We’ll certainly know in the morning, but Nancy Pelosi is fast running out of options without members of the ubiquitous Stupak bloc.
Harry Teague, one of the few remaining undecided votes, will vote No again as he did in November, blaming cost controls.
“I had hoped to have a chance to vote on a bill that provided affordable health care options to all American families, but after reviewing the final health care reform proposal, I do not believe that the bill does enough to contain costs and it definitely does not do enough to rein in the out of control insurance companies that are driving up healthcare costs in this country,” Teague said in a statement.
“In fact, I believe we are doing more for the insurance companies than we are for the people who need this coverage, and that is why, despite the positive steps it takes, I must vote against this bill,” Teague said.
If you look at the numbers below, you understand why this is consequential. Teague puts the definite No votes at 210, with five leaners, four of them part of the Stupak bloc. There are only 8 undecideds left, and 208 Yes votes with leaners. So Pelosi would have to get all 8, including Stupak bloc member Kathy Dahlkemper, and hold Marcy Kaptur (who probably shouldn’t be a lean Yes). Failing that, she could try to flip Glenn Nye, or go to one of her committee chairs voting No (Ike Skelton, Collin Peterson) and ask them to walk the plank.
But that’s a very tough road. And so Pelosi is talking to Bart Stupak. Because there doesn’t look to be another option for passage. That may result in an annual standalone vote on choice in the exchange. It may result in some “tie-bar” legislation (although that is procedurally unlikely). But it’s almost certainly going to result in something.




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I believe Pelosi has the votes and is trying to figure out who gets to vote no. This makes the decision to scrap the public option all the more infuriating.
NYT article suggesting whipping of Democrats has decreased and focus now on whipping Republicans:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/19/health/policy/19memo.html?scp=2&sq=pelosi&st=cse
So what do Diana DeGette and the Pro-Choice coalition do?
Waitaminnit – you mean if people band together and stand strong, they can actually get what they want? UNPOSSIBLE!!!
My. God.
Surely writing, shepherding and passing a truly decent, not pro-corproate, progressive-ish piece of legislation couldn’t have been any more difficult than this!
With the added advantage of NOT having had to bargain away EVERY forkin’ principle the Party has ever claimed to have!
TEH STOOPID! It’s going to ensure that I will live in perpetual poverty should I have a catastrophic medical emergency. Christ. WTF country am I living in again?!
FunnyDiva
not laughing over this.
But only if they want what the moneyed interests that actually run the country want.
want a fair shake for ordinary Americans? Tough SH**.
One that doesn’t care about anyone with an income less than 6 figures.
Are we supposed to be for or against this pile of crap?
Nailbiter to the end! After watering down the bill for a year, can’t it just be passed without the frickin’ drama! grrrr…..
Most of this “Stupak” bloc is going to cave. There were a dozen behind him last week, now there are… eight? Or less? Stupak is a moron. These people are holding the carrot out because they’re playing Joe Lieberman’s game of last autumn, be the deciding vote and you rule the world- that game. These guys already know it isn’t going to matter, voting against the bill is not going to save your seat against a Republican. Can you imagine that as a campaign slogan? “Keep me! I voted NO!!! Don’t you love me?”
Common, what nonsense. The polls already show that people tend to admire a politician who votes + for what they believe in and not a spineless weasel who tries to prove he’s conservative by destroying the president’s title agenda for the whole country. The President is putting the pressure on by getting and speaking finally. That sways public opinion. If this thing goes down, he is going to hold an enormous amount of public sympathy for trying to give insurance to a lot of people- and the Demo’s who kill the bill are going to have a lot of egg on their cars.
I never thought I’d be rooting for anti-abortionists.
Just kill the bill.
Watered down indeed. This HCR bill is a perfect example of homeopathic legislation garnished with a twist of corruption.
An income of six figures?
Someone with a (low) six figure income who gets seriously sick is just as likely to end up bankrupt and on the street as a person with a mid-five figure income.
Don’t know if Teague is among those “allowed” to vote no or not… his reason for voting no seems like exactly what I think… kudos to him for calling it out.
But he is being opposed by Steve Pearce… who formerly held his seat in a REpublican district… Pearce left it to run for Senator and lost, so now is going back…
It’s going to be a long shot for Teague to hold onto his seat and would have been longer probably if he had voted for the massive insurance company/pharma handout.
ps.. thanks to DD, Jon and Jane for the excellent reporting.
I never thought I would say this but….
Go Stupak, kill this abomination of a bailout.
Kill this piece of shit.
For all the talk about how Americans are going to be thrilled when they see that the maniacal ranting of the wingnuts don’t come true, I don’t think they are going to be thrilled by the costs associated with this thing.
Nothing to rein in price increases, co-pays for people with employer coverage to increase as coverage becomes less widespread, nothing to help people for four years.
What a load of crap.
I will celebrate when the Democrats, the people I’ve voted for since I came back from Vietnam (with the exception of 2008 and McKinney) cease to exist as a meaningful party.
re Teague… plus add to the circumstances I described above… a frequently run scary, scary Chamber of Commerce TV ad here in nm full of lies about the bill… hey I don’t mind… don’t like it either… but there’s plenty of bad to call out about the bill without lies and hyperbole…
And they are calling out Teague by name in it… telling people to call him to vote no… so he is under a lot of pressure…
Altho as I say… his statement rings right on to moi, so who know, he may be voting what he truly believes.
this is not like any democracy I ever heard about.
Hopefully this is looming on the horizon. A completely corrupted and complicit party. The bottom line, this shows the corrupting influence of money on the U.S. political system.
holy shit jane has a new post up
link fixed
Two other sites are confirming that DeFazio is now a “no” vote… that would be a “brutal” flip…
Sure hope Stupak has washed his ass… because Queen Nancy is about to start kissing it!!
Sure, the pro-choice crowd will scream and holler over it… but they will not oppose this bill and allow Obama to fail.
It’ll pass. Too many progressives are nothing but paper tigers, and many votes can change when you’ve got the whole federal budget to grease palms.
Jane is reporting Pelosi has worked out a deal with Stupak.
chaperone?
lucky me, no Kommissar on this thread, yet.
What democracy? Oh, and to think we thought we had one. Oh well,any other silly thoughts?