WASHINGTON UPDATE

Between the committee meetings and the Tea Party rally, DC is a hive of activity today.  The Tea Party turnout is impressive, as always.  Rep. Bachmann (R-MN) has officially invited the tea partyers in to the Capitol to speak to their representatives.  It will be interesting to see how the democrats react.  They are under a lot of pressure from all quarters today.

As for the House Rules committee, it has been rather chaotic.  In a surprising turn of events, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) stated (via the Washington Examiner):

“We’re not going to ‘deem’ the bill passed. We’re going to pass the Senate bill…I would be against the idea of ‘deeming’ something — we either pass it or we don’t.”

Sounds like soneone on the democrat side finally realized how unconstitutional the move is.  Perhaps the sheer number of lawsuits waiting to be filed against it tipped them off....Word has just come out that the Senate bill will be voted on directly - demon pass is dead.  

Now the big question is - does Pelosi have to votes to pass the unpopular Senate bill?

Let's not forget - the reason demon pass was spawned in the first place was because she couldn't whip up the votes for the Senate bill as it was passed.

The whip count varies so wildly that it is hard to keep track of how many votes they have.  Dick Morris explained the way he is keeping track - as of last night, 5 no votes had flipped to yes.  But, on the other hand, 4 yes votes flipped to no.  Which means that, although the dems are touting the five they gained, in reality the net gain is only one.  That was the count last night, however, and today has been an incredibly fluid day.  It was thought that Bart Stupak had negotiated a deal with Pelosi, but after he cancelled his 11am presser, word leaked out that he is "done with Pelosi" and his vote stands at no. 

Let's hope the Tea Partyers have some luck persuading their reps to vote no. I have to admit that there is a little tiny part of me that is hoping that the no votes that flipped to yes did so only to get Pelosi off their backs, and that they are still planning to vote no (well, except Kucinich, who is voting yes because he's been assured that single payer is just a few bills down the road).  I know it's silly and unrealistic, but I really am an optimist - I just can't help myself.  Besides, I know I'd say almost anything to get Pelosi out of my hair, and I'd just figure that the promise I made to her is just as binding as the promises she and Obama have made to the country.  Which is to say, not binding at all.

Uh-oh.  The One has decided to descend upon the Hill to persuade his party to do the right thing and save his  presidency.  It's all about the O, after all.  So here's the big question - is this speech by Obama to rally the troops, or is it a convenient way to get them out of their offices while the Tea Party people are roaming the halls?  It's not beyond the realm of possibility that they would do something like this to keep their caucus from speaking to their constituents - that's why they keep trying to pass this mess before major holiday recesses, after all.

The long and short of it is, tomorrow is going to be a very long, tense day.