As Alan Grayson, has ramped up his outrageous rhetoric, he cannot even convince his neighboring Democratic colleague to support his government takeover plan.

Orlando-area House Democrat Kosmas Opposes Health Bill

By Mark K. Matthews

Orlando Sentinel

Washington Bureau

November 5, 2009

WASHINGTON -- Congressional Democrats lost a key vote in the health-care debate Thursday, when U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, D- New Smyrna Beach, said she would go against her party and oppose its $1 trillion-or-more plan to cover more uninsured Americans.

The defection comes just shy of an expected Saturday vote on the plan and makes it tougher for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to corral the necessary 218 votes, as nearly every Republican is expected to vote against the proposal.

"As the bill stands right now, I am not going to be able to support it," said Kosmas, who added that the measure is too expensive and doesn't do enough to curb the rising cost of U.S. health care. "This is an extremely difficult decision, as you can well imagine."

Kosmas told the Orlando Sentinel that she preferred a provision in the Senate health-care plan that would derive funding for reform from insurers that offer expensive plans, rather than the House method of taxing wealthy people.

House Republicans have offered a competing plan that would cost $61 billion and cut the deficit by $68 billion but would only cover about 3 million uninsured Americans. Democrats aim to cover about 36 million uninsured residents under their health-care plan.

Pelosi predicted in a news conference Thursday that Democrats would have enough votes to pass the measure and send it to the Senate, which is likely weeks away from passing its own version.

"It's something that many of us have worked our whole political lifetimes on," Pelosi said.

Kosmas isn't the first Democrat to leave the ranks, or even the most powerful. Two House committee chairmen recently said they would not vote for the bill: Bart Gordon of Tennessee, who chairs the Science and Technology committee, and Ike Skelton of Missouri, who heads Armed Services.

Still, House Democratic leaders have some room for error in the 435-member chamber as Democrats maintain a strong majority, with nearly 260 seats. But opponents are applying heavy pressure, including protesting against the plan outside Congress on Thursday.

President Barack Obama plans to head to Capitol Hill today to help marshal the needed votes. On Thursday, the White House claimed key endorsements from AARP and American Medical Association.

But losing Kosmas could be a sign that other Democrats are concerned how the vote could affect their re-election chances. Kosmas already faces two solid GOP opponents next year in a district that leans Republican and backed GOP nominee John McCain in the 2008 presidential election.

"If they [House Democratic leaders] lose a vote like Kosmas, they are not going to pass the bill," said one state Democratic official, who was not authorized to speak on the record.

Kosmas' preference had been unknown for days, as Democratic leaders have scrambled to whip their members to vote for the passage. Kosmas said she was not the subject of heavy pressure, although union activists rallied outside her Port Orange office on Thursday.

"If she votes against health-care reform, it will end her political career. Her base will desert her. She better start packing her Washington office now," said Doug Martin, state legislative director for American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

Other House members from Central Florida are expected to vote along party lines.

U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Bartow, sent draft copies of the 1,990-page bill to libraries across his district this week while U.S. Rep. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, held a town hall meeting by telephone to tell thousands of voters why he thought the bill would create more bureaucracy.

"We are going to come up with another entitlement program," Posey said. "It is a catastrophic formula."

U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park, also talked to residents by telephone but took a more conciliatory approach. He said Democratic leaders were "well-intentioned" but "missed the mark" in part because the bill did not include tort reform for malpractice lawsuits.

"They [doctors] practice defensive medicine, and they cover themselves with tests and paperwork to protect themselves against lawsuits," said Mica, who added this approach drove up costs. "People should get payment when there's malpractice, but you do have to get a handle on that [lawsuits]."

Meanwhile, the region's other two Democrats likely will support the bill.

U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville, generally follows party leadership and U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Orlando, has been one of the bill's most vocal defenders -- famously saying on the House floor in September that the Republican health-care proposal was for sick patients to "die quickly."

In a floor speech this week, Grayson caused a stir when he read the estimated number of Americans who would die without health insurance in districts represented by Republicans.

Mark K. Matthews can be reached at 202-824-8222 or mmatthews@orlandosentinel.com.

Copyright © 2009, Orlando Sentinel


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