I’ve been following along on my twitter feed during the series of speeches, but we’re getting very close to the final votes.

After the end of all the speeches, there will be a vote, I believe, on the Senate bill, HR 3590. After that, without any time for debate in between, there will be a vote on the reconciliation bill. Both are expected to pass, with (I would guess) 218 or 219 votes.

So that’s the schedule. We’ll have voting soon, I’ll be around to tally.

Big thanks to everyone following along, commenting, and checking in to contact me over this last week. You kept me going.

…I would expect speeches from John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi before the first vote. I’ve seen no evidence that there will be a motion to recommit, though I suppose it’s possible. In that case, there would be three votes to go.

…Here’s John Boehner. “I rise tonight with a sad and heavy heart.” I say he pulls a Glenn Beck (and cries, not pulls out the blackboard).

…And the House turns into the British Parliament for a moment, with the shouts back and forth.

…Boehner’s losing it, thinks he’s a preacher, doing call-and-response.

…Apparently, there will be a motion to recommit, but only AFTER the Senate bill, which shows what a transparent farce it is for Republicans to submit it, since health care will be the law of the land after the Senate bill passes.

…Boehner tries to back the Dems into a corner by getting a one-by-one recorded vote (there’s a public roll call afterward, I see no point), David Obey smacks him down.

…Remember, Boehner told his caucus earlier today to “behave like grownups.”

…Boehner calls the bill “a ticket to minority status.”

…Boehner yields back to resounding applause from white men on his side of the aisle. The Speaker appears.

…Pelosi getting a standing ovation. “Tonight we will make history for our country.”

…Says we wouldn’t be here without the leadership of President Obama (and I distinctly heard a couple boos)

…Mentions the health care investments in the stimulus and the budget. True, there was money for health IT and community health centers in that legislation.

…”I believe this legislation will unleash tremendous entreprenurial power into our economy…. someone can change jobs without losing health insurance.”

…”Health care system right now is unsustainable, we simply cannot afford it… best action we can take on behalf of family budgets and the federal budget is to pass health care reform.”

….Pelosi explaining the legislation again. I’m watching this on CSPAN, assuming the cable nets are covering it.

…”After this legislation, being a woman will no longer be a pre-existing medical condition.”

…after thanking the Academy, Pelosi brings up Ted Kennedy, “who made health care his life’s work.” He reads some of the letter Kennedy left to be read after his death.

….OK, now we’ll just hear from Eric Massa and then we’ll start voting.

…OK, so the vote for HR3590, to alter the homebuyer’s tax credit and… other purposes. Mostly other purposes.

…Here we go, we’re on a 15 minute vote. This is the first of three. This is a vote on the Senate bill.

…Wow, people got on their electronic devices in a hurry. 153 Yes votes already.

…174-145 so far.

…20 Democrats voting no thus far, they can afford 37.

…216 needed for passage, Dems at 180.

…Voting has slowed a bit. It’s 184-160 right now, 22 Democrats have voted no. 47 Dems have not voted, 32 more needed for passage.

…196 yes votes so far, 216 needed for passage.

…27 no votes so far, Dems can afford 37…

…202-182…

8 votes now needed for passage. 208 in as Yea.

209-193…

214, 2 left for passage…

And there it is, 216 votes have been reached, HR 3590 has passed.

…As I thought, this will top out at 218 or 219.

…David Obey reads the final tally, 219 Yes, 212 No.

…Now we have the vote on the reconciliation bill. Steny Hoyer brings it up.

…Dave Camp is now bringing the motion to recommit forward. This was expected. The minority often does this to make the majority take a tough vote. Keep in mind that health care, in the Senate bill, has passed. The GOP is doing this mainly to make a point.

The Democrats have no idea what is in the motion to recommit.

…Camp signals that the motion to recommit has to do with abortion funding, but nobody has read it.

…I guess we’ll have an up-or-down vote on abortion funding, after all. We’ll see how the anti-choicers on the Democratic side play this one out.

…Joe Pitts and Chris Smith, rabid anti-choice GOPers, talking about this. Keep in mind that a vote for this is a vote to delay the reconciliation bill, which cancels out all those “special deals” about which you’ve been hearing.

…Hoyer notes that this motion is inconsistent with reconciliation, would be thrown out, bringing us back to the House, where they would bring it up again.

…Stupak hits the mic: “This motion is nothing more than an opportunity to deny 32 million Americans health care.” OK, so we know what he’ll do.

…Stupak – Bart Stupak – says this motion is to “politicize life.” Well, he would know.

…OK, there will be a recorded vote on the motion to recommit. Given Stupak’s outburst, a No vote is expected to carry.

…You can find the roll call for the last vote here.

…Here are the No votes:

Adler, Altmire, Arcuri, Barrow, Berry, Boren, Boucher, Bright, Chandler, Childers, A.Davis, L.Davis, C.Edwards, Herseth Sandlin, Holden, Kissell, Kratovil, Lipinski, Lynch, Marshall, Matheson, McIntyre, McMahon, Melancon, Minnick, Nye, Peterson, Ross, Shuler, Skelton, Space, Tanner, Taylor, Teague

That’s pretty much exactly what I expected and consistent with all public statements. Costello must have been part of the Stupak bloc, because he flipped to Yes. He was the only questionable one to me. The whip count was so precise and intense that there wasn’t any chance for any member to change from their public stance.

…OK, the motion to recommit is going to fail. There are already 225 no votes against it. There will be a final vote on the reconciliation bill, coming up.

…The motion to recommit fails 199-232. Obey moves immediately to passage on the reconciliation bill.

…And the Reconciliation bill passes. 217 votes are already on it. This bill now goes to the Senate, where it will get a vote within days, according to Harry Reid. He claims that there are 52 names on his letter, willing to pass the sidecar. This means that the reconciliation fixes, and student loan reform, will become the law of the land, if it passes.

More on all that tomorrow. For now, good night.