Will Target Dems Back Yet Another Plan to Shut Down Virginia Jobs?
FYI, a version of the release below went out to the following districts: Jason Altmire (PA-04); Michael Arcuri (NY-24); John Barrow (GA-12); Leonard Boswell (IA-03); Allen Boyd (FL-02); Bobby Bright (AL-02); Dennis Cardoza (CA-18); Chris Carney (PA-10); Travis Childers (MS-01); Jim Costa (CA-20); Kathy Dahlkemper (PA-03); Joe Donnelly (IN-02); Brad Ellsworth (IN-08); Gabby Giffords (AZ-08); Bart Gordon (TN-06); Baron Hill IN-09); Jim Himes (CT-04); Steve Kagen (WI-08); Mary Jo Kilroy (OH-15); Frank Kratovil (MD-01); Jim Marshall (GA-08); Jim Matheson (UT-02); Walt Minnick (ID-01); Harry Mitchell (AZ-05); Dennis Moore (KS-03); Glenn Nye (VA-02); Heath Shuler (NC-11); John Tanner (TN-08); Tim Walz (MN-01); and John Yarmuth (KY-03).
For Immediate Release: Contact: Press Office
October 16, 2009 (202) 479-7070
Will Nye Back Yet Another Plan to Shut Down Virginia Jobs?
Blue Dog Healthcare Chief Backs Plan to Eliminate Local Business
Washington- With his party’s government healthcare takeover failing to gain traction, Glenn Nye and his fellow Democrats are clearly scrambling to save face. Yesterday, Nye’s colleague and fellow Blue Dog Mike Ross (D-AR) endorsed a ‘Medicare for all’ plan, scrapping the Democrats’ current proposals and making Medicare the new so-called public option. There’s just one problem: the only such bill that would follow through on Ross’s proposal would also ban private insurance companies from competing with the public plan, quickly driving them out of business. And that spells bad news for companies like Amerigroup, headquartered in Virginia Beach and represented by none other than Glenn Nye.
Now the question remains: Will Glenn Nye back his fellow Blue Dog’s plan to kill jobs and drive away an important local business?
Yesterday Ross told The Hill newspaper that he was on board with a ‘Medicare for all’ plan:
“Ross (D-Ark.), who had emerged as a leader among centrist Blue Dog Democrats opposing the public health insurance option, has suggested something his colleagues consider even more drastic – opening Medicare to those under 65 without insurance.”
“‘I – speaking only on behalf of myself – suggested one possible idea could be that instead of creating an entirely new government bureaucracy to administer a public option, Medicare could be offered as a choice,’ Ross said in a statement to The Hill.” (Mike Soraghan, “Leading Blue Dog Suggests Opening Medicare to Uninsured,” The Hill, 10/15/09)
But according to Congressman John Conyers, the author of the only ‘Medicare for all’ bill on the table today, this plan would outlaw private insurers from even competing with the government’s plan:
“Private health insurance companies will be prohibited from selling coverage that duplicates any benefits included in the universal national health care program.” (Source: johnconyers.com; accessed 10/16/09)
“Will Glenn Nye finally stand up for Virginia businesses and employees or will he once again back his party’s reckless anti-jobs agenda?” said NRCC Communications Director Ken Spain. “It would be sadly unsurprising to see Nye back a bill that would literally shut down an important local business, but he’s proven time and time again that pushing his party’s destructive job-killing policies is his top priority.”
It’s time for Glenn Nye to take a stand. Will he finally make the right choice?