Rep. Zack Space to vote against health care bill (YES TO NO, GOOD NEWS)

Cleveland Plain Dealer ^ | March 20, 2010, 5:35PM | Sabrina Eaton

[phrogphlyer]

After hearing out everyone everyone from President Obama to tea party activists, Dover Democratic Rep. Zack Space announced today that he'll oppose the health care reform bill that's up for a vote on Sunday in the House of Representatives.

Space, who represents a sprawling southeast Ohio congressional district with a high concentration of Republicans, said he doesn't like the bill, and his constituents don't like it, either.

"Probably the most significant concern is the pay-fors in the bill," said Space. "They are opening the door to taxing employee benefits as income, which is going to create, I don’t care how you slice it, a hardship for middle class families that they can’t afford to endure right now."

Space said the version of the bill he supported last year taxed the wealthiest Americans, rather than the middle class, to pay some of the working poor's health care costs.

"This bill has taken those people out of it," said Space.

Space has been targeted by Republicans since he won a seat previously held by scandal-tainted GOP Rep. Bob Ney. This afternoon the National Republican Congressional Committee sent out an email that asked whether Space would "slash Medicare benefits for Ohio seniors" by supporting the bill, and called the vote potentially "career-ending" for him.

Earlier this year, Space issued a statement that strongly disapproved of the Senate bill. He said he told a group of roughly 13,000 constituents who participated in a telephone town hall meeting with him on Friday night that he'd vote against the bill.

Space's announcement leaves Toledo Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur as the only uncommitted Ohio member of Congress on the controversial vote. She has concerns about the bill's handling of abortion, but has said she is leaning towards a "Yes." All Ohio Republicans oppose the bill, along with Cincinnati Democrat Steve Driehaus, who worries the bill won't do enough to keep tax dollars from funding abortions,

The rest of Ohio's Democrats back the bill.

[combat_boots]

hell is freezing over.

[Frantzie]

Any OH people here? I think OH was ACORN fraud centrl in 2008 but I think things have changed in OH.

I bet a lot of independents and moderate repubs are furious with O and the Dems. Maybe they are smart enough to see places like NJ electings (awesome) Chris Christie. Dems in OH must know that Nov is going to be hell.

[StarFan]

All this procedure is beyond me, but I THINK that we win if a reconciliation bill passes, because then it has to go back to the Senate where a filibuster would kill it.

My take -- we ONLY win if there's a NO on the Senate bill. Once that passes that becomes Law and reconciliation will have no bearing. They're voting on a bill they detest but are either too ignorant or too blinded to realize it will be signed into law immediately while the Senate debates the fixes.

[The Pack Knight]

I think she wants to make a deal with the anti-abortion Democrats, but her hands are tied. If they include any changes that de-fund abortions, she’ll lose even more votes from the hard core pro-choice representatives.

[Red in Blue PA]

Also, why aren’t CNN and MSNBC covering this more today? They are glossing over it like it doesn’t exist. I am still nervous but hopeful.

[phrogphlyer]

Kansas is, if nothing else. Six or seven inches of snow on the first day of spring.

[plinyelder]

My take is .. They would NOT have done away with the Deem and Pass if they didn’t already know that they have all the votes they need!?

Am I wrong?

[StarFan]

Let's say Pelosi already has the votes (which I still maintain is in doubt). She can then give approval to those who want to appear representing their districts to vote against the bill. In much the same way, this is why members of Congress often times switch their votes after the fact, just for appearance sake.

Excellent point although it just dampened my mood again!

[WHBates]

"that said, if that happened, we will see a revolt in Congress the likes of which hasn’t happened in decades if ever.

LOL, you don't really believe that do you? They know exactly what they are doing.

[devistate one four]

Keep praying, this isn’t over!

The dems want to tax everything.

[perfect_rovian_storm]

It seemed to me that they wanted to use Deem and Pass and couldn’t because of what the senate required or perhaps they determined that they would be putting the constitutionality of the whole bill at risk.

None of these guys have been talking about voting for the senate bill. That’s a whole different thing now that it’s been separated from the reconciliation bill.

I was 100% sure this was a done deal yesterday, but now I’m cautiously optimistic that things are going to go our way.

[True Republican Patriot]

I was flabberghasted today when Ryan showed his chart with the costs Pelosi has hidden and what they are for!! Instead of allegedly lowering the debt, the real CBO numbers just released show it raises the Debt by 500 Billion Dollars. The real cost is 1.4 trillion on their warped basis and not the deceitful 940 Billion Bullcrap number.
The most outrageous item is there will be another %100 Million to add 16,000 (SIXTEEN THOUSAND) NEW IRS AGENTS just to enforce this freakin Healthcare Plan!! Tell the AMERICANS they are now going to be audited and policed by the IRS for Our HEALTHCARE!! THATS A NUCLEAR BOMB PELOSI, REID, and OBOZO so far have successfully hidden!! That needs to be screamed ob every talk Show tomorrow and Blasted out by the RNC and all AMERICANS!!

[perfect_rovian_storm]

I think Hoyer is talking out of his a$$ with passing the reconciliation bill first, but we’ll see. I think they’re going to have to choke it up and vote for the senate bill first.

[plinyelder]

I pray that you are correct.

I have NEVER had so much ‘Pure Hatred’ and ‘Contempt’ for anyone like I do these Bastards!

[jeltz25]

Ive long thought they really need at least 217. If they only have 216 that means every single Dem will be “the man/woman who brought you Obamacare”. I don’t think the dems want to go in to the midterms with every single dem being personally responsible for it. Especially those in GOP districts. If they have 217 it means that no one vote was thedecisive vote.

And they probably want to have 218-220 firmly in hand just to make sure in case someone gets cold feet at the last minute.

If that whole NY23 fiasco hadn’t happened and we had a Republican in it this thing would likely be finished. So frustrating.

Are you saying Boehner is doing his best Dirty Harry. “I know what you’re thinking, do I have 8 votes, or only 7...so I guess you have to ask yourself one question, ‘Do I feel lucky’?

[Oceander]

I believe that that is the schedule that just came out of the Rules Committee - they have to vote on the Senate bill itself first (no "deemed" b.s., a real vote for the real b.s.) and then they have to vote on the reconciliation bill. Now here's the potential fun part - the GOP will get that reconciliation bill tied up in so many knots it won't be funny, and so those feckless little monkeys in the House who vote for this country-wrecking disaster may very well get stuck with the Senate bill as enacted law, and nary a drop of reconciliation in sight.

Then the long march to their destruction will begin in earnest. Every single person who has been opposed to this atrocity should show up at these bastards' local offices first thing next week, and start demanding that they stand up and explain themselves, in excruciating detail, and in particular that they explain - and justify - all of the real costs that are in the actual, real CBO report, and not the fake (maybe forged?) "preliminary" report the DEEM-ocrats have been waving around as if it were manna from Heaven.

[rwfromkansas]

Looks like Nye is switching to yes..

if true, bad news since it is going to be very difficult for us now losing so many of the Stupak block.

we will see what happens tomorrow.

[jersey117]

If this bill passes, there will be NO political cover to those Dems who voted against it.

They can cross over

[pburgh01]

Are you saying Boehner is doing his best Dirty Harry. “I know what you’re thinking, do I have 8 votes, or only 7...so I guess you have to ask yourself one question, ‘Do I feel lucky’?

LOL I just got a vision of Boehner with the sideburns and a 44 magnum...Pelosi on the ground doing her Parkinson's twitch thing she does and those Pollident white dentures flapping away..."Um I like pictures but numbers I like more"...yehawawwaa, in her horsey laugh. Man she better have the votes, she will look like the biggest as*hole in recorded history, right up there with the guy who grabbed that foul ball in the Marlins Cubs game a few years back to keep them out of the series. The outcome I continue to be cautiously optimistic, it's very out of her character to be woofing this much, this early. Her MO is go silent, like a sub under water and then have a vote. Like I said in prvious post form the daughter of a staffer we know, she works for a Dem on the Hill and this Am the Dems were strutting around and tonight lots of people shuffling from room to room, so something happened today.

[jeltz25]

We’ll see what happens. It must be very tough for the Dems.

They know that if they don’t pass it: a)They definitely lose the House, and likely the Senate b)that nothing major will be passed between now and the election and for the rest of Obama’s term and c)Obama’s Presidency is effectively over

I’m sure Obama, Pelosi and Reid have all communicated that to them.

But they also know that if they do pass it, there’s still a very good chance that at least a and b happen anyway.

They also know they’ll never be in this position again, never be this close, never have this good an opportunity.

So the question is what to do. I’m guessing they find enough to cross their fingers and hope for the best. Even if they lose the House they’ll still have achieved their goal. Even if Pelosi is out as Speaker come January she’ll still have passed this bill. This is way more important than immigration and climate change and they’ll gladly give those two up for this.

As for Obama, 2012 is still a ways off and anything can happen. He was on the verge of losing in 2008 if it wasn’t for an out of nowhere economic meltdown in the middle of September, 6 weeks before the election.

I say it passes by 1 or 2 votes and whatever the repurcussions are, the dems are willing to live with them. This is a very important issue. Surely there are a few issues as important to conservatives and Republicans. If the GOP had a chance to overturn Roe v Wade and end abortion, and they knew it would cost them the Congress, I’m sure there quite a large number who’d be willing to do it. If we had a chance to say capture Osama and Zawahiri and end AQ for good and overthrow the Mullahs in tehran and end their nuclear program at the same time...but it would cost us the Congress, maybe even the WH, I’m sure most Republicans and conservatives would say “Go for it, we’ll take back power eventually, we can’t miss this opportunity”.

That’s how the dems see this.