Today is a stressful day for many Americans. As the fateful moment draws nearer and nearer, everyone is starting to wonder what’s going to happen. Over at Hot Air, Ed’s reporting that there are several conflicting reports about whether or not Pelosi has been able to get the 216 votes needed.
Democrats have the 216 votes needed to pass health care reform legislation in the House on Sunday, the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus told CNN.
“This is a historic day and we are happy warriors,” Rep. John Larson, D- Connecticut, told CNN’s “State of the Union.” He added, “We’ve got the votes.”
But the chief deputy whip in the House, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Florida, cautioned, “We don’t have a hard 216 right now.” Schultz made the statement to “Fox News Sunday” just as Larson was speaking to CNN.
Wasserman Schultz added, “I firmly believe we will have 216.”
But will they? Liberal California Democrat Loretta Sanchez has switched her vote to a no… and then gone MIA. Gene Taylor, a Democrat from Mississippi, is advising other Democrats to vote no — and then run like hell. On the other hand, Bart Stupak (who looked like a man of principles) is reporting that he’s close to working out a deal for himself and his gang of six to vote yes. Boehner says that they still don’t have the votes.
There’s going to be no predicting what will happen today. Remember, folks: House Democrats who are unsure about which way to vote are being pulled in all directions. Pelosi is using all of the political power she has to try to strong-arm them into voting her way, whether it’s constitutional or not. Republicans are reminding them that the American people are ardently against this bill, and that voting for it will lose them their seat. Americans are showing up by the thousands in DC this weekend to make sure they understand just how much they hate this bill. Who will they be more afraid of? Some of them are going to honestly be more afraid of Pelosi than they are of the people, which is sad and pathetic. But it’s true and unfortunate.
We’ve done everything we can to stop this from passing. And there’s still hope yet. But unfortunately, the time has come where there is nothing more we can do (except to continue to melt down their phones) except watch and wait.
UPDATE: Steny Hoyer is saying that the Dems still don’t have the votes:
UPDATE: Rep. Nye is voting no:
Citing potential problems for TRICARE recipients, the cost of the bill, and cuts to children’s hospitals, Congressman Glenn Nye announced this evening that he will vote against adopting the health care proposal under consideration in the House of Representatives.
“Over the past year, I have spoken with countless small business owners, families, medical professionals, and average citizens across Virginia’s 2nd District, and it became very clear that this bill was not the right solution for Virginia’s health care challenges,” said Congressman Nye. “There were many strong points in this bill that I would have been happy to support individually, but the package as a whole had serious problems.”
The original version of legislation in the House had specifically exempted TRICARE from being affected. However, when the final bill language was released on Thursday afternoon, it was revealed that neither the Senate bill nor the reconciliation package contained an exemption for TRICARE.
“Our military families need to be able to count on their health care benefits, and I am not willing to risk negative consequences for our military personnel and their families, particularly at a time when our troops are serving overseas in harm’s way,” said Nye.
UPDATE: Marcy Kaptur will be voting yes.



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