Tanner votes no - but that suggests the bill is MORE LIKELY TO PASS

[fiorello]

From the NYTimes blog:

Scroll down to 1:57 PM:

In announcing that he would oppose the health care legislation, Representative John Tanner, Democrat of Tennessee, offered a signal that Democrats were close to securing the votes needed to pass the bill.

Come again? Yup. Sometimes up is down in Congress, and sometimes down is up.

Mr. Tanner is retiring at the end of this year after completing his 11th term in Congress. Politically, he cannot be punished for voting in favor of the bill. And he is a close friend of the Democratic majority leader, Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland.

If House Democratic leaders are comfortable letting Mr. Tanner publicly announce his opposition, it is the clearest sign yet of their mounting confidence that they will have the 216 votes needed to pass the bill.

Still, they are not there yet. Senior Democrats and White House officials continued to negotiate with a handful of Democrats who oppose abortion rights over an executive order that would clarify abortion policy. An announcement of that deal would likely push Democrats over the top. — David M. Herszenhorn

http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/live-blogging-the-house-vote/?hp

On edit: If they got Stupak, that would explain it.