Community | March 17, 2010 | 9 comments

Kucinich Switches Vote on Health Care Bill

source: http://Moveon.org

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Representative Dennis J. Kucinich, Democrat of Ohio, said today that he plans to support the health care bill when it comes up for a vote this week. He becomes the first Democrat to publicly disclose his intention to switch from a no to a yes vote on the legislation.

“I’ve decided to cast a vote in favor of the legislation,” Mr. Kucinich said at a morning news conference in the Capitol. “If my vote is to be counted, let it count now for passage of the bill, hopefully in the direction of comprehensive health care reform.”

Mr. Kucinich said he was “quite aware of the historic fight” underway and decided to drop his opposition that the bill did not go far enough. He said, “I believe health care is a civil right.”

In an interview five days ago, Mr. Kucinich said he could not support the legislation and dismissed suggestions that his vote would derail the Democratic health care agenda. But since then, the congressman has come under extraordinary pressure from groups across the Democratic spectrum, including Moveon.org, which encouraged him to support the bill.

He said he still did not think the legislation went far enough — he has long advocated a single-payer system — but said his objections should not stand in the way of the bill.

“In the past week it’s become clear that the vote on the final health bill will be very close,” Mr. Kucinich said. “I take this vote with the utmost seriousness. I’m quite aware of the historic fight, which has lasted the last century.”

He added: “The president’s visit to my district on Monday underscores the urgency of this vote.”

In a private conversation aboard Air Force One, en route to Ohio on Monday, President Obama pressed Mr. Kucinich for his support for the bill. The White House did not know what the congressman had decided until earlier today, when his aides advised administration officials and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of his plans.

http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/17/kucinich-switches-vote-on-heal...
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9 comments // Kucinich Switches Vote on Health Care Bill

  • medHead
  • UrbanGypsy
  • thedirtman
    • +1
      thedirtman  

    • Health care is neither a right nor a privilege and therefore we have no effective manner to deal with it. We do it simply because it is the right thing to do. The responsibility belongs neither in the lap of government nor in world of profit margins and free enterprise.

      We simply never developed an appropriate institution to deal with health care. I'm all for Dennis Kucinich voting for the bill just to get on with it. Hopefully, we can fix this another day.

    • 1 year ago
  • kitteneater
    • +1
      kitteneater  

    • Kucinich is the only democrat with a spine. He's the only one that spoke out to impeach Bush- before it was cool to do so.

      He originally said no because he's for universal healthcare, and he's not one to compromise, if given the alternative to start over.

    • 1 year ago
  • NuclearLullaby
  • Paratus
  • bushama
  • CalgarC
  • WakeUpPeople
    • 0
      WakeUpPeople  

    • The "all or nothing" mentality in DC usually means you get nothing. I knew that there would be compromises, but we went from a "public option" to a "private mandate". There HAS GOT to be a non-profit option in the bill for me to fully support it.

    • 1 year ago
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