President Obama signs historic health care bill

Huge win for President Obama, but split decision for House Democrats - Glenn Thrush and Carol E. Lee - POLITICO.com

By GLENN THRUSH  & CAROL  E. LEE  3/21/10 11:45 PM EDT

It’s hard to overestimate the magnitude of President Barack  Obama’s historic victory on health care reform Sunday night — but  the win was a split decision for Democrats, not a knockout.
The victory, almost inconceivable a month ago, provides an immense and  immediate boost for Obama, who had staked his presidency on an all-out  push for reform, and who needs the momentum from the win to have any  hope of pushing through two other legislative goals this year, financial  regulatory reform and new jobs legislation.

 But House Democrats,  who have endured months of draining debate and attacks from tea party  activists, including a derisive serenade from a group of protesters on a  patch of grass outside the chamber Sunday, were more relieved than  overjoyed — and many may have been casting votes, on a warm spring  night, for their own political extinction.
The president watched the vote with a jeans-clad White House chief of  staff Rahm  Emanuel, press secretary Robert  Gibbs, and about 40 other staffers in the Roosevelt Room.
Out of deference to the possible consequences for House Democrats, the  White House publicly refrained from expressions of jubilation or even  relief, but Gibbs Tweeted the moment the bill passed: “POTUS watched  vote in room aptly named for president who started this - cheers and  clapping at 216 - high five for Rahm, hugs all around.”
"I know this wasn't an easy vote for a lot of people, but it was the  right vote," Obama later told reporters in the East Room of the White  House, reading from a prepared statement. "Tonight's vote is not a  victory for any one party… . It's a victory for the American people, and  it's a victory for common sense."
In a reference to his 2008 campaign slogan, Obama added, “This is  what change looks like.”
Administration officials see House passage of the Senate reform bill as a  vindication of Obama’s legislative strategy and, above all, his  toughness.
"The issue and the legislation itself are probably the biggest thing to  become law in 50 years,” said a senior White House official, speaking on  condition of anonymity.
“Any time you get something that 14 administrations have talked about or  worked on and you get it finished, I think it's a big deal. To put it  in the context of here and now: For all the people who wondered if the  president's tough enough, I think it's safe to say I don't know another  leader who wouldn't have cut a deal or cut and run from the issue months  ago."
The official said Obama will sign the bill "later in the week," but not  Sunday night or Monday.
The Senate must now pass a complicated reconciliation package to defuse  political fallout from the "Cornhusker Kickback” and other controversial  deals made to get the bill passed there — and postpone an excise tax on  high-end “Cadillac” health plans.
To see reconciliation through, Obama will be working the phones and  making personal pitches with the same intensity that he afforded House  Democrats, the official said, adding that since Monday, Obama has taken  part in 92 meetings or phone calls with members on health reform.

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