Voices raised on health care as House vote approaches

WASHINGTON — With the historic House vote on health care barely 48 hours away, battle lines hardened and rhetoric sharpened Thursday when thousands of conservatives and anti-government protesters swarmed Capitol Hill to oppose Democrats' $1.2 trillion, 10-year overhaul even as two powerful groups for doctors and seniors endorsed the legislation.

"Kill the bill! Kill the bill!" thousands chanted outside the Capitol, some having traveled from as far as California and Texas to protest what they saw as tantamount to socialized medicine. "No Marx. No Mao," one protest sign read. No socialized anything," read another.

Meanwhile, officials of the AARP and the American Medical Association (AMA) publicly endorsed the Democrats' health-care overhaul.

The endorsement by the AARP was prized because the seniors lobby is an electoral powerhouse and it has been skeptical of the Democrats' proposals to reduce spending on Medicare. The AMA's support was a marked turnaround for a group that played a leading role in blocking past efforts.

The public pressure from left and right provided a dramatic background for House Democratic leaders' last-minute efforts to nail down a solid majority for their overhaul plan, scheduled for House debate Saturday with a vote expected later that day.

The voices of opposition echoed the conservative protests that have been increasingly heard this year at anti-tax "tea party" rallies and at congressional town meetings on health care.

While the rally in front of the Capitol to hear from House Republicans was peaceful, Capitol police arrested 21 anti-abortion activists and others inside House and Senate office buildings on disorderly-conduct and related charges.

Some Republicans have tried to keep their distance from the tea-party movement because of divisive rhetoric, such as signs seen Thursday linking President Obama and the health-care bill to Nazi Germany.

Nonetheless, dozens of House Republicans, including party leaders, embraced the cause by addressing the crowd and denouncing Obama and the bill.

"We are committed to making sure that not one Republican will vote for this bill," House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., promised.

House Democrats, meanwhile, pressed toward the expected Saturday vote.

Obama had been scheduled to head to Capitol Hill today to push wavering Democrats to get behind the measure, but he called off the trip after Thursday's shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas.

Out of a crowd streaming toward the Capitol under a clear blue sky, one woman exclaimed, "What a beautiful day for a revolution."

Addressing the crowd were GOP lawmakers including House Republican Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, who denounced the health-care bill as "the biggest threat to freedom I have seen in the 19 years I've been here in Washington." The crowd's biggest cheers were for Rep. Michelle Bachman, R-Minn., an icon of grass-roots conservatives who had, on cable television last week, invited health-bill opponents to come.

"You came to your House," she said, standing at a podium beside a towering stack of paper that was the text of the health-care bill. "You came for an emergency House call."

No House Republican is expected to vote for the bill, so Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been laboring to nail down the 218 votes needed to pass the bill from her party's ranks.

Democrats secured one new vote Thursday when she swore in Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., who won a special election Tuesday.

Another special-election winner, Democrat Bill Owens of New York, is to be sworn in today. He also is expected to vote for the bill.

Seeking to resolve one controversy that has stirred opposition from some anti-abortion Democrats, Rep. Brad Ellsworth, D-Ind., is pushing an amendment to make sure federal funds under the bill would not pay for abortions.

Kim Geiger and Alex Hart contributed to this report from Washington.