Bob Etheridge, Other NC Dems Voting Against Health Care Bill?

Many N.C. Dems Likely To Oppose Health Care Bill


Depending on the vote of undecided U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge, half of North Carolina's Democrats could join congressional Republicans this weekend in opposing the final passage of a sweeping health care overhaul.

Already, the state's three most conservative Democrats are expected to vote no - just as they did in November when the health care bill first came up for a vote.

U.S. Reps. Heath Shuler of Waynesville, Larry Kissell of Biscoe and Mike McIntyre of Lumberton say the bill doesn't go far enough to bring down health care costs and would, instead, cost American taxpayers too much.

Etheridge, a Lillington Democrat, supported the Democrats' bill in November. At the time, he waited until the last minute to signal his vote. This time around, he says he is undecided again.

The indecision comes in the waning days of Democratic leaders' push for votes. President Barack Obama has been calling some wavering Democrats, and House Majority Whip James Clyburn is meeting with caucus groups to push the bill.

Jared Bernstein, economic policy adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, said that lawmakers are choosing between keeping the status quo and passing needed - if imperfect - reform.

"These are not easy votes, I grant you that," Bernstein said. "But this is a historic vote."

Families are Hurting

Etheridge is considered a moderate in his party, and he votes with leadership nearly 98 percent of the time, according to a Washington Post database of congressional votes.

Late Wednesday afternoon, he spent five minutes on the House floor reading aloud health care horror stories from his home district.

"It's time to put health insurance back on the side of the folks back home," Etheridge said. "When North Carolina families are hurting, doing nothing really isn't an option for me."

Etheridge has faced strong pressure in the 2nd Congressional District, a largely rural and suburban district that dips into Southeast Raleigh but also curls through the fast-developing farmlands around the eastern and southern edges of the Triangle.

A recent survey by Public Policy Polling, a Democratic firm in Raleigh, found that 53 percent of voters in Etheridge's district oppose health care reform, while only 37 percent support it. And in the past week, members of the tea party movement have held two rallies outside Etheridge's office, urging him to vote no.

North Carolina's other lawmakers have fallen in line with their parties. Supporters of the bill include U.S. Reps. Mel Watt, G.K. Butterfield, Brad Miller and David Price. Price, who represents Chapel Hill, Durham and Cary, held a news conference Monday to announce his support.

All North Carolina Republicans are opposed, with many of them echoing GOP talking points that Congress should "start over" with health reform.

"Take it off the table," said U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick, a Charlotte Republican.

"If [Democratic leaders] thought that this is what the American people wanted and they had the votes to pass health care reform, we would have passed this bill a long time ago," Myrick said. "But they don't have the votes, and this is certainly not what the American people want."

Costs too much

Shuler, Kissell and McIntyre all say the reform would cost too much.

"Health reform is needed, but this bill is too expensive," McIntyre said in an interview Wednesday. He said the bill would create a new federal bureaucracy at the cost of nearly a trillion dollars, while not doing enough to stop the skyrocketing costs of health insurance premiums.

Families USA, a non-partisan health advocacy organization in Washington, estimates that health insurance premiums in North Carolina rose nearly 100 percent in the past decade.

Shuler and McIntyre belong to the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of fiscally conservative Democrats that often weighs in on budget-related bills. They have been targeted by organizations on both sides of the issue.

Callers to Shuler's office Wednesday routinely encountered busy signals or a voicemail message. And McIntyre said his office has received thousands of calls and letters, many of them from across the country.

Small steps

McIntyre said he would rather scrap the current bill, concentrate on jobs recovery and then focus on small goals in health reform. Those could include developing community health centers, improving electronic medical records and creating partnerships between nursing schools and rural communities. He also wants to focus on improving the two government programs that now exist, Medicaid and Medicare.

"They're almost broke," McIntyre said. "My goodness, we've got to honor the commitments that are already there."

Shuler's office did not return calls for comment Wednesday. His spokeswoman told a newspaper in Shuler's district this week that the congressman is undecided, but Shuler is widely expected to vote "no" as he did in November.

Kissell, a former high school civics teacher, said in a statement Wednesday that he will vote No because he doesn't like how the bill is supposed to be paid for.


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Sources: McClatchy Newspapers, Youtube, Google Maps