The Hill' s Mike Soraghan and Michael M. Gleeson report:
At least 23 House Democrats already have told constituents or hometown media that they oppose the massive healthcare overhaul touted by President Barack Obama. If Republicans offer the blanket opposition they've promised, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) can afford to lose only 38 members of her 256-member caucus and still pass the bill.
Hill reporter Michael O'Brien adds another Democrat to the list -- Arkansas's Mike Ross, who says he'll oppose any bill with a public insurance plan. One more opponent is Jim Cooper of Tennessee, who wrote in a July op-ed that he would vote "no" on the bill. Also, 19 Democratic members of Congress wrote in June that "we cannot support any health care reform proposal unless it explicitly excludes abortion from the scope of any government-defined or subsidized health plan." Twelve of these 19 congressmen aren't already on The Hill's list of "no" votes:
Collin Peterson (Minn.) Tim Holden (Pa.) Lincoln Davis (Tenn.) Solomon Ortiz (Tex.) Jerry Costello (Ill.) Mike McIntyre (N.C.) James Oberstar (Minn.) Steve Driehaus (Ohio) Marcy Kaptur (Ohio) John Murtha (Pa.) Paul Kanjorski (Pa.) Kathleen Dahlkamper (Pa.)
So that makes 37 Democratic votes in the House against Obamacare. And I'm sure I'm missing more than a few others. Of course, members could be induced to change their mind if the bill is changed (or if they're bought off), but as it stands there are (almost) enough Democrats on record to defeat the current health-care legislation in the House.