Final Votes Were Not Easy for Pelosi
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on March 23rd, 2010 4:43 am by HL
Final Votes Were Not Easy for Pelosi
Roll Call says that none of the final votes on the health care bill came easily to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) “as they muscled health care reform over the line. And the stories of the late-breaking votes illustrate just how tight the margin was for a Democratic majority that had potentially staked its future on the outcome.”
“Pelosi had personally courted nearly every wavering Democrat over a period of months, intensifying dramatically in the past week, and the stakes could not have been higher with the fate of the party’s top priority, her Speakership and Obama’s presidency all hanging in the balance.”
Health Care Reform Heads to the Courts
Marc Ambinder: “Moments after President Obama signs the health reform bill today, mostly Republican aspiring governors — AGs — er, Attorneys General in at least twelve states plan file suit to prevent the legislation from taking effect. The chances of success in the Supreme Court are low, but the point of the lawsuits isn’t legal — it’s political. It advances the politics of conservative jurisprudence, and the political ambitions of conservatives, and it keeps the legislation itself in a state of suspended political animation. “
Overheated Talk Undoing Republicans
Former Bush speechwriter David Frum says the “overheated rhetoric” by Republicans over health care reform is paralyzing the party.
“Yes, it mobilizes supporters — but by mobilizing them with hysterical accusations and pseudo-information, overheated talk has made it impossible for representatives to represent and elected leaders to lead.”
“Now the overheated talk is about to get worse. Over the past 48 hours, I’ve heard conservatives compare the House bill to the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 — a decisive step on the path to the Civil War. Conservatives have whipped themselves into spasms of outrage and despair that block all strategic thinking.”
