AN HISTORICAL VOTE:
Hours after President Obama exhorted Democratic lawmakers to "answer the call of history," the House hit an unprecedented milestone on the path to health-care reform, approving a trillion-dollar package late Saturday that seeks to overhaul private insurance practices and guarantee comprehensive and affordable coverage to almost every American.
How they voted:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/votes/house/healthcare/index.html
26 comments:
Does it matter? To me no because I feel buffeted by the healthcare talk and have become completely uninterested in it, but I do not speak for all of America.
Taking a bill to a law or making amendments generally requires the 2/3 majority from congress it makes sense that there needs to be the same to make the health care bill. It would benefit the bill if more republicans supported it, but I do not think that it matters that one voted for yes. What seems to be a larger issue is that there are still "No" Democrats.
For those who have looked into the math, there are 258 democrats and 177 republicans. If all democrats were "yes" then it would be a 68% support for the bill. The actual outcome was 219 to 215, as the chart indicates, 51% to 49%.
It does not matter that one republican is for the bill because it is not significant enough to matter.
However, if this is a question of what the Senate will vote, then it may indicate that a similar situation will occur. However, any thing can happen and nothing is set in stone. It may be completely opposite or as expected.
I don't think that it matters that only one republican voted for the healthcare bill because it isn't significant enough to matter just as aprichard said. More than one vote is needed to make a difference in the House, and they just didn't make that difference that was needed.
I think this does matter. The fact that only one Republican voted for the bill postulates two thoughts: first, the House as a whole are agreeing on more issues together, or more negatively that Democrats have that much of a majority in the house and that much of an influence on other members that almost all of the House will vote the same. It is simply healthy to have two sides of an opinion on an issue. However, just because Democrats have succeeded in getting this bill passed does not mean they have everything their way in the bill. The fact that only one Republican voted against the healthcare bill means that almost all republicans in the house got what they wanted in and taken out of the bill, creating a bipartisan agreement.
I think it does matter that only one Republican voted. The Democrats want bipartisanship, and this is obviously not it. If they really want this to be a bipartisan agreement they'll have to come up with a new version of the bill so that it pleases more than one of the Republicans.
Well the fact that it's one vote is irrelevant. The fact that it's a Republican's vote is what is relevant because people like to have an excuse to complain about bills (making it easier to bash if it is partisan). And yes, in this day and age, that is what bipartisanship has become. As right wing media mouthpieces such as Rush Limbaugh spray their hatred and define the GOP (statements such as you're not a real Republican if you're against torture), the more and more that moderates need not apply to the Republican party. So it's no wonder that 1 Republican vote means bipartisanship. They don't want to compromise.
Maybe if the GOP stopped spreading their irrational and completely unjustified fear of the government then they'd have more of a say in this. In fact all they've been doing this entire year is fearmongering. Maybe if they actually came up with a talking point that wasn't under the premise that we still live and deal with things as if it were 700 BCE.
In some respects, I think it does matter that only one Republican voted for the healthcare bill because clearly there is serious disagreement. The bill passed with 50.57% I'd say that's cutting it awfully close. I think it would be a good idea to make the bill stronger so more of the members agree with it.
On the other hand, 24% of Representative Cao's constituents are uninsured. That's a very large amount of Louisanians (?) to be uninsured in one district alone. It's good that Cao sees something needs to be changed to help the people he represents.
I believe it does matter that only 1 Republican voted for the healthcare bill in the House. It really shows how conjested and complete disagreement there is on this subject. It would be smart to improve the bill to fit both interests better.
I think that is matters because obviously if only one Republican voted for the bill then that that shows that there is not much agreement on the subject on how healthcare should be taken care of. Like others have already said, I think it would be a good idea for the bill to be changed and improved in some areas in order to get more agreement on this matter
The bill was passed without the other Republicans' votes anyways- so in that sense it doesn't matter. Were Democrats successful in their bipartisan attempts-no. The main issue, as KLatour and aprichard have mentioned, is that the bill passed with a 51% majority. I agree that this percentage is not high enough considering that this is one of the biggest issues concerning our nation, and it involves a hefty price tag and long term effects on the citizens seeing as how it reflects their health. I know that this is one step forward in healthcare reform and the Senate still needs to vote, but it's irksome to me that there is obviously issues with the bill if 39 Democrats wouldn't even play partisan politics and voted against it.
I don't believe the one vote matters that much just because of how split up the voting went. If the bill is to be bipartisain and good for everyone, theres obviously something wrong if every republican minus one voted no. If the senate votes turn out something like the house, then the bill will really have me skeptical.
I don't think it is an extreme issue of concern to the public that one Republican voted for the healthcare bill as much as the actual bill is an issue--but that's another rant for another day. However, I do feel that other Republican members of Congress will consider this an issue, because it shows that the party remains divided and incongruent in these trying times for it. This poor, unfortunate Republican representative was only voting because almost all his constituents demanded it, so it technically wasn't really his opinion to vote for the bill, but rather to keep his position in office for another term. While I disagree with his final decision, I can't say it wasn't a good idea for him to vote the way he did. I compare this to Green Bay Packers president Mark Murphy's predicament right now: if he chooses to fire GM Ted Thompson and head coach Mike McCarthy at the end of the season, it may go against his own ideals, but it would satisfy many unhappy Packer fans, and would benefit himself by gaining support and credibility. Politics is brutal, and if this representative feels it is more important to represent his constituents than voice his party's opinions, then that's his choice to make.
no
It matters simply because it demonstrates quite a bit about the situation. A mere single Republican vote indicates that the support for this bill is far from being truly bipartisan. Examining the rest of the voting outcome, the fact that the bill had only ~51% approval overall, shows that this voting detail is relevant. With such a small margin between yes and no votes, it is this type of situation in which single votes do have the potential to have far-reaching effects. More importantly, however, It shows that not only is Republican approval low, but approval overall is quite minimal. These circumstances are cause for some concern with a paramount issue like that of health .
Well, 1 republican vote, But there was also 39 democrats did not vote for the bill either. There is nothing any one person can do about this at the current moment. Since the house is elected in only two year terms, they have to vote for certain bills not based on their belief but what the people want in the districts. Most of these represenatives voted on what the view of their respective districts wanted/needed including Cao. Overall, we will really see if that one vote mattered when its put in front of the senate with out the power of a fillabuster as many democrats say they are not voting for such a bill.
I think that it doesn't and does matter. It doesn't matter because each party has their own opinions and the Republican party was obviously not in agreement with this bill. However, it does matter because even though only one Republican voted for it, it still passed. This shows that the Democrats have a lot of power in the Congress and may be able to get other non-bipartisan bill passed also.
Practically, this really doesn't matter. But, theoretically it matters quite a lot. This shows that there isn't much republican support, at all for the bill, and that's something that will need to be overcome before anything super serious really happens. Especially with important issues like healthcare, as much support as possible is needed. Not only that, but a margin of 1% is absolutely pitifully tiny, if the margin is this small, the bill will not be successful from this point and will fade into obscurity, which is a shame.
What?! It's a shame, Mr. Klinka? Are you sliding to the filthy liberal side too?
And yes it really does matter. If we look at the House as a more accurate picture of what the American people want, and we look at the Senate as a accurate picture of what the governing few want, this bill has little chance of passing the way the democrats want it to. This was supposed to be a bill that the people wanted and would have benefitted from, but if it only passed the House by such a slim margin, how is it ever going to get the 2/3 majority in the senate? Sure, the democrats "control" the senate, but not by a 2/3 majority. I fear that this bill will be stripped to the barest of bones before it will actually get passed. And pass it will, eventually, otherwise the White House will lose a lot of credibility with the American people, and they really don't want that...
I believe it does matter because it is a sign that the bill needs to be rearranged and revised in order to suit more people and republicans. Since the bill was passed by a mere 51% that shows that every vote truly does matter.
I personally can't blame the one Republican representative for voting yes. They did what was best for their district. The uninsured percentage is 24% in the distict. They care about their seat and would like to stay in the house so they did what was best for their district.
Now do i think that its an impact that its one vote? No, not really. The fact that it was a Republican is a bit more interesting to me. But why is this 1 Republican recieving so much attention for voting "yes" what about the 39 Democrates that voted "no" where is their spotlight?
The Republican voted for his district. I agree with Paul, the percentage of uninsured in the district was almost 1/4 of all people in the district. I also can agree with Alex on the fact that if the people cannot decide on what they want, how will this pass with 2/3 majority in the senate?
it doesn't matter due to the fact that each has their own vote to cast and most likely it will be a vote down the party lines in the senate. although aprichard gives a very good point with the 51% passing in the house while there are enough democrats for a 68% support of the bill. so that means in the senate for the bill to become law every democrat needs to support the bill and 6 republicans need to support it, so in all honesty this bill is doomed
I completley agree with prichard. Like he said i'm also not interested in all the healthcare talk anymore, they won't make a decision. It does take more than one vote to pass a bill to a law and so what if only one republican voted for it there still is democrats that voted for it. Like i said it is not a big deal to me at all.
Yes, I believe it does matter that only 1 republican has voted for the health care bill in the house. That fact right there is contridicting the idea us americans have of being bipartisian, and this bill will go nowhere if essentially no republicans agree with this ridiculous reform bill.
The majority does not care if only one Republican agrees with the bill. They care about getting political power, staying in the majority, passing there bill(i.e. heath care bill), along with many other things... but now how many Republicans they can get on there side. However I do believe that the one Republican voting yes may be an issue for the GOP.
please excuse my poor editing skills... it should be their, not there
I don't think it matters. The healthcare bill passed, with or without the help of Republicans. When looking back on this later, the only thing that is important is the fact that it passed. It is an interesting fact that only one Republican voted for the healthcare bill, but it doesn't really change what has already happened.
Post a Comment