CBC member: Health bill protesters called lawmakers the N-word  —  Rep. Andre Carson (D-Ind.) claimed Saturday that healthcare protesters at the Capitol directed racial epithets at him Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) as they walked outside.  —  Carson, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus along with Lewis …

Menacing  —  Things are getting pretty heated in the Capitol with crowds of anti-Reform/Tea Party activists going through the halls shouting slogans and epithets at Democratic members of Congress.  —  As our Brian Beutler reports, a few moments ago in the Longworth office building …

Tea Party sign threatens gun violence if health care passes.  —  Tea Party activists have gathered on Capitol Hill today for a “Code Red” rally against health care reform.  Speakers at the event included Republican Reps. Steve King (IA), Michele Bachmann (MN), and Mike Pence (IN).

True Colors (Even Worse Than We Thought)  —  It seems that ugly crowd of protestors harassing members of Congress in the Capitol complex this afternoon got even uglier than we thought.  As noted earlier, in addition to menacing behavior toward multiple members of Congress …

Tea Party protesters reportedly spit on one lawmaker, call others ‘faggot’ and the n-word.  —  Today's Code Red rally appears to be one of the most raucous Tea Party gatherings on Capitol Hill yet.  In addition to protesters shouting with rage at federal lawmakers, Sam Stein reports on some more disturbing incidents:

Rules Committee meeting descends into chaos  —  At the House Rules Committee meeting, Democrats desperate to pass their national health care plan are running into the barrier of basic civics.  Here is the problem: The Senate has passed its HCR bill.  If the House passes the same bill …

Reports: Deem and Pass is dead; keep the no-mentum going  —  Well, well, well.  Breaking news all over that the Dems have now abandoned Demon Pass.  —  WaPo alert: … The Hill tweets: “Our Roxana Tiron reports Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) told her Pelosi now WILL NOT use ‘deem and pass.’”

Health-care updates  —  The Democrats are looking like they're going to win this one clean.  And when I say clean, I don't just mean they seem to have the votes.  I mean they seem to have the votes without going the deem and pass route.  They're going to take a straight vote on the nine pages …

House leaders plan separate health vote, rejecting ‘deem and pass’  —  House leaders have decided to take a separate vote on the Senate health-care bill, rejecting an earlier, much-criticized strategy that would have permitted them to “deem” the unpopular measure passed without an explicit vote.