Health Care a Done Deal?

As Bill Clinton made late-night phone calls and Barack Obama delivered his final pitch, the Democrats appear to have held off enough "no" votes to pass historic health-care legislation. According to CNN, 38 House Democrats would be needed to stop the bill. The current count has only 33 Dems doing so. Seven Democrats have switched from no to yes so far. The focus of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's final hour of lobbying has been on anti-abortion Democrats who are worried that the bill will allow taxpayer-funding of abortion. Those holdouts could vote for the bill if they are persuaded by a statement from Obama clarifying that the bill won't, in fact, allow taxpayer-funding of abortion. "It may be all that's left," said Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio. On ABC's This Week, House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson said, "We have the votes now--as we speak." The day's schedule, via CBS News, has voting in the House beginning at 2 p.m. today. There will be three major votes: first on the rules of debate. Then a vote on the reconciliation package—what will be taken out of the Senate bill. Ultimately, the House will vote on the original Senate bill itself. This last vote will likely come at 6:15 p.m.