海角大神

The steady stream of top Democrats in and out of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi鈥檚 office Tuesday was the latest signal of a full-court press to get a majority of Democrats on board healthcare reform.

That means passing the Senate version of the bill and a package of 鈥渇ixes鈥� 鈥� still being negotiated 鈥� that can clear both the House and Senate.

It鈥檚 a heavy lift that will require potentially high-risk votes from two groups in the House Democratic caucus.

One is the 37 Democrats (still in the House) who voted 鈥渘o鈥� on the House healthcare reform bill in November 2009 and might flip to 鈥測es.鈥�

The other are the 42 Democrats who voted for the bill, but only after leadership allowed an amendment that included tough restrictions on the use of federal funds to pay for abortion services.

The sponsor of the abortion language, Rep. Bart Stupak (D) of Michigan, says that there are a dozen or so members of this group ready to flip to 鈥渘o鈥� unless they have assurances that abortion will be part of the fixes passed by both House and Senate.

Abortion still a sticking point

鈥淚t is a serious issue that obviously confronts the Congress that has to be resolved in a way consistent with our opportunity to pass healthcare for all Americans,鈥� said House majority leader Steny Hoyer in a press briefing on Tuesday, commenting on the status of negotiations over the abortion language.

For weeks, informal whip counts 鈥� many inaccurate 鈥� have been circulating over the Internet and around House and Senate corridors. Democratic leaders say that once the language on "fixes" is settled, the concerns of many members will be resolved.

鈥淣o鈥� voter Rep. John Tanner (D) of Tennessee was not given the opportunity today to review the 鈥渇ixes鈥� and has not made up his mind to flip to 鈥測es,鈥� says spokesman Randy Ford. 鈥淐ongressman Tanner has not seen legislative language and is not decided on the bill until he has reviewed language,鈥� he says, disputing the rumor of the day.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D) of Ohio, another 鈥渘o鈥� vote, today confirmed his opposition to any healthcare bill that does not include a 鈥渞obust public option,鈥� even if he is the deciding vote against healthcare. 鈥淚 just don鈥檛 see that this bill is the solution,鈥� he told MSNBC on Tuesday.

Rep. Eric Massa (D) of New York, a 鈥渘o鈥� vote, on Tuesday backed off allegations that House leaders forced him to resign over opposition to healthcare reform. The freshman lawmaker resigned after allegations of inappropriate behavior with staffers. The House accepted his resignation on Tuesday.

Phones ringing off the hook

Even solid 鈥測es鈥� votes are getting deluged with calls to switch their vote, many from outside their states. Rep. John Spratt (D) of South Carolina, who chairs the House Budget Committee, has set up a phone screening system to deal with out-of-state healthcare calls.

鈥淲e鈥檙e telling constituents that he is withholding judgment until he sees the final bill,鈥� says a staff aide.

Democratic leaders say that they are ready for a hard fight for this healthcare reform in the next days, although they do not commit to President Obama's deadline of March 18.

鈥淭here is going to be a bill,鈥� said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D) of Connecticut, co-chair of the Democratic Steering Committee, after a meeting with Speaker Pelosi on Tuesday. 鈥淎re there issues that need to be cleared up for the public to understand it? Yes. But when you have a bill, you can no longer scare seniors.鈥�

鈥淲e've got to stand up and go out and hit back as hard as we can, and people are in the mood to do this," she adds.