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WASHINGTON — Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, finally ended the guessing game about his position on the $1 trillion Democratic healthcare bill with an announcement Saturday morning before the vote: "no."
"After listening to thousands of my constituents and carefully reviewing the legislation, I have made a decision to vote no on the House healthcare reform bill," Edwards said in a statement. "Given the huge federal deficits facing our nation, I believe there is too much new spending in this bill."Edwards, a moderate who is close to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., broke ranks with most Democrats and joined all Republican House members but one in voting no. All GOP lawmakers who represent portions of Tarrant County voted against the bill: Rep. Joe Barton of Arlington, Kay Granger of Fort Worth, Michael Burgess of Lewisville and Kenny Marchant of Coppell.Edwards’ position was especially noteworthy because he had been on the short list of 2008 vice presidential candidates — at Pelosi’s urging — and President Barack Obama spoke to Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill in the morning. Edwards does not usually buck his party’s leadership.Edwards has been involved in helping Fort Hood recover from Thursday’s shootings. After the healthcare vote, he presided over the House as members unanimously passed, with 428 votes, a resolution honoring the victims.On healthcare, Edwards said debate revolved around extremes. "Some on the far left would like to see the federal government run a socialized healthcare system. Some on the far right would get the government completely out of healthcare, which would mean the elimination of Medicare and Medicaid. I think both extremes are wrong."Barton, ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, was a floor manager for the panel’s part of the bill. He said there were many reasons to oppose the bill. "It’s going to create, in my opinion, a two-tiered healthcare system — the public system for most of us and a private system for the elites of the country that can afford to go outside the public system. It’s a bad deal for average Americans.""But the real reason," he said, "is that I just don’t think it’s right, in the guise of helping Americans, to mandate what they have to do. . . . I just don’t think mandating to Americans is a good idea. To protect the country in times of war, we have had, on occasion, to mandate young men, and now our young women, to serve, and we mandate that we have to pay our taxes. But we don’t have to mandate that you buy health insurance."Burgess and Granger also spoke on the floor with Granger, a former Fort Worth mayor, warning about the danger of ignoring constituents who have traveled to Washington to complain about the cost of a new bureaucracy.Burgess, a doctor who has spent months on the issue, said the bill failed physicians who need tort reform that caps damages, as was done in Texas, as well as higher Medicare reimbursement rates.Maria Recio is the Star- Telegram’s Washington bureau chief. 202-383-6103
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