal.
"We wanted to send a message," he said. "We went back and I said, 'See, I can take down your rule.'"
He has held his fire since then, saving his strength for the health care bill.
"Now, I have not threatened that every time that we went to Rules Committee and we didn't always get our pro-life amendments, I did not try to take down any rules. You have to pick your fights at the right time. You can't be crying wolf all the time because you lose your wolfiness. You lose your credibility," he said. "So I'm not going to lose my credibility. So you use it at certain times when it's appropriate."
-- Ryan Grim
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The Huffington Post | Ryan Grim, Sam Stein, Lila Shapiro, & Nico Pitney
First Posted: 11- 7-09 09:44 AM | Updated: 11- 8-09 02:52 AM