Afternoon Update: The Final Debate Begins, Abortion Compromise Reached, Stupak: "We Have An Agreement", "We’re Well Past 216", Odds At 97%
Courtesy of Joe Weisenthal at Clusterstock
It’s begun folks! Congress is in chamber debating healthcare reform.
Passage odds on InTrade are over 95%.
On MSNBC, Pat Buchanan called it a done deal.
There’s chatter that a final deal with the anti-abortion Democrats is in the works. (Update: According to reports there’s still no deal on this front)
The GOP’s opening pitcher is boy wonder congressman Paul Ryan, who is talking about the nonsensical CBO score and the deficit.
There will be several procedural votes today. A final vote may come sometime around midnight.
If you’re not near a TV, you can watch the debate on C-SPAN here.
Update: According to The Hill, the Democrats are definitely still short!
2:57: The White House just blasted out the following to liberal activists. Probably not worth reading into one wary or another
As today’s historic healthcare vote is near, I ask that you do not let up and continue pushing.
Anything you can do in these final hours to promote and publicly call for support is much appreciated and timely.
Do not let up – do not quit.
Keep everyone in positive thoughts – educate your members – make your voices heard.
We are on the verge of history – but it is just the verge – it has not happened yet.
3:28: Stupak to hold press conference at 4:00 PM announcing his vote. The presumption is that it’s a "YES" but there’s nothing official on that.
3:31: For what it’s worth, here’s how we’d characterize the debate right now. The Republicans have been trying to hammer The Democrats on various points: earmarks, rules, the deficit, etc. Democrats are ignoring the claims, and sticking to rhetoric, not engaging the critics.
3:45: Evidently Stupak will announce that he’s a "YES." POLITICO explains what’s about to go down.
4:00: The Stupak press conference is set to begin any second now.
4:05: Stupak is out on the podum. Marc Ambinder has a text of The President’s executive order which will limit abortion funding.
4:07: Stupak: "We have an agreement."
4:11: If you think there’s still a chance this could fail, you can make 33x your money over at InTrade, where the odds have hit 97%.
4:22: Stupak Q&A: "We’re well past 216"
See Also:
Scientists Intensify Search for Life on Mars "Because Someone Else Is Going to Have to Bail Out the U.S. After Budget-Busting ObamaCare Passes", Op-Toons Review
We added a large tin cup and a panhandling sign to our Mars rover," said one NASA official. "We’re hoping to find a huge underground Martian civilization that may take pity on us one day and send us money or resources. Full report here.>>
