Rep. Space to oppose Dems' health care bill
| WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Zack Space said Thursday he plans to oppose the health care bill passed by the U.S. Senate.
He made the announcement shortly after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the national media she didn’t think she had the votes to pass the bill. The Senate passed the controversial plan in December. The plan would require everyone to buy health insurance and would provide federal subsidies to those who can’t afford it. It also prevents the insurance industry from denying care to anyone with a pre-existing condition. Space, D-Dover, said this bill only serves insurance companies by giving them new customers and doesn’t address the issues of high costs and Medicare fraud. He said he is opposed to the process used in the Senate to pass the bill, claiming that there were back-room dealings in swinging key votes. His opposition is not an organized effort by the Blue Dog caucus, made up of moderate Democrats, he said. However, he said many in the caucus do share his sentiments. Space did vote for a House bill that would cost $1.1 trillion in the first 10 years and provide coverage to 36 million more people. Pelosi has been leading marathon talks with other House Democrats on health care since Republican Scott Brown won Tuesday’s special election in Massachusetts. His victory gave Senate Republicans the 41st vote they need to block the bill if it comes back to that chamber for a final vote. One option Democrats had considered was letting the House pass the Senate’s version of the legislation, which would eliminate the need for a final vote in the Senate. The legislation then would go to President Barack Obama for his signature. But Pelosi said House Democrats had reservations about key provisions in the Senate bill, including agreements worked out by wavering senators that benefit only their states and a proposed 40 percent tax on high-priced health care plans. Pelosi’s announcement wasn’t necessarily a fatal blow. She did not rule out passing the Senate’s bill with a separate “correcting” amendment to address some of the House members’ concerns. That separate bill, some Democrats have suggested, could then be approved by the Senate with a simple majority of 51 votes. Space is up for re-election this year, and Republicans hope to regain control of the seat formerly held by Bob Ney. “Space’s newly found concerns are a blatant attempt to fool voters who see this for what it is — a flip-flop,” said Tory Mazzola of the National Republican Congressional Committee in a mass e-mail message Thursday afternoon. |