Health Care Overhaul May Be Mortally Wounded

The House is not about to pass the Senate’s version of the health care overhaul bill. The election of Republican Scott Brown to the Massachusetts Senate seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy pretty much puts a fork in a massive bill that’s been nearly a year in the making.

Following what was reportedly a fairly rowdy meeting of House Democrats, on Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said the votes for the Senate bill simply aren’t there.

“Unease would be a gentle word in terms of the attitude of my colleagues toward certain provisions of the Senate bill,” she said.

And so far, the idea of scaling back and reaching out to Republicans doesn’t seem likely to pay off — at least not while Republicans like House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio smell electoral blood in the water.

“Listen, our goal is to stop this monstrosity,” Boehner said. “And we’re working with our members so that we don’t find ourselves in a position where they’re able to pick off a few of our members and to get this bill passed.”

Click here to continue reading.