A (no longer) brief diary as I pour more coffee into my brain.
1:00pm: STUPAK VOTING YES. GAME OVER. WE DID IT.
11:50am: Stupak 8 meeting right now with WH attorneys finalizing language on the E.O. regarding HCR and abortion. Announcement at 12:30 p.m. EST. Stupak's 8 would put the number at 222.
10:10am: BBC now reporting they have the votes.
...and Marcy Kaptur, one of Stupak's crew, according to ABC-13 in Toledo, announced just now that she's a YES vote on the bill.
10:00am: NBC's Luke Russert says Dems tell him they have 214, 2 votes shy.
9:50 am: CNN is now reporting that "House Democrats have 216 votes needed to pass health care reform, chairman of House Democratic Caucus tells CNN."
9:38 am: Looks like both Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) AND Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla) are saying they have the votes now. Relevant quotes below.
From earlier this morning (most recent updates are above for now):
Politico is reporting that on ABC's "This Week" this morning, Rep. John Larson, the Democratic Congressman from Connecticut, said that they now have the votes for passage:
Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) said Sunday would be an historic day, and said: "We have the votes now. As we speak."
Asked about the price Democrats may pay at the polls in November, Larson said "every time you have a midterm election, you risk the chance of losing members... but it’s about this moment, it’s about the truth. It’s about every reason you get elected and go to Congress."
Just as I was wrote that, it spread to Huffington Post:
WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Democratic caucus in the House says his party has the 216 votes needed to pass President Barack Obama's historic health care bill.
Speaking Sunday on ABC's "This Week," Connecticut Rep. John Larson said, in his words, "We have the votes now -- as we speak."
House Democrats are predicting that a rare Sunday session will produce one of the most significant legislative triumphs in decades: passage of a bill to overhaul the nation's health care system to provide coverage to millions of people.
Now - I highly doubt he would have said this if it weren't true - and this might just confirm what some have suspected, namely that there are committed votes who haven't officially announced - however, I'm still going to be pumping aspirins until the roll call.
NOTE: As TheGreatLeapForward diaried this info about 10 seconds before I did, I should link to his diary on this as well. ;-)
Debbie Wasserman Schultz ALSO says they have the votes - with a small caveat, being that the votes are "in flux", and they don't have "a hard 216 right now" whatever the hell that means (which sounds to me like they don't have the votes, but who am I to attempt to comprehend the English language as spoken by members of Congress:
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), a chief deputy whip, said Sunday Democrats have the votes to pass sweeping health care overhaul, but the whip count "is in flux." She said Democrats don't have a "hard 216 right now."
"I couldn’t tell you which 216 members we will have," Wasserman Schultz said on "Fox News Sunday."
Wasserman Schultz was the second Democratic leader to make such remarks Sunday morning. Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson of Connecticut also said his party has the votes to pass the legislation.
The Florida congresswoman also said there is "no decision" for President Barack Obama to sign an executive order reaffirming the Hyde amendment, which bans special federal funds for abortions.
Stupak is saying that they don't have the votes, of course, but that they "are close but we are still not finalized with that executive order. We've got to look at a few more words...We're close to getting something done."
Steny Hoyer hedges on them having the votes right now, but says "it's low single digits" and they're more than confident they'll have them "when the roll is called":
From Politico, as well:
"We’re going to get those 216 votes because we believe that they understand that Americans want health care reform by an overwhelming majority," Hoyer said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
When host David Gregory asked Hoyer if he has the votes now, the Maryland Democrat said: "I think we’re going to have 216 when the roll is called, yes."
Gregory: "But not yet? You're not nailed down, a few behind?"
Hoyer: "There are still members looking at it, trying to make up their minds, we think 216 plus votes when we call the roll."