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WASHINGTON – Buoyed by two major endorsements, House Democratic leaders on Thursday predicted swift passage of President Obama’s historic health care overhaul initiative.
Obama himself declared, “We are closer to passing this reform than ever before.”
With a vote set for Saturday, momentum gathered behind the sweeping legislation to extend coverage to millions of the uninsured. The American Medical Association and the powerful seniors’ lobby AARP both threw their weight behind the bill Thursday.
AARP, with its 40 million members, promised to run ads and contact activists to gin up support.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders were working to negotiate final language on abortion and illegal immigration and nail down the 218 votes they’ll need to pass the bill. Obama planned to give them an assist today with a visit to Capitol Hill to meet with Democrats and shore up any wavering support.
Despite the optimism, work remains to be done, and a much slower timeline in the Senate made the ultimate outcome unpredictable. Action in the Senate may not come until next year, and legislation passed by the two chambers would have to be reconciled before a bill could go to Obama.
Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and other House leaders spent Thursday in back-to-back meetings on final details of the 10-year, $1.2 trillion bill. Hoyer, D-Md., predicted a tight vote.
“I wouldn’t refer to it as a squeaker, but I think it’s going to be close,” Hoyer said in an interview with wire service reporters. “This is a huge undertaking.”
Meanwhile, thousands of conservatives rallied outside the Capitol on Thursday, chanting “Kill the bill!”
“This bill is the greatest threat to freedom that I have seen,” House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, told the crowd. One protester carried a placard reading, “Bury Obamacare with Kennedy,” a reference to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who died of brain cancer last summer.
The protest attracted many of the so-called tea party demonstrators angry with increased spending and an expanded government role under the Obama administration.
Actors Jon Voight and John Ratzenberger, who played Cliff on the comedy series “Cheers,” attended, but the real star was Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn.
On Oct. 30, she invited viewers of Fox News to Washington to roam House office buildings and confront lawmakers.
“I’d love to have every one of your viewers join me so that we can go up and down through the halls,” Bachmann said. “Find members of Congress, look at the whites of their eyes and say, ‘Don’t take away my health care.’ ”
