Will Democrats Get Enough Votes to Pass Health Care Reform?

by Thomas Wellborn

Democrats need a minimum of 216 votes to pass the Health Care Bill, and House Democratic Whip James Clyburn tells NBC’s “Meet the Press” they’re not quite there, although he’s confident they’ll have no trouble getting the votes by zero hour.

White House advisor David Axelrod weighs in on CNN’s “State of the Union”:

“I think we will have the votes to pass this,” Axelrod said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Although Republicans have used reconciliation on numerous occasions in the past to pass non-budgetary legislation, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham condemns its use in this instance as “a sleazy process.”

“If they use this device called reconciliation to deal out Republicans it will open up Pandora’s box,” Graham said on ABC’s “This Week,” saying it would sink bipartisan efforts on issues like climate change and immigration. “It will poison the well.”

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