In historic vote, United States House passes Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Moments ago, by a vote of 219 to 212, the United States House of Representatives concurred in the Senate amendments to H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which will extend healthcare coverage to millions of Americans.

Immediately after reaching the magic number of two hundred and sixteen (required for passage), Democrats broke into applause and chants of "Yes, We Can!"

The full roll call is available on the House Clerk's website. Here is the roll call for the Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska, Montana):

Voting Yes: Representatives Brian Baird, Earl Blumenauer, Peter DeFazio, Norm Dicks, Jay Inslee, Rick Larsen, Jim McDermott, Kurt Schrader, Adam Smith, David Wu

Voting Nay: Representatives Doc Hastings, Walt Minnick, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Denny Rehberg, Dave Reichert, Mike Simpson, Greg Walden, Don Young

The final tally: Ten Democrats from our region voted in favor; all seven Republicans and one Democrat (Walt Minnick) voted against.

President Obama is expected to speak tonight after the House of Representatives has passed H.R. 4872, a bill to improve and adjust H.R. 3590. That bill will be passed under the rules of reconciliation and sent over to the United States Senate.

There's a lot not to like about this bill. It does not have a public option. It does not strengthen or protect reproductive rights (rather, it diminishes them, although not to the extent the U.S. Conference of Catholic Biships wants). Not all of its provisions take effect immediately. H.R. 3590 is not, in the view of the Northwest Progressive Institute, a triumphant accomplishment.

Let's not be under any illusions: We have a long, long way to go to get to universal healthcare for all Americans. But tonight, we've at least taken a step forward.

And something is better than nothing.

It seems that almost every progressive blog in the country has posted a link to former Bush speechwriter David Frum's analysis of today's events, which in his words is the most crushing legislative defeat for the Republican Party since the 1960s. We'd be remiss not to mention it; it really is a must-read.

Here's my favorite excerpt:

We followed the most radical voices in the party and the movement, and they led us to abject and irreversible defeat.

There were leaders who knew better, who would have liked to deal. But they were trapped. Conservative talkers on Fox and talk radio had whipped the Republican voting base into such a frenzy that deal-making was rendered impossible. How do you negotiate with somebody who wants to murder your grandmother? Or – more exactly – with somebody whom your voters have been persuaded to believe wants to murder their grandmother?

Good question. Frum also points out:

It’s a good bet that conservatives are over-optimistic about November – by then the economy will have improved and the immediate goodies in the healthcare bill will be reaching key voting blocs.

We concur. Our guess is that Democrats and Republicans will do some horse trading in the 2010 midterms. In House races, Republicans may succeed in getting rid of some Blue Dogs in conservative districts, and Democrats may knock out a few Republican incumbents in districts that voted for Barack Obama and decide they're unhappy with their Republican representation. Democrats may pick up open seats vacated by Republicans, and vice versa.