Still repeating that?
DEMOCRATS had a 60-vote majority in the Senate and a president they knew would sign it, but then Brown won in Massachusetts and could no longer stifle debate in the Senate, so they rammed it through.
Pelosi told Congress they had to pass it to find out what was in it.
The U.S. House of Representatives was safely Democratic as a result of the Nov. 4, 2008, elections by a margin of 257 – 199; the Democrats had gained 21 seats from the 2006-07 Congress. The real interesting ACA political dynamics began during the November 2008 U.S. Senate elections.
Going into the 2008 elections, the Senate consisted of 49 Democrats, 49 Republicans, and two Independents (Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Bernie Sanders of Vermont) who caucused with
DEMOCRATS. When the smoke cleared from those elections,
DEMOCRATS picked up eight seats to increase their majority to 57-41 (although
DEMOCRAT Al Franken’s recount victory was not official until July 7).
With the two Independents, the
DEMOCRATS were one vote shy of the supermajority magic number of 60 they needed to ward off any filibuster attempts and move forward with broad healthcare reform legislation.
But on April 28, 2009, the dynamics changed when Pennsylvania Republican Arlen Spector changed parties, giving Senate
DEMOCRATS that coveted 60th vote.
Now
DEMOCRATS had a safe majority in the House and a filibuster-proof supermajority of 60 in the Senate. That scenario lasted only four months before fate intervened. Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts died on August 25, 2009, leaving
DEMOCRATS, once again, with 59 seats (counting the two Independents).
Exactly one month later, on September 25,
DEMOCRAT Paul Kirk was appointed interim senator from Massachusetts to serve until the special election set for January 19, 2010 – once again giving the
DEMOCRATS that 60th vote. But the intrigue was just beginning.
With the supermajority vote safely intact once again, the Senate moved rather quickly to pass the ACA – or ObamaCare – on Christmas Eve 2009 in a 60 – 39 vote (Kentucky Republican Senator Jim Bunning chose not to vote since he was not running for reelection).
The House had previously passed a similar, although not identical bill on November 7, 2009, on a 220 – 215 vote. One Republican voted “aye,” and 39
DEMOCRATS were against.
There didn’t seem to be an urgent need for
DEMOCRATS to reconcile both bills immediately, because the Massachusetts special election (scheduled for January 19, 2010) was almost certain to fall to the
DEMOCRAT, Attorney General Martha Coakley. After all, no Republican had been elected to the U.S. Senate from the Bay State since Edward Brooke in 1972 – 38 years before!
But in yet another twist of fate, Republican Scott Brown ran his campaign as the 41st senator against ObamaCare and shocked nearly everyone by winning the special election by 110,000 votes.
Everyone assumed that the Christmas Eve 2009 Senate bill would be tweaked considerably to conform more with the House bill passed two months previously.
But that strategy wouldn’t work,
because DEMOCRATS no longer had the 60th vote in the Senate to end debate. What to do?
They decided to have the House take up the identical bill that the Senate passed on Christmas Eve. It passed on March 21, 2010, by a 219 – 212 vote.
This time, no Republicans came on board, and 34
DEMOCRATS voted against. President Obama signed the ACA legislation two days later on March 23.
Sux 2 b Buck.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/physiciansfoundation/2014/03/26/a-look-back-at-how-the-president-was-able-to-sign-obamacare-into-law-four-years-ago/2/#5dfee54a1020