Democratic leaders continued their full-court press Friday to gather the votes they need to pass health care reform on Sunday.
As of Friday morning, it looked like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was about half a dozen votes short of what she needs for passage.
“The Hill” is reporting that several Illinois Democrats are on the fence. Reps. Melissa Bean (8th district), Bill Foster (14th district) and Debbie Halvorson (11th district) are uncommitted.
Rep. Bobby Rush (1st district) also surprised Democratic leaders Thursday by telling them he’s not sure how he’ll vote this weekend. His staff said he’s concerned about how the health care reform legislation will impact hospitals that primarily treat the poor.
On Thursday, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (4th district) ended speculation by announcing he would vote yes. He’s been holding out for a promise from President Obama that the president will start working on immigration reform. Rep. Gutierrez got that promise on Thursday.
Rep. Dan Lipinski (3rd district) said on Good Day Chicago Wednesday that he’ll vote no on the health care reform bill because it includes federal funding for abortion. He also said that he’s frustrated that Democratic leaders were asking him to commit to a bill he hadn’t seen.
and here’s not really a kind of SNS website (Social media Services).