Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA), who voted for the House health care bill in November, will now vote against the Senate bill, Politico’s Glenn Thrush reports.
Although Lynch is a strongly pro-life Democrat, it is interesting to note that the language on abortion does not appear to be his sticking point. Instead, he opposes any tax on cadillac health care plans, even under the delayed version in the new compromise, according to Thrush’s report.
House Democrats need 216 votes in order to pass the bill, and don’t appear to have much room for error.
Late Update: Lynch told TPMDC’s Brian Beutler that he will be meeting with President Obama this afternoon.
Lynch press secretary Meaghan P. Maher also released this statement:
“Congressman Lynch does not support the Senate version of healthcare reform because it has stripped most of the serious reform from the House version of the bill and rewards insurance companies instead.
If there were a straight up or down vote on the Senate bill as it is currently written, Congressman Lynch would vote no.
Furthermore, Mr. Lynch opposes using any procedural maneuvering to approve the bill without requiring members to actually vote on it, such as the so-called ‘deem and pass’ option. He would prefer a straight-forward up or down vote on a bill of this magnitude.”
