WASHINGTON — With a historic House vote on a $1-trillion healthcare bill barely 48 hours away, battle lines are hardening as lobbying groups for seniors and doctors endorse the legislation, while thousands of protesters swarmed Capitol Hill to oppose it.
"Kill the bill! Kill the bill!" chanted conservative and small-government advocates Thursday, some having traveled on short notice 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.
Democratic leaders, who are making a last-minute push to nail down a majority vote for their overhaul plan, touted endorsements by the AARP and the American Medical Assn. The endorsement by the AARP was prized because of the electoral power that seniors traditionally wield. The AMA, though less powerful than it once was when it helped stymie past healthcare campaigns, is still seen as one of the nation's leading healthcare groups.
The public pressure from left and right provided a dramatic background for a scheduled floor debate Saturday -- with a vote expected later that day.
The angry voices of opposition echoed the conservative protests that have been heard this year at anti-tax "tea party" rallies, as well as at congressional town hall meetings on healthcare and in some of the campaigns leading up to Tuesday's off-year elections.
Though the rally in front of the Capitol was peaceful, Capitol Police arrested 21 antiabortion activists and others inside House and Senate office buildings for disorderly conduct and related charges.
Some Republicans have tried to keep their distance from the tea party movement because of some divisive rhetoric -- such as protest signs seen Thursday linking President Obama and the healthcare bill to Nazi Germany.
Nonetheless, dozens of House Republicans, including their top party leaders, embraced the cause by appearing on the steps of the Capitol to address the crowd.
House Republican leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) denounced the healthcare 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 Bachmann (R-Minn.), a first-term star of grass-roots conservatives who had, on cable television last week, invited health bill opponents to come to the rally and lobby lawmakers.
