Cheat Sheet

In a moment more shocking than Rep. Joe Wilson's "You lie!" outburst during President Obama's speech, an unknown person reportedly yelled "Baby-killer" when anti-abortion Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak took the House floor to discuss the health-care reform bill Sunday night. Stupak spoke against the motion to recommit his own amendment to prevent federal funding of abortion, since he already secured a promise of an executive order from Obama on the issue. Democratic pro-life Rep. Dale Kildee told Talking Points Memo, "It was disgusting… The person should be censured," noting he believed the culprit to be a member of the House. Though rumor had it that the screamer was Republican Rep. John Campbell, he adamantly denied the assertion. "It was in my area. I thought it was a Southern accent," Campbell said, adding that some Republicans reportedly recognized the voice but wouldn't point fingers. "Californians are in one row, Texans sit behind us. I am being told it's a Texan. The people who know won't give it up."

Wasn’t that easy? It only took months of negotiations, bitter debate, procedural technicalities, and last-minute deals for President Obama’s health-care bill, the would-be hallmark of his presidency, to pass. After heated debate on the House floor Sunday night, the bill passed by a slim majority of 219 to 212. As expected, no Republicans voted for the measure. When the 216th vote was counted, Democrats began cheering, clapping, and chanting “Yes we can” in the chamber. Soon after, Democrats passed the reconciliation bill with 220 votes, which will go back to the Senate for passage. The pendulum swung for good in the Democrats’ race to 216 votes Sunday morning when the White House struck a deal with anti-abortion House Democrats led by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI). Obama agreed to sign a somewhat controversial executive order preventing federal funding for abortions under the measure. Obama is expected to hold a ceremony this week to sign the bill into law. The bill will extend health-insurance to 32 million Americans and reduce Medicare spending in the future by about $500 billion.

Will immigration be next? Upset that the issue has been overshadowed by health-care reform, tens of thousands of people gathered on Washington's National Mall Sunday to draw attention back to reforming immigration. They chanted for President Obama to remember his campaign promise to immigrants, even as it seems increasingly unlikely that the issue will be on his agenda leading up to the midterm elections. Activists are now trying to link immigration to the economy. "What's important today is that jobs and immigration go hand in hand," Marc Morial of the National Urban League said. "When you've got millions of undocumented workers working off the books—that affects the economy for everyone." A bipartisan proposal on immigration is in the works—with the approval of the White House—but there is no bill on the horizon.

Even though his health-care bill has passed, President Obama is not done defending it. He is about to unleash a sweeping media blitz geared toward convincing Americans that the bill is in fact good for them as November approaches. "There's an overwhelming likelihood that every race in the country is going to be a referendum on this issue this fall if this passes," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said last week. In the face of a Republican campaign to tarnish the bill, the White House’s public-relations strategy will focus first on the immediate aftermath of the bill’s passage, then on the time until the midterm elections, and finally on the several years to come as more of the bill’s provisions come into effect.

While Obama heads to the Capitol this afternoon and Democrats are busy hustling support from holdouts before Sunday’s health-care vote, the House Rules Committee is determining the procedure of the vote. According to The Washington Post, the committee has dropped the “deem-and-pass” strategy that would have bypassed the need for a separate vote. The strategy was much-criticized by Republicans and now an explicit vote will be held. Though all Republicans in the House are expected to vote against the bill and holdout Democrats are still grappling over the wording of clauses on abortion and Medicare, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “When we bring the bill to the floor, we will have a significant victory for the American people.”

Newsweek has come out with a disheartening look at America’s $6 billion effort to bring the Afghan police force up to par, a group special envoy Richard Holbrooke called “an inadequate organization, riddled with corruption.” Reports show that up to 90 percent of Afghan police officers are illiterate, 15 percent test positive for drugs, many don’t know how to use their weapons, and some sell weapons to the Taliban. Training Afghan police is a key part of U.S. troops’ planned exit from Afghanistan, and in a recent meeting Barack Obama said to military officials, “Eight years and we didn’t train police? It’s mind-boggling.” New training efforts are under way but police are still widely distrusted by the Afghan people. “We are as disappointed with the new police as we were with the old police,” said one resident.

Though Nancy Pelosi warned there’d be no horse-trading in the lead-up to Sunday’s vote on health-care reform, the House bill has recently been modified to the tune of $8.5 billion in changes that benefit 11 states. Some wavering Democrats from the Pacific Northwest to the Upper Midwest urged for increasing Medicare payments to hospitals and doctors, while others hoped to secure the Obama administration’s plan for an immigration law overhaul. Rep. Jerrold Nadler said Pelosi made a deal with New York’s congressional delegation to the tune of $2.1 billion after he said they’d have problems voting for the health care reform bill without certain changes. Another $100 million was added to fund hospitals that treat poor people in Tennessee. Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn) announced Thursday he’ll vote yes. Rep Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) switched his vote after President Obama personally assured him an immigration reform package would soon follow health-care reform.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) sent a letter Thursday alerting two senators that he plans to urge a vote on the public option in the “coming months.” Reid wrote to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) that he was “disappointed” the legislation did not make it in and that he “will work to ensure that we are able to vote on the public option in the coming months.” Earlier in the day Friday, Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) said that President Obama told him he couldn’t push for the public option this year, but might try again in the year to come.

House Democrats are inching slowly toward the majority they need to pass the health-care bill, but believe they could be ready for a vote by Sunday. Working frantically to court the roughly three dozen Democrats whose votes are still believed to be in play, House Dems locked in two more on Wednesday from Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and Dale Kildee of Michigan—both had expressed serious reservations. Actually passing the bill could require employing several procedural technicalities like budget reconciliation to avoid a filibuster in the Senate. But President Obama said he is not worried. “What I can tell you is that the vote that’s taken in the House will be a vote for health-care reform,” he said. “And if people vote yes, whatever form that takes, that is going to be a vote for health-care reform.”

The Democratic National Committee’s biggest donors are peeved at the White House because they haven’t been getting enough love, Politico reports. In fact, though the most obvious reason for Desiree Rogers’ departure as White House social secretary was the infamous gatecrashers incident, another reason for her ousting was grumbling from fundraisers. See, some donors did not even get a Christmas card this year (an offense that is clearly worth risking the loss of a congressional majority). A mere 10 percent of the 150 top donors maxed out last year, giving $30,400 in donations. The DNC is still raising money at a rapid rate, pulling in $30 million more than during the last midterm season in 2005, and has a rare cash advantage over its Republican counterpart. Under George W. Bush, the Republican National Committee was able to raise much more for midterms, but under current Chairman Michael Steele, it’s not doing as well.