David Dayen at the liberal (and pro-single payer) blog FireDogLake has been on top of the House whip count for two weeks now, and his latest tally is very interesting:
This brings the count to 204-206, with 11 undecided and 10 (still?) in the Stupak bloc. Even if the Stupak bloc has been whittled to a half-dozen, you would still need to get all the outstanding Yes votes (Foster, Kanjorski, Michaud, Ortiz, Pomeroy, Schrader) and two of the remaining former No votes (Baird, L.Davis, Matheson, Nye, Tanner). And if that Stupak bloc is any bigger, it gets harder.
Which brings the number to 205 yes, 207 yes, and 10 leaning yes. If you count leaners, that means 217 no votes and the end of ObamaCare.
True ?
Maybe not:
(Reuters) – Democrats in the House of Representatives said on Saturday they had secured enough support to pass a sweeping healthcare overhaul and would dump a controversial plan to avoid a direct vote on the Senate bill.
An upbeat House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer predicted victory in Sunday’s vote on the biggest revamp of the $2.5 trillion healthcare system in four decades, although even the most optimistic Democrats expected a razor-thin margin.
“Clearly, we believe we have the votes,” Hoyer told reporters. “We expect we have the votes to pass the Senate bill.”
At this point, I’m waiting for the actual vote.
thx