The House bill for Health Care reform passed on Saturday 220-215, so the bill had two more votes than it needed to pass. Congressman Carney voted yes on the Stupak amendment (which went further than the long-standing Hyde amendment in prohibiting federal coverage of abortion services) and voted YES on the final bill. As far as I know, he had never announced a position on the bill until he cast his vote. Several of the Blue Dog Democrats voted no on the final bill, but just enough Democrats stayed on board to pass the bill. One of the ironies was that the Republican yes votes on the Stupak amendment probably locked up the final votes need to pass the overall bill.
Congressman Carney has always said that he will vote the district, and I think his delay in taking a position reflects how hard it is to read the 10th district on this issue. I'm not thrilled about the individual mandate in the bill--I recall candidate Obama explaining why he didn't support that approach. Make it affordable and people will want to buy it. Don't force them to do it. Perhaps that part of the bill will change in the reconciliation process with the Senate--assuming the Senate actually passes a bill. It's time to get something done so we can all get to work figuring out how to create a better system. The Democrats should forge ahead in the Senate--force the opponents to filibuster if necessary. That's not a record of accomplishment the Republicans will be able to run on in 2010. The argument would be this: we stopped them from doing the things you elected them to do in 2008.
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We still don't know how far-reaching the effects of the Stupak amendment may be. There was obviously a long-held strategy to try to hijack health care reform to create a new debate about limiting access to abortion. Now it starts to look like a game of chicken: will the Democrats allow the whole thing to go down and then go back to the voters in November 2010 to make their case? Probably not. For political reasons, this thing needs to get done asap. And the bill doesn't kick in until 2013?! One mountain at a time.
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