The House voted 217-215 early this morning to pass the budget reconciliation bill. The vote, which was supposed to take place a week ago, was extremely close due to the contentious nature of the radical cuts within the bill. The GOP leadership was able to cut just enough backroom deals to tip the scales in their favor. All Democrats voted against the bill except for two (Leonard Boswell (IA) and Edolphus Towns (NY)) and 14 Republicans broke with their party to vote their conscience rather than capitulate to a radical agenda. Rep. Boswell was in the hospital recovering from surgery and Towns was reportedly in New York, for reasons which cannot be imagined on the eve of the most important vote of the entire year. The 14 Republicans voting against the bill should be thanked and commended. They showed courage and integrity in the face of intense pressure. You can contact these representatives to applaud their decision by clicking on their names. They were: Jim Gerlach (R-PA) Nancy Johnson (R-CT) Timothy Johnson (R-IL) Walter Jones (R-NC) Jim Leach (R-IA) John McHugh (R-NY) Robert Ney (R-OH) Ron Paul (R-TX) Jim Ramstad (R-MN) Christopher Shays (R-CT) Rob Simmons (R-CT) Chris Smith (R-NJ) John Sweeney (R-NY) Heather Wilson (R-NM)