How Tennessee Representatives voted on health care bill

By D. Yobachi Boswell

Late Saturday night the House of Representatives in the Congress erupted in cheers as the Yea vote total hit 218. With the total at 220 and the clock winding down, those on the side of Yea, in unison loudly counted down from 10, and erupted into cheers again as the 15 minute voting period came to a close.

218 was the magic number Democrats needed to pass their health care bill in the house, leaving them only open to have 40 democrats defect if there were going to be no Republicans joining the majority of the Democrats in voting in the affirmative. As the Democratic no vote reached 36 and no Republicans had voted Yea yet, the vote was in question.

In the end the vote passed, barely, with a 220 to 215 count.

Brody Mullins, giving an overview of why some Democrats voted against the bill in general; in the Wall Street Journal’s online blog wrote on Sunday that:

An analysis of the vote shows that 22 of the 39 Democrats who crossed the aisle to join Republicans in opposing the bill were members of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition, including three of the group’s four leaders. These Democrats, who oppose big government deficits, had expressed concern before the vote that the legislation called for too much federal spending.

In the Tennessee Congressional delegation Democratic Representatives Lincoln Davis, Bart Gordon, and John Tanner joined Republicans Phil Roe, John Duncan, Zack Wamp, and Marsha Blackburn to vote against the health care bill.

Nashville Democrat Jim Cooper, despite all the national liberal ballyhoo around his position on Democrat proposals; voted Yea along with Memphis Democrat Steve Cohen.

Louisiana Representative Joseph Cao was the only Republican, out of a 177 in the House, who voted in favor of the bill. (Vote counts according to the House Clerks website).

If the House could only pass the type of bill that the Democrats want with a sliver thin 50.5% in the House (including 39 Democratic defections); It is difficult to see how they pass something similar in the Senate with the 60% (60 out of 100) needed to avoid a bill killing filibuster. The Senate is by its nature almost always more conservative. Therefore, if the more liberal House can barely get half, it’s going to be tough for the Senate to even get to half in trying to pass something similar even if they were to use what’s called the “nuclear option”, suspending the rules and going with a majority 51 out of 100 votes to pass it.

Reference link: Brody Mullins - http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/11/08/why-some-democrats-voted-against-the-house-health-bill/

House Clerk’s site: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll887.xm Read more: http://www.blogdoctor.me/2007/02/expandable-post-summaries.html#ixzz0fvTXmFSF