Posted by The Green MilesHealth insurance reform is the most important bill Congress has voted on since ... what? The Iraq War authorization? The legislation that helped President Clinton balance the budget in 1993? The Clean Air Act updates in 1990?
This is vote is as close to a litmus test as Democrats get. Any Democrat who votes against heath insurance reform tonight needs to take a long look in the mirror and ask themselves why they became a Democrat in the first place.
Judging by the sheer volume of Twitter posts I'm seeing tonight, clearly a lot of Virginia progressives are staying in tonight to watch the votes on CSPAN. Please use the comments in this post to thank our champs and lament any opposition.
And if nothing else, know that Ted Kennedy is ready & willing to haunt you if you vote no. You know he's on his fifth Jameson's in heaven right now just dyin' to cause some trouble.
UPDATE by Lowell: Stupak amendment passes 240-194. Boehner/GOP alternative defeated 176-258 (1 Republican - apparently Tim Johnson of Illinois - voted no; all Democrats voted no).
UPDATE 10:50 pm: Click here to see roll call votes. On Stupak, the only Virginia Democrat to vote yes was Tom Perriello. I'm disappointed, and STRONGLY urge Tom to vote for the overall health care reform bill!
UPDATE 10:53 pm: The final motion to recommit has failed, meaning we can move on to the final vote on real health reform for America!
UPDATE 11:00 pm: Final vote on HR 3962 happening now. History in the making?
UPDATE 11:08 pm: It passes 220-115!!! (1 Republican - Joseph Cao - voting yes; hearing that Tom Perriello voted "yeah").
