Bloggers continue to be consumed with whether Democratic leaders will garner the votes needed to pass a health overhaul bill. Check in with The Hill to see the most up-to-date vote counts.
Heritage’s Conn Carroll declares, “Another day, another stream of health care fantasy from the White House. A quick look at two health care events from yesterday, one in Glenside, Pennsylvania, and the other in Tawas City, Michigan, clearly exposes the yawing gap between the Obama administration’s health care rhetoric and cold hard legislative reality.”
Keith Hennessey makes a similar point, saying, “Public signs of optimism from the President, his team, and Democratic Congressional leaders tell us little. We don’t know if they actually think they will have the votes, or if they are asserting that to try to make it true. Imagine the impact if Speaker Pelosi were to tell the press ‘We might not succeed.’ Doing so would further embolden those marginal Members she is trying to convince to vote aye. They are telling us they think they will succeed, but they have to say this whether or not it’s true.”
Politico Pulse’s James Hohmann reports that Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius spoke Tuesday to the National Association of Counties annual legislative conference,saying, “We are calling on Congress to step up, have an up-or-down vote, help us pass comprehensive health reform once-and-for-all and begin to change a system that’s broken and not serving many Americans.”
Bob Laszewski wants to know “Just where is the moral imperative in ramming a trillion dollar entitlement expansion through knowing full well it will make our long-term deficit nightmare even worse—for those now uninsured and for everyone else?”
Reason’s Peter Suderman looks at reports that Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., might reach a compromise on the abortion language that will ultimately be put forward, but thinks “no one really knows for sure, and what we’re left with is a waiting game.”
Should Democrats muster the votes to pass a bill, Time’s Adam Sorenson says “I’m very skeptical of Senator McConnell’s assertion that every election in November will be a referendum on the issue. The notion that health care will totally overshadow jobs and the economy is far-fetched and, as Kate suggested, Republicans are probably just saying this to spook skittish House Dems.”
And The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein appears on The Colbert Report to explain budget reconciliation.
| The Colbert Report | Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Action Center – Health Care Bill – Ezra Klein | ||||
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