Dems victorious in final health bill 'fixes' vote
GOP pledges to campaign on repeal; Obama: 'I welcome that fight'
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updated 3 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - Capping an epic struggle, Democrats completed the final touches Thursday to an historic fight for a nationwide health care overhaul; a process that ended with the the House approving Senate-cleared changes to the legislation the president signed into law Tuesday.
Republicans vowed to campaign for repeal in the fall election season, drawing a quick retort from Barack Obama: "I welcome that fight."
Earlier, the Senate voted 56-43 to approve the fixes, clearing the way for the House's final 220-207 confirmation vote later in the evening.
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Passage of the two bills was the culmination of what Obama called "a year of debate and a century of trying" to ensure coverage for nearly all in a nation where millions lack it. Taken together, the two bills also aim to crack down on insurance industry abuses, and to reduce federal deficits by an estimated $143 billion over a decade. Most Americans would be required to buy insurance for the first time, and face penalties if they refused.
The second of the two bills also presented Obama with another victory, stripping banks and other private lenders of their ability to originate student loans in favor of a system of direct government lending.
The day's events marked the final stages of a rescue mission that Obama and Democratic leaders mounted more than two months ago, after Republicans unexpectedly won a Massachusetts Senate seat, and with it, the ability to slow final action on health care legislation.
Under a revised strategy, the House agreed to approve a Senate-passed bill despite numerous objections, on the condition that both houses would follow quickly with a fix-it measure. The one finally brought to a vote on Thursday added more than $20 billion to subsidies for lower- and middle-income individuals and families who will be required to purchase insurance, and about $8 billion over a decade for states that already provide more generous than average Medicaid benefits.
Triumph for Obama
Apart from their impact on nearly every American and an estimated one-sixth of the American economy, the week's events marked Obama's biggest political triumphs since he took office more than a year ago. A pending arms control agreement with Russia, announced on Wednesday, added to his resume, and White House officials said they hoped the momentum would translate into further political successes in the run-up to the midterm elections.
After a months-long battle in Congress, the political struggle was morphing into a new phase, where public debate was tinged with violence — and politicians accused one another of seeking to exploit it for their own advantage.
More than 10 lawmakers in the House said they had received threats or worse as a consequence of the health care debate, most of them Democrats who voted in favor of the legislation. There were reports of bricks through windows, a cut propane line to a grill and numerous obscene and threatening phone calls and faxes. An undisclosed number of lawmakers were under increased police protection.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and the GOP leader, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, both denounced the threats and incidents of violence. But Democrats said Republicans had been too slow to respond, drawing an outraged response in return.
"By ratcheting up the rhetoric, some will only inflame these situations to dangerous levels," said Republican Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia. "Enough is enough. It has to stop."
An aide to Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, head of the Democratic 2010 campaign effort, responded: "This is straight out of the Republicans' political playbook of deflecting responsibility and distracting attention away from a serious issue."
"Repeal and Replace" was the new slogan for Republicans as they pivoted away from earlier attempts to kill the health care legislation. Officials said it was meant to appeal to tea party activists — who staged an occasionally unruly demonstration outside the Capitol over the weekend — as well as to independent voters eager for changes in the health care system but fearful the Democrats went too far.
"Republicans fought on behalf of the American people this week and will continue to fight until this bill is repealed and replaced with commonsense ideas that solve our problems without dismantling the health care system we have and without burying the American dream under a mountain of debt," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
Repeal was far-fetched in the extreme, since Republicans are now deep in the minority in both houses and would need a two-thirds majority to overcome a certain veto by Obama.
But Republicans circulated polls showing public backing for the overhaul at no better than 40 percent, despite months of Democratic efforts to rally support. Attacking the bill as a government takeover of health care paid for in higher taxes and Medicare cuts, they taunted House Democrats who voted for it, saying those lawmakers had cleared the way for their own defeat this fall.
Democrats said any unease was the result of months of Republican distractions — as far back as last summer's debunked charges of "death panels" — and predicted the public would warm to the new law once its first benefits take effect.
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