Oooops....

David Kurtz of TPM:

House Democrats have been loud and proud on how robust a public option they were going to pass, but in the last few days, starting with reports in The Hill and Politico last week, there have been rumblings that Nancy Pelosi doesn't have the votes she thought she had, or at least projected herself as having.

Today our old colleague Greg Sargent reports that the latest whip count shows more than 50 potential Democratic defectors on the robust public option -- far more than the 38 Dems she can afford to lose and still pass the bill with zero GOP support. That may explain the noises Majority Leader Steny Hoyer was making this morning about a less robust public option being able to garner a lot more votes, suggesting one possible route to a securing a majority.

And here is Harry Reid asking for backup....

Update: And the White House has some health care reform videos to choose from.

Hoping that Obama fails

WASHINGTON – Democrats pushed a huge, $787 billion stimulus bill through the House and toward final approval on Friday, launching a costly attack on the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and handing President Barack Obama a major victory early in his term. The House vote was 246-183, with Republicans unanimous in opposition to the bill, which includes tax cuts and an estimated $500 billion in federal spending.

Senate leaders set a confirming vote for several hours later, and in a show of urgency, the White House dispatched a government plane to Ohio to fly back a senator who was home for his mother's Saturday morning funeral.

Supporters said the bill would save or create 3.5 million jobs. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer conceded there was no guarantee, but he said that "millions and millions and millions of people will be helped, as they have lost their jobs and can't put food on the table of their families."

Vigorously disagreeing, House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio dumped a copy of the 1,071-page bill to the floor in a gesture of contempt. "The bill that was about jobs, jobs, jobs has turned into a bill that's about spending, spending, spending," he said.

Thanks, Boehner. We will remember that.