TO YOUR GOOD HEALTH CARE – GET IT WHILE YOU CAN – AT 5:27 P.M. ET:  As of this hour, Dems say they don't have enough votes to pass health care this week, but are confident they'll get them.  From AP:

The House's chief Democratic head-counter, James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, said Sunday he hadn't rounded up enough votes to pass President Obama's health care overhaul as negotiations head into a make-or-break week, even as the White House's top political adviser said he was "absolutely confident" in its prospects.

The administration gave signs of retreating on demands that senators jettison special home-state deals sought by individual lawmakers that have angered the public.

Which means the Louisiana Purchase and similar bribes will probably be in the final bill.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs predicted House passage this week, before Mr. Obama travels to Asia, a trip he postponed to push for the bill.

"This is the week where we will have this important vote," Mr. Gibbs said. "I do think this is the climactic week for health care reform."

Mr. Obama's chief political aide, David Axelrod, said Democrats will persuade enough lawmakers to vote "yes."

COMMENT:  This will be an absolutely momentous week in American political history – a naked attempt, against public opinion, to grab control of one sixth of the American economy.  By tradition, huge policy bills have always had bipartisan support.  This one doesn't, and it's being pushed by a Chicago hustler who promised, during his deceptive 2008 campaign, to bring an end to the partisan bickering in Washington.  He's made it much worse.

March 14, 2010