Health Bill Protesters Create 'Mass Hysteria': Frank

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»

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."

President calls health reform bill 'a victory for common sense'

(AP) - President Obama says the health care legislation the House passed tonight is "a victory for the American people" and "a victory for common sense." The bill "will not solve every problem" in the health care system, the president said, but "moves us in the right direction." Obama praised Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats for getting the bill through, saying they proved that the government "still works for the people." More»

Historic measure advances after late deal-making

(NEWSER) - Cheers erupted on the floor of the chamber as the House passed the Senate health care reform bill tonight, 219-212, after a late compromise on abortion funding gave Democrats the votes they needed to advance the historic measure. The vote followed 9½ hours of contentious debate that wrapped up with an impassioned speech by Nancy Pelosi. "We may not have chosen the time, but the time has chosen us," said the speaker, who compared the legislation to Social Security and Medicare. More»

'People have been just downright mean,' says one rep

(USER SUBMITTED) - Congressional Black Caucus members John Lewis and Andre Carson ran smack into a large crowd of protesters screaming "kill the bill"—and punctuating their chants with the N-word. The sentiment didn't appear to be a rogue one: As Barney Frank waded through a crowd of protesters, he was met by an elderly white man screaming, "Barney, you faggot"—which TPM notes resulted in a chorus of laughter from his fellow protesters. "I'm disappointed at an unwillingness to be just civil," says Frank. "[T]he objection to the health care bill has become a proxy for other sentiments." More»