HEALTH CARE

Ten House Dems Up for Grabs

Obama to lay out new plan Wednesday.

Ten House Democrats indicated they could switch their “no” votes to “yes” on President Obama’s health-care overhaul, according to an AP survey. Out of 39 Democrats, 10 said they were undecided or wouldn’t state their vote, putting them in the field of players Obama and Nancy Pelosi have to wrangle to their side in order to push through reforms using reconciliation, which would block a Republican filibuster. Pelosi needs 216 votes to pass the Senate version of the bill, which is exactly the number she has now if no one defects from last time, which is highly unlikely considering the different tack the Senate bill takes on abortion, and the changed political landscape since the House voted through its bill. Obama is expected to lay out a new plan on Wednesday that will incorporate some Republican ideas left over from last week’s summit, but few think this will persuade a single Republican to vote for the bill.