The House put the finishing touches on healthcare reform Thursday night by passing a “fixes” bill that finally will allow President Barack Obama and his allies on Capitol Hill to declare final victory on what had been one of the Democratic Party’s biggest pieces of unfinished business.

The bill encompasses the White House-brokered compromises between the Senate-authored healthcare reform law Obama enacted Tuesday and the version the House passed in November.

The House passed the bill on a 220-207 vote, with 32 Democrats voting with every Republican against the measure.

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/89267-house-passes-reconciliation-fixes-for-healthcare-bill

Republicans are in italics.


---- YEAS    220 ---

Ackerman Andrews Baca Baird Baldwin Bean Becerra Berkley Berman Bishop (GA) Bishop (NY) Blumenauer Boccieri Boswell Boyd Brady (PA) Braley (IA) Brown, Corrine Butterfield Capps Capuano Cardoza Carnahan Carney Carson (IN) Castor (FL) Chu Clarke Clay Cleaver Clyburn Cohen Connolly (VA) Conyers Costa Costello Courtney Crowley Cuellar Cummings Dahlkemper Davis (CA) Davis (IL) DeFazio DeGette Delahunt DeLauro Dic*s Dingell Doggett Donnelly (IN) Doyle Driehaus Edwards (MD) Ellison Ellsworth Engel Eshoo Etheridge Farr Fattah Filner Foster Frank (MA) Fudge Garamendi Giffords Gonzalez Gordon (TN) Grayson Green, Al Green, Gene Grijalva Gutierrez

Hall (NY) Halvorson Hare Harman Hastings (FL) Heinrich Higgins Hill Himes Hinchey Hinojosa Hirono Hodes Holt Honda Hoyer Inslee Israel Jackson (IL) Jackson Lee (TX) Johnson (GA) Johnson, E. B. Kagen Kanjorski Kaptur Kennedy Kildee Kilpatrick (MI) Kilroy Kind Kirkpatrick (AZ) Klein (FL) Kosmas Kucinich Langevin Larsen (WA) Larson (CT) Lee (CA) Levin Lewis (GA) Lipinski Loebsack Lofgren, Zoe Lowey Luján Lynch Maffei Maloney Markey (CO) Markey (MA) Matsui McCarthy (NY) McCollum McDermott McGovern McNerney Meek (FL) Meeks (NY) Michaud Miller (NC) Miller, George Mitchell Mollohan Moore (KS) Moore (WI) Moran (VA) Murphy (CT) Murphy (NY) Murphy, Patrick Nadler (NY) Napolitano Neal (MA) Oberstar Obey

Olver Ortiz Owens Pallone Pascrell Pastor (AZ) Payne Pelosi Perlmutter Perriello Peters Pingree (ME) Polis (CO) Pomeroy Price (NC) Quigley Rahall Rangel Reyes Richardson Rodriguez Rothman (NJ) Roybal-Allard Ruppersberger Rush Ryan (OH) Salazar Sánchez, Linda T. Sanchez, Loretta Sarbanes Schakowsky Schauer Schiff Schrader Schwartz Scott (GA) Scott (VA) Serrano Sestak Shea-Porter Sherman Sires Slaughter Smith (WA) Snyder Speier Spratt Stark Stupak Sutton Thompson (CA) Thompson (MS) Tierney Titus Tonko Towns Tsongas Van Hollen Velázquez Visclosky Walz Wasserman Schultz Waters Watson Watt Waxman Weiner Welch Wilson (OH) Woolsey Wu Yarmuth

---- NAYS    207 ---

Aderholt Adler (NJ) Akin Alexander Altmire Arcuri Austria Bachmann Bachus Barrett (SC) Barrow Bartlett Barton (TX) Berry Biggert Bilbray Bilirakis Bishop (UT) Blackburn Blunt Boehner Bonner Bono Mack Boozman Boren Boucher Boustany Brady (TX) Bright Broun (GA) Brown (SC) Brown-Waite, Ginny Buchanan Burgess Burton (IN) Calvert Camp Campbell Cantor Cao Capito Carter Cassidy Castle Chaffetz Chandler Childers Coble Coffman (CO) Cole Conaway Cooper Crenshaw Culberson Davis (KY) Davis (TN) Dent Diaz-Balart, L. Diaz-Balart, M. Dreier Duncan Edwards (TX) Ehlers Emerson Fallin Flake Fleming Forbes Fortenberry

Foxx Franks (AZ) Frelinghuysen Gallegly Garrett (NJ) Gerlach Gingrey (GA) Gohmert Goodlatte Granger Graves Griffith Guthrie Hall (TX) Harper Hastings (WA) Heller Hensarling Herger Herseth Sandlin Hoekstra Holden Hunter Inglis Issa Jenkins Johnson (IL) Johnson, Sam Jones Jordan (OH) King (IA) King (NY) Kingston Kirk Kissell Kline (MN) Kratovil Lamborn Lance Latham LaTourette Latta Lee (NY) Lewis (CA) Linder LoBiondo Lucas Luetkemeyer Lummis Lungren, Daniel E. Mack Manzullo Marchant Marshall Matheson McCarthy (CA) McCaul McClintock McCotter McHenry McIntyre McKeon McMahon McMorris Rodgers Melancon Mica Miller (FL) Miller (MI) Miller, Gary

Minnick Moran (KS) Murphy, Tim Myrick Neugebauer Nunes Nye Olson Paul Paulsen Pence Peterson Petri Pitts Platts Poe (TX) Posey Price (GA) Putnam Radanovich Rehberg Roe (TN) Rogers (AL) Rogers (KY) Rogers (MI) Rohrabacher Rooney Ros-Lehtinen Roskam Ross Royce Ryan (WI) Scalise Schmidt Schock Sensenbrenner Sessions Shadegg Shimkus Shuler Shuster Simpson Skelton Smith (NE) Smith (NJ) Smith (TX) Souder Space Stearns Sullivan Tanner Taylor Teague Terry Thompson (PA) Thornberry Tiahrt Tiberi Turner Upton Walden Wamp Westmoreland Whitfield Wilson (SC) Wittman Wolf Young (AK) Young (FL)

---- NOT VOTING    3 ---

Buyer

Davis (AL)

Reichert

Obama administration to order lenders to cut mortgage payments for jobless

By Renae Merle and Dina Elboghdady

Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, March 25, 2010; 6:01 PM

The Obama administration plans to overhaul how it's tackling the foreclosure crisis, in part by requiring lenders to temporarily slash or eliminate monthly mortgage payments for many borrowers who are unemployed, senior officials said Thursday.

Banks and other lenders would have to reduce the payments to no more than 31 percent of a borrower's income, which would typically be their unemployment insurance, for up to six months. In some cases, administration officials said, a lender could allow a borrower to make no payments at all.

The new push, which the White House is scheduled to announce Friday, takes direct aim at the major cause of the current wave of foreclosures: the spike in unemployment. While the initial mortgage crisis that erupted three years ago resulted from millions of risky home loans that went bad, more recent defaults reflect the country's economic downturn and the inability of jobless borrowers to keep paying.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/25/AR2010032502426.html?wpisrc=nl_natlalert

Social Security to pay more in benefits this year than it takes in

The Social Security system this year will pay out more in benefits than it receives in payroll taxes, The New York Times reports, quoting the Congressional Budget Office.

The switch comes six years earlier than expected, The Times says.

The newspaper quotes Stephen Goss, chief actuary of the Social Security Administration, as saying payments have risen more than expected during the recession because jobs disappeared and people applied for benefits sooner than they had planned.

At the same time,  he says, there are fewer paychecks to tax.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2010/03/social-security-to-pay-more-in-benefits-this-year-than-it-takes-in/1

ObamaCare Day One

Companies are already warning about higher health-care costs.

Democrats dragged themselves over the health-care finish line in part by repeating that voters would like the plan once it passed. Let's see what they think when they learn their insurance costs will jump right away.

Even before President Obama signed the bill on Tuesday, Caterpillar said it would cost the company at least $100 million more in the first year alone. Medical device maker Medtronic warned that new taxes on its products could force it to lay off a thousand workers. Now Verizon joins the roll of businesses staring at adverse consequences.

In an email titled "President Obama Signs Health Care Legislation" sent to all employees Tuesday night, the telecom giant warned that "we expect that Verizon's costs will increase in the short term." While executive vice president for human resources Marc Reed wrote that "it is difficult at this point to gauge the precise impact of this legislation," and that ObamaCare does reflect some of the company's policy priorities, the message to workers was clear: Expect changes for the worse to your health benefits as the direct result of this bill, and maybe as soon as this year.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703312504575141642402986422.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_opinion

Gates Approves Changes to Ease 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Policy

AP

Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he has approved a series of changes in how the Pentagon implements the law banning gays from serving openly in the military.

WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates Thursday approved new rules that will make it harder to discharge gays from the military, calling the changes a matter of "common sense and common decency." 

Gates announced new guidelines for how the Pentagon carries out the 1993 law banning gays from serving openly in the military -- rules which essentially put higher-ranking officers in charge of discharge proceedings and impose tougher requirements for evidence used against gays. 

The new guidelines go into effect immediately. They are considered a stopgap measure until Congress decides whether to go along with President Obama's call for a repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" law.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/03/25/gates-approves-changes-ease-dont-ask-dont-tell-policy/

Calif. voters could legalize pot in Nov. election

Mar 25, 5:35 AM (ET)

By CATHY BUSSEWITZ

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - When California voters head to the polls in November, they will decide whether the state will make history again - this time by legalizing the recreational use of marijuana for adults.

The state was the first to legalize medicinal marijuana use, with voters passing it in 1996. Since then, 14 states have followed California's lead, even though marijuana remains illegal under federal law.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20100325/D9ELJOL80.html

Via Jay Cost at the HorseRaceBlog:

March 25, 2010

The Republican Message Writes Itself

The talk among Republicans is that their November message should focus on repealing the new health care bill - or some version of repeal and replace. Meanwhile, other analysts have suggested that Republicans risk over-reaching and appearing too aggressive.

I think this debate is misframed. The Republican message is going to be put together by campaign strategists looking to maximize the number of votes won by their candidates. While there is something to be said for emphasizing repeal, I expect the Republican argument to focus on more visceral, immediate points. Here are the five big arguments we should expect the GOP to emphasize.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/horseraceblog/2010/03/the_republican_message_writes.html

Via Ed Morrissey:

Visa denial was reversed for terrorism suspect in 2004

By John Solomon

Thursday, March 25, 2010

A U.S. consular official originally denied terrorism suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab a visa to enter the United States in 2004 after finding false information on his application, but that official was overruled by a supervisor, according to senior government sources.

Because the 2004 situation was considered resolved, it was not revisited in 2008, when Abdulmutallab received a second U.S. visa, which allowed him to board a Detroit-bound airliner on Dec. 25, officials acknowledged. A senior Republican lawmaker said the reversal of the 2004 decision was a missed opportunity to keep him out of the country.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/24/AR2010032403092.html

Via Quinnipiac Poll:

March 25, 2010 - Obama Gets Small Bounce From Health Care Win, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Net Disapproval Of Health Reform Drops 9 Points

Despite passage of his signature health reform bill, President Barack Obama still gets a split 45 - 46 percent approval from American voters in a Quinnipiac University national poll conducted Monday and Tuesday, compared to a negative 46 - 49 percent approval in a survey concluded Sunday before the House of Representatives voted on the health care bill. These are President Obama's worst grades so far, tying his 45 - 46 percent approval February 11.

American voters mostly disapprove of the health care reform 49 - 40 percent, compared to 54 - 36 percent before the vote. But voters say 51 - 40 percent that proposed action by several state attorneys general to block the health care overhaul is a "bad idea," the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.

http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1295.xml?ReleaseID=1437

Via Hot Line:

Obama Runs Best Against Palin, Worst Against Romney

March 25, 2010 9:24 AM

Pres. Obama is far ahead of most of his potential GOP rivals, according to a new survey, but he would face a tough contest from ex-MA Gov. Mitt Romney (R), who has gained ground on the incumbent in the last 7 months.

The Clarus Research Group, a non-partisan polling firm, surveyed 1,050 registered voters between Mar. 17-20 for a margin of error of +/- 3%. Obama was tested against Romney, ex-AK Gov. Sarah Palin (R), ex-Speaker Newt Gingrich (R), ex-AR Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) and ex-FL Gov. Jeb Bush. The trendline is from Clarus's Aug. '09 survey.

http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2010/03/obama_runs_best.php

Via The Plum Line:

GOP Strategy: Pledge Full Repeal, But Articulate It “Piece By Piece”

Yesterday, GOP leaders began to use a new phrase to describe their goals for the health reform bill: “Repeal and replace.” Since then, however, GOP officials have struggled to explain whether they want full repeal or just to roll back pieces they oppose.

A senior Senate GOP aide just clarified the leadership’s strategy to me: Continue to pledge and pursue full repeal, to keep the GOP base happy, but only articulate it “piece by piece,” in order to avoid looking intent on simply blowing up reform entirely.

Top GOP officials have been in intensive discussions over how to proceed, now that energized Dems are on offense after passing the bill. They’ve settled on a game plan.

There’s “nothing partial” about our repeal push, the senior Senate GOP aide told me, adding: “But it will be articulated piece by piece so our position won’t be misconstrued as walking away from the goals of reform.”

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/senate-republicans/gop-strategy-pledge-full-repeal-but-do-it-piece-by-piece/

Cuban leader applauds US health-care reform bill

Dubious endorsement? Cuban leader endorses US health care reform, says it's about time

HAVANA (AP) -- It perhaps was not the endorsement President Barack Obama and the Democrats in Congress were looking for.

Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro on Thursday declared passage of American health care reform "a miracle" and a major victory for Obama's presidency, but couldn't help chide the United States for taking so long to enact what communist Cuba achieved decades ago.

"We consider health reform to have been an important battle and a success of his (Obama's) government," Castro wrote in an essay published in state media, adding that it would strengthen the president's hand against lobbyists and "mercenaries."

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Cuban-leader-applauds-US-apf-124808403.html?x=0&.v=1