White House defends health bill push

The White House and its Senate allies defended a final push for historic health care legislation Sunday as outflanked Republicans pledged a fight to the end. A dead-of-night vote neared in a frenzy one GOP lawmaker said lacked “legislative sanity.”

Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican and President Obama’s opponent in last year’s election, said there was probably nothing to keep Democrats from passing the bill by Christmas Eve.

Still, he said, the GOP would not relent in the battle for public opinion.

“We’ll fight the good fight. We will fight until the last vote,” Mr. McCain said. He said the political climate under Mr. Obama has become more partisan than ever.

To keep the process moving under Senate rules, Democrats will need to show 60 votes — now secured, with the locked-in support of Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson — in a series of votes.

The next one is set for 1 a.m. Monday.

“I think the American people are entitled to a vote,” said David Axelrod, a senior adviser to Mr. Obama.

At its core, the legislation would create a new insurance exchange where consumers could shop for affordable coverage that complies with new federal guidelines. Most Americans would be required to purchase insurance, with subsidies available to help defray the cost. New protections would be offered to ensure people don’t lose coverage because of health problems.

Yet there are major differences between the Senate version and the bill the House already passed, ranging from abortion restrictions to the new taxes that would help pay for the legislation. The White House refused to weigh in on that, focusing on the landmark action in the Senate.

Signs of difficult House-Senate negotiations ahead were already becoming apparent.

The House must stick close to the Senate’s version of health care reform or risk losing the 60-vote coalition needed to overcome Republican opposition in the Senate, said Sen. Kent Conrad, North Dakota Democrat, who is the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.

To get Mr. Nelson’s deciding vote, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, agreed to a series of concessions on abortion and other issues. Mr. McCain said Mr. Obama and Democratic lawmakers chose a partisan path that left them “having to purchase the last vote or two.”

Democrats shot back that the health care debate has unfolded, exhaustively, for months.

The Senate bill has not drawn support from a single Republican.

One GOP lawmaker who had been in talks with the White House, Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, said the bill was being pushed through without a chance for meaningful debate or change.

Story Continues →