A few more clarifications on the health care bill as we near tomorrow’s vote.

Bill Owens, just sworn in as a new Congressman, announced his support for the legislation.

“This legislation will reform the insurance industry and provide increased access to affordable healthcare without taxing healthcare benefits, cutting Medicare benefits or raising taxes on the middle class, and that is exactly the direction we need to go,” said Owens. “There are still changes I would like to make, including raising the payroll exemption for small businesses, but like I said last week, there is a fundamental need for reform and we must act with a sense of urgency. This plan will reign in costs, strengthen the middle class and protect our economy from additional debt down the road.”

Hilariously, Owens expressed “concern” over the “black liquor” provision, i.e. the tax giveaway to paper companies for powering their plants the same way they always have, which would save $24 billion dollars over 10 years. I discussed why this provision was added here. This gives more ammunition to the fact that it was simply put in as a revenue-raiser, since at least one Democrat is balking at it.

On the opposite end, Jon Adler (D-NJ) is now a firm no on the bill:

“Congress should not pass a bill that costs more than $1 trillion dollars or increases the financial burden on middle class families and small businesses,” Adler said. “Health care costs are rising faster than wages and inflation, and this bill does not change this trend.”

Of course, saying that the bill “costs more than $1 trillion dollars” when it reduces the deficit is not much of a good rationale. But that’s what the so-called “fiscal conservatives” are going with.

Adding Adler to my list of firm no votes brings us to 16 total. This Chamber of Commerce whip list brings us to 69 total possible Democratic no votes, and the 16 in there are included. However, Owens was on that list. Therefore you can see 52 “on the fence” votes. I’m going to try and nail down as many as possible now.

UPDATE: The Hill has updated their whip count. Here’s the update:

The Hill adds three new No votes: Suzanne Kosmas (D-FL), Frank Kratovil (D-MD) and Charlie Melancon (D-LA). The latter is running for Senate in Louisiana, in case you want to see where your DSCC money will go.

Those combined with what we know yields 19 no votes.
The Hill still has 30 additional undecideds, but it’s pretty broad.

I’ve been doing an informal whip count, and it’s been hard to get through to folks. Jason Altmire’s office tells me he’s “reviewing the bill closely”; John Barrow has this anodyne statement on his site; Marion Berry appears undecided; and Leonard Boswell looks like a yes. More when I know it…

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