Yossi Gestetner

Following the election results a few days ago, November third, Speaker Pelosi said ‘we won’?  You remember how the Republicans mocked her for this statement?

well wel well, Pelosi did indeed win that night – she won the Health Care Reform bill. Had the Republicans won on Tuesday the two open congressional seats, the final HCR vote would have failed in a 218-217 vote. Here is how:

The current bill passed in a 220-215 vote. Among the Ayes, were Dem Representative Bill Owens who won Tuesday NY’s 23 congressional seat, held until now by a Republican. Also voting Aye was Dem Rep. John Garamendi, who won an open seat in California, held until now by a Democrat. Had Republicans (or Conservatives in NY-23) won these two seats, the Dems HCR tally would have been cut to 218 votes, and the Republicans’ would have gone to 217.

Then there is the Aye vote by Joseph Cao, a freshman Republican from Louisiana. If you noticed, he only voted for the bill, once the score board showed that the Dems anyway had the 218 votes, which means, if not for that, one might conclude that he would have not given the Dems the deciding vote. Instead, he would have voted with the Repubs giving them 218, leaving the Dems with 217.

Good point. Right? Yes it is, but let me destroy it: A handful of Dems voted against the bill, but only after they saw the 218 mark on the screen. Which means, if not for that, maybe one or two of them would have not given their vote on the NO side. Instead they would voted Aye handing Pelosi the current 220 win. After all, as of 8:45 Eastern, it was reported that 34 Dems (not 39 as it was in final) will vote against the bill.

Go figure. But seeing how Owens, Garamendi and Cao voted, you can’t help but admit that Pelosi did indeed win last week Tuesday night.