GOP, Perdue face off over health care reform, spending

You win some, you lose some.  

That was the case today for Republican statehouse leaders, who failed in their attempt to override Perdue's veto of House Bill 2, the measure that sought to exempt North Carolina from the individual mandate portion of the federal health care overhaul. 

House Republicans needed four Democratic votes to reach 72 - the three-fifths vote required to override a veto. But not one Democrat voted with them - not even Brisson and Crawford, who had previously voted in favor of the bill.  Both said they don't like the federal overhaul, but they weren't willing to vote against the governor.   

The Senate passed its override easily. Republicans control 31 seats in that chamber, one more than needed for an override vote. But it still has to pass the House, where Tillis concedes the GOP doesn't have the votes to finish the job.  Tillis said today he's hoping to persuade Perdue to "release the Democrats" to vote with the Republicans against her veto of S13. 

Here's tonight's recap: