TalkingPointsMemo’s Brian Beutler provides the House scoreboard:

By a razor thin margin of 219-212, the House of Representatives tonight passed far-reaching legislation that will lead to near-universal health care coverage in the United States — a goal that has eluded Presidents and Congresses for a century.

The vote on the Senate bill concluded at 10:48 p.m., almost 10 hours after Democrats gavelled the chamber into session, confident the vote would be there. Within an hour, the House also passed the “fix” to the Senate bill, on a 220-211 vote…

Elsewhere on TPM, Christina Bellatoni explains why it’s not quite over yet:

The Senate parliamentary rules are that a reconciliation measure cannot be considered unless it is actually reconciling existing law. So Obama has to sign the bill before debate can start in the upper chamber. Senators have indicated they will start debate right after Obama signs the measure, and House Democrats said Sunday night they think the matter can be wrapped up within the week…

So, will health care reform fail because a lazy candidate didn’t bother campaigning and didn’t know her Red Sox? (Yes, there were national factors at work, but Nate Silver makes it clear that a better candidate would have won easily). It’s up to the House, which can and should just pass the Senate bill.

Unfortunately, quite a few representatives seem to be in panic mode. And that’s just dumb…

Read More—> Fools On The Hill – Paul Krugman Blog – NYTimes.com.

See Also: I posted my perspective on Care2.com’s Political Causes Blog late last night:  Massachusetts Elects Republican Senator – Did Brown Win or Did Coakley Lose?

Check it out and take the poll.

As you may have seen reported, in a perfect exclamation point to the obstruction we’ve seen all year, when the Senate adjourned last week, the Republicans objected to what is ordinarily a routine request to waive Senate rules and permit pending nominations to remain in the Senate confirmation pipeline. Without what’s called “unanimous consent,” under Senate rules, pending nominations must be returned to the President, who then has to re-nominate in the next session. In what has become a far too typical exercise by the “Just Say No” party, Republicans objected to three DOJ nominees who have been on the Senate’s calendar awaiting consideration for months: Dawn Johnsen, for the Office of Legal Counsel; Chris Schroeder for the Office of Legal Policy; and Mary Smith, for the Tax Division. They also objected to two pending federal District Court nominees (Edward Chen, for a seat on the Northern District of California and Louis B. Butler for a seat on the Western District of Wisconsin) and to Craig Becker for reappointment as a member of the National Labor Relations Board…

Follow the link below to read more:

via Dawn Johnsen and the GOP Obstruction Game | People For the American Way Blog.

Related on PiP:

Tell the Senate, GOP – Stop Stalling on Dawn Johnsen OLC Confirmation

via Daily Kos: A Historic Step Forward: Why I’m Supporting The Senate Health Reform Bill, by Sen. Al Franken

In 1917, progressives in America began a quest to create a system to provide health insurance to all Americans. Today, almost a century later, we are poised to take a giant step toward realizing that goal. Viewed through the lens of history, this is truly an amazing accomplishment.

To earn my vote, health insurance reform must improve access to affordable health care for Minnesota families – and this bill clears that bar with room to spare. This bill does not fix all the problems with our health care system, and I will not stop working to improve the quality and lower the costs of health care for all Americans. But progressives can be proud of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and take a large measure of credit for important provisions it will codify as the law of the land.

Requiring insurance companies to spend 85% of premiums on actual health services — not administrative costs, TV ads, or gargantuan CEO bonuses — is a big victory. Senator Rockefeller and I worked hard to get that provision included because it holds insurance companies accountable and will put an end to exploding premiums and obscene profits – a huge win for progressives…

Read More / Digg the Kos Post

Be sure to follow the above link to read the rest of Franken’s Daily Kos diary entry.

Of course, Franken has been on my radar as of late.  Last week I posted a clip from Franken’s former life as a brilliant satirist.  His “Supply Side Jesus” is well worth watching if you haven’t seen it.

More relevant to the present health care reform debate in the Senate, I published a post over at Care2 entitled, “You Go, Al Franken!“  Published Dec. 18, the blog entry imparts some of his senate floor highlights from the week:  Franken’s verbal smack down of Republican Sen. John Thune & a procedural STFU for Sen. Joe Lieberman.