On the heels of Bret Baier's exclusive interview with the President last night, two Democrats who voted yes on the original House health care bill have announced that they will vote no. From
Hotline On Call (H/T Ed Morrissey at
Hotair):
A key House Dem has begun informing party leaders he plans to vote against health care legislation both on the House floor and in the rules committee, on which he sits.
Rep. Michael Arcuri (D-NY), a sophomore Dem who had a tougher-than-expected re-election bid in '08, has told the Dem caucus he will vote against the bill.
He becomes the 3rd member, along with Reps. Joe Donnelly (D-IN) and Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), to have switched from supporting the first bill, in Nov., to opposing the Senate version.
Arcuri's vote will not hurt the bill's chances in committee, where Dems hold a 9-4 advantage over GOPers. The panel's other 8 Dems all voted for the first version of health care, and only Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-CA) voted in favor of the Stupak amendment.
But Arcuri's decision could make Speaker Nancy Pelosi's goal of winning the 216 votes necessary for passage all the more difficult. Sources say Dems remain short of the votes necessary for passage, but that they have not reached their goal yet.
And this from
Politico:
Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) is a firm "no" on health care reform -- in large measure because he opposes the idea of any kind of excise tax on Cadillac plans, even one that's delayed for years and years.
That's put Lynch a former ironworkers union official in Boston at odds with many union biggies, who are swallowing hard and accepting a proposed House-Senate compromise.
Lynch -- who voted for the tax-less House bill last year -- has become a serious target of his union buddies, enduring pickets at his district office, an AFL-CIO robocall blitz and at least one recent drop-in visit from a very influential old friend -- Joseph J. Hunt, president of the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers.
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