WASHINGTON – After a week of pressure from both sides, Rep. Frank Kratovil says he’s unlikely to go along with the current plan to get a broad health care bill through Congress, suggesting instead that the legislation be split into a series of smaller bills.
In an interview with Capital News Service, Eastern Shore representative said the plan advanced by President Obama and the Democratic congressional leadership allows Republicans to continue to obstruct health care reform on a purely partisan basis.
“There are those who want to make this a political statement about the president and so forth and defeat it simply for those reasons,” Kratovil said. “I think the process that we’re talking about doing, in some ways, allows them the ability to do so.”
Kratovil was one of 39 Democrats who voted no when the House passed a health care bill, 220-215, in November. Instead of being swayed by party leaders in need of votes, Kratovil appears ready to vote no again.
Although details of the strategy are still being worked out, Democrats hope to first convince the House to pass the Senate version of the bill. Party leaders have said they hope to then pass a set of fixes to the bill using the controversial reconciliation process in the Senate, which would allow legislation to pass with only 51 votes rather than the 60 needed to break a Republican filibuster.
A spokeswoman for House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., confirmed that House leadership plans to put the Senate bill to a vote.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is on a final push to gather the 217 votes needed to get the Senate bill through the House. Those efforts have focused on two groups of skeptical Democrats; those who strictly oppose federal funding for abortion and fiscal conservatives concerned about the bill’s effects on the deficit.
Kratovil, a freshman facing a tough re-election fight in the Republican-leaning 1st District, fits squarely in the latter.
Kratovil said he will vote no if, as expected, the House is asked to pass the Senate version of the bill.
By splitting the legislation into smaller bills, Kratovil said Republicans would be forced to vote yes or no on the provisions they claim to agree with, which would help clearly define those who want to reform health care from those who only want to block the majority party.
“The way we’re moving forward — from the public’s perception — is perceived as all or nothing,” Kratovil said. “I don’t think it needs to be zero sum.”
Kratovil rejected the idea that the entire process should be reset, saying that breaking the legislation down to individual parts would be the best way to reach middle ground.
Creating a federal insurance exchange, allowing competition across state lines and allowing young people to stay longer on family insurance plans were cited by Kratovil as examples of industry reforms he thinks could pass as standalone bills.
Addressing the issues one by one would boost public confidence in the process and would avoid the expected controversy over using reconciliation, Kratovil said.
Both sides of the debate competed for Kratovil’s ear this week. On Wednesday, he was one of 31 members of Congress invited to a reception at the White House. The stated purpose of the event was to thank the attendees for supporting the recently enacted pay-as-you-go legislation. But Kratovil was one of 10 invitees from the House who voted against health care reform last year, which led to speculation that Democratic leaders were also using the occasion to convince skeptics to change their votes.
“That pressure is only as great as you allow it to be,” said Kratovil. “I make my decisions based on the facts.”
On Thursday, the National Republican Congressional Committee made thousands of automated phone calls into Kratovil’s district, urging constituents to call their congressman and press him to vote no again.
“It would be hard for his constituents to trust him to oppose every form of Obama’s healthcare takeover,” said Andy Sere, a spokesman for the NRCC. “In terms of stopping this bill as it is now, we’re glad that the phone calls seem to have helped.”
Michael Cain, the director of the Center for the Study of Democracy at St. Mary’s College, said that Kratovil’s stance against the current health care reform proposal is good for his standing in the district, but the health care issue in general could be an albatross around his neck even if he votes no.
“In some ways, his vote might be overshadowed if the bill is passed,” Cain said. “It could be that the first District wants to send a message by bringing back a Republican.”
[By Graham Moomaw of Capital News Service]
Clark says
Let me get this straight: Kratovil is going to vote against the bill in order to keep the Republicans from blocking it in a partisan manner. Great they can block it in a bi-partisan manner. Good going Frank!
Charlotte Staelin says
I just sent him an email that said if he votes for the bill I will vote for him again.
If he doesn’t, I will not vote for him. Anyone think he will pay attention?
John East says
I don’t think we should make the perfect the enemy of the good. Not at all! Our choice here is between Frank Kratovil, a responsible moderate–and Andy Harris, who is nothing of the kind.
And quite frankly, since the bill the Democratic Leadership is pushing is a give away to the pharmaceutical and health insurance industries (some recent rhetoric nothwithstanding), it makes a lot more sense to pass targeted smaller bills which will take them on and solve problems, but not pass the pieces of the larger bill which then reward them with backroom-deal give aways. The larger the bill, the more people get their “fix.”
The small bills would sail through right now–and then we could focus on jobs, agriculture, the environment, etc. –things I also care about and on which Frank Kratovil is a constructive and responsible voice.
Gren Whitman says
If the present health insurance reform effort fails, we can kiss substantial and meaningful reform goodbye for another generation or two. If Frank Kratovil bolts his party and his president and doesn’t vote in support of the present health insurance reform effort, he can kiss my vote goodbye, too, as well as any personal shoeleather and a-sign-in-the-front-yard as well.
Carla Massoni says
Go Frank! When we get all these “small” bills through Congress it will be 2040 – I’ll be dead and you will be in your 16th term – way to go!! Oh, but don’t worry too much – we Democrats don’t actually stand for much any more – and sad but true – getting elected is more important than being morally responsible – by the time we get the “small” bills through Congress we will rank 138th in health care in the world – and a Republican will pass a health care bill.
MD Eastern Shore says
umm….. This guy lives on Kent Island, yes? Kent Island has just about nothing in common with the rest of the Eastern Shore, so I’m thinking it’s a stretch to call this man the “Eastern Shore” representative. Besides, if I lived over in Harford or Baltimore County I’d get upset about that (it’s in his district; check out the map on his website). This man is a big government creature all the way, and he’s all about telling us how to live our lives. He only opposes the health bill because if he loses his congressional seat he can’t get his cushy old job back. I live in southern Cecil County, frequently visit Chestertown and Rock Hall, and I need some twit from QA County representing me like I need a hole in the head.
Not to mention the fact that a) there’s nothing wrong with our current health care system except too many state and federal rules and b) fixing insurance is not the same as fixing health care (which isn’t broken).
Ken G says
If Kratovil votes NO on healthcare, I vote NO to Kratovil. I called the K Belair office yesterday 3/15, and discussed the matter with a staffer, who was mildly combative. Perhaps he was having a bad day, but his combative tone was not appreciated. His demeanor only firmed-up my convictions on Kratovil’s lack of courage on this matter.