News & Features - Report: Dems have votes on healthcare bill

ArcaMax Publishing > Current News

Your email address is safe with us. View our Privacy policy.

The Funnies:

Get free jokes, comics, and more! See them all on
our funnies page

Games:

Fun online games, quizzes, hangman and more on the games page

Report: Dems have votes on healthcare bill

WASHINGTON (UPI) -- Democrats in the U.S. House said Saturday they had the votes needed to pass a $1 trillion healthcare bill, a Washington publication reported.

Politico cited unnamed Democratic sources as saying their internal head counts show they have more than the 218 votes needed for passage.

"For generations, the American people have called for affordable healthcare," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said on the floor. "Today, we will pass the Affordable Health Care for America Act."

Since all Republicans are expected to vote against the bill, passage depends on keeping enough wavering Democrats in the fold.

President Barack Obama, in a last-minute lobbying bid, came to the U.S. Capitol about three hours after the debate began.

Democrats agreed late Friday to allow members of the party who oppose abortion to offer an amendment that would effectively block federal funds from being used for the procedure. The amendment would ban the "public option" plan from covering abortions and bar anyone getting a subsidy for insurance from buying a private plan that pays for them.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which supports the rest of the bill, lobbied fiercely on the abortion issue. Republicans and a handful of Democrats say the bill is too expensive

"Today is the showdown on a government takeover over healthcare," said Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La..

The Democrats have 258 seats in the House and need at least 218 votes to pass the bill.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

This news arrived on: 11/07/2009

Share this Story