The Washington Post has an interesting interactive graphic of the vote breakdown by sortable categories including “campaign contributions by the health industry” and “percent in district without insurance.”
At least 13 of the Democrats who voted against the bill hail from districts where the rate of uninsured exceeds 20%. A fifth of their population doesn’t have ANY insurance but they voted against the bill anyway.
David Boren of Oklahoma is the worst example: he has 29% uninsured in his district but voted against the bill (but only took $268,000 in campaign contributions from the health industry so he’s missing the boat on both counts).
The other Democrats were Harry Teague (NM-2), Thomas Edwards (TX-17), Mike McIntyre (NC-7), Gene Taylor (MS-4), Michael Ross (AR-4), Jim Marshall (GA-8), Heath Shuler (NC-11), John Barrow (GA-12), Larry Kissell (NC-8), Suzanne Kosmas (FL-24) and Walt Minnick (ID-1).
I’m not surprised that the Republicans from needy districts voted against the bill. They are ideologically driven and have been voting against their constituent’s best interests for decades.
What’s sad is that these are supposedly Democrats from some of the poorest regions of the nation who voted against their party, their constituents’ needs and, ultimately, their own best interests. Baffling. These Democrats really ought to be ashamed of themselves — but shame is in short supply in Washington DC these days.
On the other side of the aisle, Republican Pete Sessions of Texas has one of the ninth highest rate of uninsured in the nation (35.7%) but voted against the legislation. Could it be the $1.42 million in donations from the insurance industry (making him the 16th top recipient in the House)?
Then there’s the Southern Florida trip of Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Mario Diaz-Balert and Lincoln Diaz-Balert who all have uninsured in excess of 30% but who also took a combination of nearly $2 million in donations.
Surprising? Not really.
Source: Health-Care Bill: How the House Voted — Washington Post
