Rep. James Clyburn, House majority whip and the main vote counter for the House of representatives, said that House Democrats do not have enough votes for the passage of Obama administration’s health care bill.
“No, we don’t have them as of this morning, but we’ve been working this thing all weekend,” said Clyburn on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
Despite his comments, senior adviser to President Obama David Axelrod says he is confident the bill will pass. “I am absolutely confident that we are going to be successful, ” said Axelrod on the program.
“I believe we are. ... There is a sense of urgency on the part of members of Congress who have now seen what the future looks like in terms of these rate increases. ... I believe they want to solve this problem.”
The controversial health care debate has spanned the past year and is a major issue on the Obama administration’s overall agenda.
President Obama in January called for a health care summit at the Blair House to bring together ideas from Democrat and Republican leaders.
The most recently revised proposal came about from those meetings, however, many on the Republican side do not feel that the revised health care proposal from the president incorporates a balance or enough ideas and initiatives from the conservatives.
“[The president] may have taken a couple of Republican ideas, and then put them into his 2,733 page bill, but this—this bill is nowhere close to the middle,” said House Minority leader John Boehner (R-Ohio).
The president delayed his first overseas trip to Indonesia to help garner votes for the health care bill. Under reconciliation rules, the bill will pass if the Democrats can get a 51-vote majority in the Senate.
“No, we don’t have them as of this morning, but we’ve been working this thing all weekend,” said Clyburn on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
Despite his comments, senior adviser to President Obama David Axelrod says he is confident the bill will pass. “I am absolutely confident that we are going to be successful, ” said Axelrod on the program.
“I believe we are. ... There is a sense of urgency on the part of members of Congress who have now seen what the future looks like in terms of these rate increases. ... I believe they want to solve this problem.”
The controversial health care debate has spanned the past year and is a major issue on the Obama administration’s overall agenda.
President Obama in January called for a health care summit at the Blair House to bring together ideas from Democrat and Republican leaders.
The most recently revised proposal came about from those meetings, however, many on the Republican side do not feel that the revised health care proposal from the president incorporates a balance or enough ideas and initiatives from the conservatives.
“[The president] may have taken a couple of Republican ideas, and then put them into his 2,733 page bill, but this—this bill is nowhere close to the middle,” said House Minority leader John Boehner (R-Ohio).
The president delayed his first overseas trip to Indonesia to help garner votes for the health care bill. Under reconciliation rules, the bill will pass if the Democrats can get a 51-vote majority in the Senate.
