Democrats 6 Votes Short On Passing ObamaCare

Bloomberg.com:

U.S. House Democrats, who cleared a big hurdle in their effort to overhaul the health-care system by producing compromise legislation, are picking up fresh support for a showdown vote this weekend.

Democrats need about six more votes from House members to pass the 10-year, $940 billion bill, Obama administration officials said today. President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders aim to sway some in a pool of 14 or 15 undecided lawmakers to get to the 216 votes needed to pass the measure, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“We are going to have the votes, when the roll is called,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters today. A vote is scheduled for March 21, leaders said.

Obama has met or called about three-dozen lawmakers in the last five days and cleared his schedule today for more last- minute appeals, including a rally in Fairfax, Virginia.

At least four Democrats agreed to switch their votes to back the bill this week. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may need more to make up for defections by Democrats concerned about issues ranging from the cost to whether restrictions on abortion funding are strong enough.

Senate Version

Democrats say the legislation will cover 32 million uninsured Americans, curb medical costs and reduce the federal budget deficit.

“This is history,” Pelosi said yesterday.

The Senate, which passed its own version of the legislation in December, will take up the revised measure next week. House members objected to key provisions of the Senate bill, and Democratic leaders unveiled a compromise measure yesterday that was crafted to settle the differences.

The legislation represents the most significant health-care revamp since the creation of the Medicare program for the elderly in 1965. Americans would benefit from more access to preventive care and young adults could stay on their parents’ insurance until age 26, Democrats said.

At this point even if they get ObamaCare passed, there's going to be plenty of question (and lawsuits) concerning legality, not to mention all the dirty, backroom deals that went into it passing. It's sad that it's come to this and no matter what happens Democrats will never be able to front like their the party of integrity. Barry had a supermajority to work with for almost 2 years, that's how he should've gotten this thing done, not this deem-n-deal, "Slaughter Rules" way. But he's so desperate to get anything he can claim passed that he's pass of the point of caring about how he looks or how it'll effect the future of his party, much less Americans as a whole. Altogether, it's a pathetic scene to watch and let me add too that what with Barry and his administration's utter stupidity in taking on the Surpeme Court of late, if Obamacare does somehow pass Congress, he better hope its true passage doesn't fall in the hands of the Roberts court.