al.com – Obama should listen to the Blue Dog Democrats
Obama and key Democrats in the U.S. Senate prepare their final push for health care reform, they need to listen to the objections of moderates in their own party, including the five Democratic members of the Alabama and Mississippi House delegations who voted against the health care bill approved by the House.
Only one member of the Alabama and Mississippi delegations — Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi — voted for the massive 1,900-page, $1.3 trillion proposal. The bill barely prevailed on a 220-215 vote, setting up a showdown in the Senate that could spell defeat for the No. 1 item on the president’s agenda.
Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Bay St. Louis, voted against the bill. He was joined by 38 other Democrats, including a colleague in the Mississippi delegation, Rep. Travis Childers. All three Democrats in the Alabama House delegation — Bobby Bright, Artur Davis and Parker Griffith — voted “no.”
al.com
11/13/9
Magnolia Tribune
