Word: bille
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Democrats voted for the bill and a Republican voted for the bill. That is bipartisan," Pelosi told reporters at a midnight victory press conference to laughter. "We're proud to take responsibility - and credit - for the [bill] passed largely on Democratic votes. What we always try to do is to find common ground, and tonight we're very excited about what we have done...
...House vote showed just how hard it is for congressional Democrats to pass anything on their own: the bill was nearly brought down by last minute objections from 64 pro-life Democrats who wanted to tighten restrictions to ensure that no federal funding of abortions could possibly occur as a result of the reforms. Likewise, in the Senate, Reid's toughest task in the coming weeks will be to convince moderate Dems to vote for a bill that includes a public alternative to private insurers in order to help keep down costs - a provision that Republicans have criticized...
...Even if Reid manages to get his bill through by the end of the year, he'll then have to confront the messy prospect of merging it with the more liberal version passed by the House. But in some respects, the thorny details of the process have become almost secondary to the larger goal; Democrats are betting that they were elected on a platform of change, and they argue that health care is the first true piece of their platform, given that they have had to spend the first months of Obama's presidency dealing with the economic ruins...
...Still, they aren't blind to polls that show that voters see all of Washington's work running together: auto and bank bailouts, massive budgets, record deficits, stimulus, climate change and now a $1.1 trillion health care bill. Worse yet, the odds of a jobless economic recovery are looking increasingly likely. But Dems don't feel they have much of a choice, having concluded that doing something is better than supporting the status quo. "It is the third anniversary of Democrats winning the House and Senate for the American people - Nov. 7, 2006," Pelosi told reporters on Saturday morning...
...Republicans have taken heart in last week's elections showing independent voters swinging their way - even though their strategy has involved little beyond saying no. Their 209-page health care alternative, produced less than a week before passage of the Democratic bill, was widely panned as a flimsy attempt at cost-curbing that did little to expand coverage and almost nothing in the way of new protections, such as those for consumers who have pre-existing medical conditions. The risk is at least as great for Republicans. "The small-bore, crabbed and nearly meaningless reform plan they produced...