Democrats set up or down vote on health care

HEALTH-CARE REFORM | Obama rallies party, may turn to executive order on abortion

WASHINGTON -- President Obama exhorted House Democrats at the Capitol on Saturday to make history by bringing health insurance to millions now left out.

As Obama extolled Democratic achievements such as Social Security and Medicare, which also once were controversial, angry tea party demonstrators clogged the streets around Capitol Hill. Some protesters hurled racial insults at black members of Congress.

Rep. Andre Carson (D-Ind.) said that as he left the Cannon House Office Building with Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a leader of the 1960s civil rights movement, some among the crowd chanted "the N-word, the N-word, 15 times." Carson and Lewis are black.

Inside the Capitol, Obama and House leaders were joined by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who pledged his chamber would finish the bill after the House votes today.

Last-minute flare-ups threatened to slow the Democrats' march to passage. The most intense focus was on a small group of Democrats concerned that abortion funding restrictions in the legislation don't go far enough. Determined to avoid votes on such a charged issue, Democratic leaders raised the possibility of addressing the concerns of abortion foes through an executive order from Obama.

House Democratic leaders abandoned a much-challenged procedure for passing the legislation and will vote up or down on the health-care bill passed by the Senate on Christmas Eve as well as a package of changes. The Senate bill would then go to Obama for his signature, the companion measure to the Senate, which hopes to pass it within the week.

The 10-year, $940 billion measure provides health coverage to 32 million uninsured, bars insurance companies from denying coverage to those in poor health and sets up new marketplaces for self-employed people and small businesses to pool together to buy coverage. AP