Congressman Murtha's Death Will Make It More Difficult For Democrats To Pass Health Care Reform

The American Specter has a great article on how Congressman Murtha's death will impact Speaker Nancy Pelosi's ability to pass the democrats health care reform through the House of Representatives. Back in November the House passed the health care bill 220 to 215 margin, with 39 Democrats voting against it.

To pass the bill at some point in the next few months, she'll need to flip a Democrat who is already on record voting against the bill. This doesn't even take into account the pro-life Democrats led by Bart Stupak who are prepared to vote "no." While there's been talk that Pelosi had some votes in reserve the first time around, the point is that any of those members felt the needed to vote against the bill -- and the political environment has deteriorated substantially for Democrats since then. Click Here To Read More

The results of the looming special election for Murtha's seat will also impact the mood in the House of Representatives. If a republican wins the special election in the way Scott Brown won the Massachusetts special election for Senator Ted Kennedy's seat, many conservative democrats in purple districts will no doubt be thinking twice about supporting the bill the second time around.