news
For details read Friday's NEMS Daily Journal. Click here for U.S. Rep. Travis Childers full statement.
* * *
EARLIER TODAY: Childers' vote hints at final stance on health care?
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Travis Childers, D-Booneville, voted no Thursday against setting aside a resolution that would have required an up-or-down tally on the Senate health bill.
He voted for the losing side.
The resolution passed 222-203 and halted a Republican effort to block Democrats’ preferred method for getting a reform measure through the chamber.
Childers may make a statement later today about his stance on the health care reform bill. Previously, he’s not said how he intends to vote and has been under considerable pressure both ways from conservative constituent groups and party leaders.
The resolution by Dem-turned-GOP Rep. Parker Griffith of Alabama would have prevented Democrats from using a “deem and pass” strategy to approve the Senate measure.
Under this scenario, the House would “deem” the Senate bill passed when the chamber approves the rule governing debate for health care, and then would vote on a package of “fixes” to the Senate bill negotiated between the two chambers.
Technically, the House voted Thursday for “the previous question” – in favor of proceeding to a rule vote for the day’s calendar of bills. A vote against the previous question was a vote in support of bringing Griffith’s resolution up for its own roll call.
Though Democratic leaders urged their members to stick together, 28 Dems joined every Republican present in voting to bring up Griffith’s resolution.
Voting with Childers against the resolution were Mississippi congressmen Gene Taylor, D-Bay St. Louis, and Gregg Harper, R-Brandon .
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Bolton, voted with the majority.
The only way to make health care reform work is to regulate the costs doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies can charge.
Insurance premiums are high because of the doctors fees, hospital charges and medicines exceedingly high costs.
To force everyone to purchase health insurance is for the sole purpose of doctors seeing more patients, hospitals having more patients and pharmaceutical companies selling more drugs.
And, for the insurance companies to get money back through the mandated premiums, to cover the exorbitant claims they are paying.
As citizens, we all should be able to afford to go see our doctor without insurance. We should all be able to afford to go to the hospital without buying the entire floor we enter. We should be able to purchase medicines to cure our medical problems out of our own pocket books.
We should not "have" to have insurance. We should not be "forced" to pay for insurance premiums.
I say NO to the health reform bill as it stands. It shouldn't even be called "health reform", it should be called what it is, "health insurance mandate". It's all about insurance, not about health care.