Pelosi Won't Put Final Health Care Bill Online

Obama, Pelosi, GOP come out looking good; flip-floppers, not so much

(NEWSER) - The winners and losers of the health care reform battle will take years to determine, but Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post has some early choices. The winners:

• President Obama: "He ran on doing big things and now will have health care to show for that pledge when he asks for re-election in November 2012."
• Nancy Pelosi: The speaker "does her best work outside of the public glare. And her best work is remarkably good."

House majority leader, whip confident about health reform passage

(NEWSER) - Health care reform legislation will sail through the House of Representatives in Sunday's vote, Steny Hoyer says. “We'll have the votes when the roll is called,” the majority leader tells Politico . Democrats haven’t lined up enough yeas for President Obama’s key domestic agenda, but the majority whip seems as confident as Hoyer. “The bill will pass,” says James Clyburn. More»

Silver adds up House Dems who would support Senate bill

(NEWSER) - The math is pretty bleak for passage of the Senate version of health-care reform in the House—the last-ditch effort being considered to save it—but it’s not impossible that 218 votes could be wrangled, Nate Silver writes. One big hurdle is the “Stupak block,” which Silver believes “could deprive the bill of 8-10 votes” over moral objections to abortion funding. And Dems facing re-election in conservative districts could find the calculus spits out a nay vote. More»

Moderates don't want to spend risky votes on legless progressive bill

(NEWSER) - House Democrats on both ends of the spectrum are feeling sorry for themselves as they struggle to shape a final health care reform bill. The bill is widely expected—based in no small part on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s proclamations—to include a public option, a tax on wealthy Americans, and a strict employer mandate. But, Politico notes, since their bill is likely to be reshaped to resemble the Senate’s compromise bill, they're wondering what the point is of taking stands that could hurt them with voters. More»

Happy birthday to most influential House leader in 200 years: Meyerson

(NEWSER) - Nancy Pelosi turns 70 today, and it is as fitting an occasion as any to consider perhaps the most influential Speaker of the House since Henry Clay in the early years of the 19^th century, writes Harold Meyerson. Her health care victory means “Pelosi is without peer,” and has played a “key role in enacting major reforms” like “no speaker in the past century.” She ain’t a great talker, as all will admit, but she’s a stellar speaker. More»