So today is the day, and today is when we get to know whether Nancy Pelosi and President Obama have been able to pull this one out (Intrade futures on this effort have been going up since early this month — you can buy at this writing at 92.1). You can use this as a live blogging thread (if you are glued to CSPAN and not out in this glorious weather).
Open Congress has posted a Guide to the House Health Care Debates and Votes today. I suspect they’ll be live blogging and live twittering today too.
Congress Matters has posted up today’s Floor Schedule from the Office of the Majority Leader. The the fun begins at 1PM today:
FLOOR SCHEDULE FOR SUNDAY, MARCH 21, 2010
House Meets At… 1:00 p.m.: Legislative Business
First Vote Predicted… 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Last Vote Predicted… Evening***Members are advised that votes are expected as early as 1:00 p.m.
“One Minutes” (5 per side)
Motion to Concur in the Senate Amendments toH.R. 3590 – Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – and H.R. 4872 – Reconciliation Act of 2010 (Reps. Spratt/Waxman/Levin/George Miller – Budget/Energy and Commerce/Ways and Means/Education and Labor) (Subject to a Rule)
Postponed Suspension Votes (7 Bills):
1. H.R. 4840 – To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1979 Cleveland Avenue in Columbus, Ohio, as the “Clarence D. Lumpkin Post Office” (Rep. Tiberi – Oversight and Government Reform)
2. H.Res. 1174 – Supporting the goals and ideals of National Women’s History Month (Rep. Woolsey – Oversight and Government Reform)
3. H.Res. 1075 – Commending the members of the Agri-business Development Teams of the National Guard for their efforts, together with personnel of the Department of Agriculture and the United States Agency for International Development, to modernize agriculture practices and increase food production in war-torn countries (Rep. Luetkemeyer – Armed Services)
4. H.Res. 1099 – Recognizing the 65th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima (Rep. Braley – Armed Services)
5. H.Res. 925 – Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the meritorious service performed by aviators in the United States Armed Forces who were shot down over, or otherwise forced to land in, hostile territory yet evaded enemy capture or were captured but subsequently escaped (Rep. DeFazio – Armed Services)
6. H.Res. 900 – Supporting the goals and ideals of a Cold War Veterans Recognition Day to honor the sacrifices and contributions made by members of the Armed Forces during the Cold War and encouraging the people of the United States to participate in local and national activities honoring the sacrifices and contributions of those individuals (Rep. Israel – Armed Services)
7. H.Res. 1119 – Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that all people in the United States should participate in a moment of silence to reflect upon the service and sacrifice of members of the United States Armed Forces both at home and abroad (Rep. Peters – Armed Services)* Conference Reports may be brought up at any time.
* Motions to go to Conference should they become available.
* Possible Motions to Instruct Conferees.
Be sure to read David Waldman’s complete post on this — he takes a look at the rules for voting today and gets in some final pot shots at the faux outrage directed against a self-executing rule. You can follow David on Twitter during today’s events — highly recommended since I don’t think that there is anyone blogging out there who gets the ins and outs of the rules Congress operates by better than he does.
Ezra Klein notes that he will be live-blogging the debate today too. He has put together a Twitter list of people he is following during today’s debate.
CSPAN is live streaming and will start their coverage now.
And in case you want a little diversion from today’s events, this article from Politico (yes I know) credits Nancy Pelosi with pulling this all back from January’s brink. No votes have been taken yet, but no matter what happens today, this woman is a hero.
BONUS MIKE CASTLE WATCHING: He is already on record as intending to vote no on this legislation. So there will be no excitement there. However, you can use Castle’s behavior today as a preview on how he would do his job as a Senator of Delaware — voting for the interests of his party, rather than the interests of the people of Delaware.