10:11pm EDT – Just spoke with Joe Gandelman after the CNN taping of independents on the issue of health care reform (Don Lemon) — tune in to CNN at 11pm EDT. Get the independent view point!
10:07pm EDT – Rep John Boehner (R-OH) grandstanding about the House of Representatives being a broken house; gavel “both sides of the house would do well to remember the dignity of the House”
8:12pm EDT — Congressman Dennis Kucinich statement on healthcare and the American people and the meaning of supporting President Obama.
8:02pm EDT — check CNN taping of independent panel including Dr. Omar Ali, Joe Gandelman, etc. at 11pm
8:01pm EDT — Michigan rep says this is a matter of utopian socialism or…
7:31pm EDT — Looking for Don Lemon’s CNN independent panel – here’s the live CNN channel
6:58pm EDT — Steny Hoyer speaking now in favor of bipartisan support
6:28pm EDT — one minute left on the decision….
6:03pm – Joe Gandelman will be a guest on CNN tonight as part of an independent panel hosted by Don Lemon. Just spoke with Dr. Omar Ali – next up on CNN Don Lemon at 7:30pm — consideration of the expected approval of health care reform, which he called a “historic reform”, how can President Obama now turn his attention to reform of the political system itself. Dr. Ali thinks that the American people are becoming more aware of the process itself and the impact of that process on our national policy. Tune in to CNN at 7:30pm EDT
NOTE: “Our” congressmen/women seem to think that their party registration and possible history of carrying coffee for their superiors equates with democracy. Stay tuned…
ROLLCALL BREAK: If you haven’t yet read Jackie Salit and Fred Newman’s Talk Talk “Healthcare: The Final Act” do so while the Dems and Repubs put out their pretty much partisan votes… and watch live C-SPAN coverage here…
5:01pm — Repubs roll call, saying “ask unanimous support to revise my remarks in regard to this flawed health care bill…
4:40pm — So is the deal between Obama and Stupak over abortion the deal-maker?
4:39pm — Virginia Foxx (R-NC) talking about increased cost and complete take-over of health care system
4:32pm — Alcee Hastings (D-FL) Count me in as a radical. We must do what we think is morally right.
4:09pm – Rep. Slaughter (D-NY) is now referencing the people who spit at Rep. Barney Frank. She is putting to rest the contention that conservatives have the upper hand… Does Louise Slaughter have a southern accent, or am I crazy? Louise is in favor! Yea!
4:06pm — Point of order was approved so we will now hear from Congressman Stupak. I have to say I had no idea that Jesse Jackson, Jr. was the speaker of the House. Has been over-mediaed by the Speaker of the Senate…? Louise Slaughter, D-NY of the Rules Committee speaking, again interrupted by Speaker — lots of “rowdiness” — being asked to take their conversations outside to the cloakroom. Are we in primary school in the 1800’s????
The Hankster is live-blogging the health care vote in Congress here on TMV as well as on my own blog. (So if you don’t see it here, please visit The Hankster.) Note that there are several live-feeds including the one on NBC noted by Gandelman. I’m following C-Span, which has other commentary here.
Provocateur/ pundit/ organizer Nancy Hanks is a long-time activist in the independent political movement who’s done it all: petitioning to put independent candidates on the ballot from New York to Texas and points east, west, north and south; fundraising for the independent think tank, the Committee for a Unified Independent Party (CUIP), and its online counterpart, IndependentVoting.org; running as an independent for New York City Council from Queens, New York City’s most diverse borough; serving as the current Treasurer of the Queens County Committee of the Independence Party of New York (of the IP NYC Organizations); conducting research for the Neo-Independent, a magazine that addresses the concerns of independent voters.