Altmire a high-profile swing vote on health care
Share with others:
WASHINGTON -- For most of the 90-minute meeting, U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire sat as about 50 members of a "tea party" group from the Pittsburgh area vented, pleaded, yelled and quizzed him about health care reform.
Then the McCandless Democrat stood to respond, taking exception to their accusations that he is susceptible to bullying from party leadership and the White House.
"What you're doing right now is the pressure," Mr. Altmire said. "The president and the speaker, they don't have the retribution."
Mr. Altmire is treading a thin line on the massive, controversial health care reform bill. Despite personal appeals from President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., he voted against the House of Representatives' bill in November, saying he was not convinced it would rein in costs in the long run.
But he has shown signs that he could back the bill's latest incarnation, a leaner measure that could do more to trim long-term costs. The process leading to final passage could begin as early as this week, as the House must first pass the Senate bill, followed by a package of changes through the reconciliation process that the Senate could pass with 51 votes instead of the usual 60.
Mr. Altmire is one of the most high-profile swing votes on a measure with a razor-thin margin for passage. It passed the House 220-215, but several of his colleagues who voted for it then have indicated they will vote against the new bill -- which, because of departures and the death Feb. 8 of Rep. John P. Murtha, D-Johnstown, now will need 216 votes to pass.
Mr. Altmire, one of 39 Democrats who voted against it, has been publicly undecided and openly courted, speaking twice with the president in recent weeks.
In an interview, Mr. Altmire said he expressed his concerns about the bill to Mr. Obama. They talked about the reconciliation package the White House is preparing and plans to reveal after the Congressional Budget Office determines its price tag.
First Published March 14, 2010 12:09 am
