Owens votes yes, Murphy no on health care bill
By NATHAN BROWN, Enterprise Staff WriterThe Tri-Lakes area's congressional representatives, Democrats both, were divided on the health care legislation that passed the House of Representatives on Saturday, with Scott Murphy of Glens Falls voting "no" and Bill Owens of Plattsburgh voting "yes."
Owens, who was sworn in on Friday after being elected on Tuesday, said in a prepared statement explaining his support for the bill that he thought it would reform the insurance industry and provide increased access to affordable health care without taxing health care benefits, cutting Medicare benefits or raising taxes on the middle class.
"There are still changes I would like to make, including raising the payroll exemption for small businesses, but like I said last week, there is a fundamental need for reform and we must act with a sense of urgency," Owens said.
Murphy said in a statement the bill contained a number of reforms he supported, such as eliminating lifetime caps on insurance benefits, banning health insurance companies from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions and a public option. However, he said the bill had too many failings and is too costly for him to support.
"We need to fix the system now, and not put off the hard choices for another generation," Murphy said. "Furthermore, I am deeply frustrated by the last-minute addition of over $50 billion in taxes on the two largest private employers in the 20th District - medical device manufacturers and paper mills."
Owens said he opposes the elimination of the tax credit for paper producers and would work to remove this provision from the final bill.
Murphy's 20th Congressional District of New York stretches from the town of North Elba to the outskirts of Poughkeepsie and Cooperstown, and Owens' 23rd District goes from Lake Champlain to Lake Ontario and includes most of Saranac Lake.
The legislation passed the House 220-215, with many conservative Democrats voting against it, and will now go before the Senate.
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Contact Nathan Brown at 891-2600 ext. 26 or
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contrary1
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11-10-09 10:42 AM
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I was one of the people who blogged in support of Ned Lamont to replace Lieberman. After Ned got the Democratic nod, Lieberman teamed with Blue Dogs and GOP'ers to keep his seat. Actionforum, MoveOn's blog, was invaded by supporters of Lieberman and claims of anti-semitism, after we began writing about his close associations with AIPAC. AIPAC was eventually convicted of espionage against the USA, but Lieberman supporters did manage to get the website shutdown permanently 2 months before the '06 election, otherwise he would be a former Senator. I would love to see a filibuster, just so progressives know which Democrats to actively campaign against in the next election. It's time for them to stand and be counted, all of them.
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FishCric
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11-10-09 8:22 AM
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GMAC financial needs more crack. I want MY crack now...... ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
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designer5
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11-09-09 4:06 PM
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Just announced-ANOTHER $5.6 billion bailout to GM
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FishCric
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11-09-09 3:31 PM
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this bill does nothing till after the next presidental election. want my vote give me crack, I'm going to be just like the current elected idiots. Stick my finger in the air and prostitute myself for fed money. even googles getting in the lobbying game. revolt with the vote:) 2010
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rockydog
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11-09-09 1:49 PM
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and KKK took my baby away, yes I'm glad I voted for Dede.
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rockydog
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11-09-09 1:48 PM
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grizzly good point but the proper term is Liberman him out. Dems. tried to do that to him last his last time up for reelection.
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jackkk
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11-09-09 1:14 PM
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Aren't you Scuzzy Republicans glad you voted for Dede. There is no room in our tent for dorks like her.
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iceman
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11-09-09 12:59 PM
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Griz you are exactly correct. The Dems are shooting for the moon with a whim of an idea. It simply makes zero cents. The Republicans have their head in the sand. If either would look for a common thread, and there are some, they might actually accomplish something but that will never happen. Until we have a strong third party there is no chance anything useful will happen.
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designer5
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11-09-09 12:58 PM
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Leiberman has publicly stated that he will NOT allow this bill to come to a vote on the Senate floor. You are right, on serveral points, grizzly. There is WAY too much partisanship. There are probably dozens of real solutions available to the problems, that could cut costs, and cover the uninsured. But the determination to ram through legislation, just to say they did something is a dis-service to the people that elected them. If they don't want to actually do some good, at the very least, they should do no harm.
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grizzlyadam
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11-09-09 12:47 PM
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I hear Lieberman is planning to help GOP block the senate from voting on the bill. Even though he is not officially a democrat anymore, he does caucus with the Dems. I hope the Dems don't try to Scozzafava him out. I respect his independence.
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grizzlyadam
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11-09-09 12:44 PM
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Its far from perfect, but the Republicans bill wasn't any better since it barely expanded coverage and didn't prevent insurers from covering preexisting conditions. There are probably some very good ideas out there that could be made into a bill that works well at saving money, expanding coverage and improving care, but unfortunately there is too much partisan fighting. The democrats feel like they need to get a bill passed in a hurry to show that can do it and the republicans want to derail the process to show the democrats can't do it.
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iceman
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11-09-09 12:21 PM
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Thank you for voting NO Mr Murphy. The nation needs a fixed system but not the way the house dreamed it up. That plan should be scrapped and a more realistic one begun. Public Option is a POOR idea. The government should make rules not replace companies with fat wasteful oversized gov't departments.
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JJS1976
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11-09-09 11:07 AM
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Anyone intrigued that Murphy (a small-business entrepreneur) voted "no" and Ownes (a lawyer who claimed he was against this legislation during his campaign) voted "yes?" It seems many of our elected officials have no (or very little) business management background and this, I feel, blurs impacts of legislation that can be seen as "helpful" but in actuality hurts our free market enterprise. Many bills (i.e. cap & tax, health, etc) say they will only impact the "most fortunate" (i.e. producers)...at least Murphy gets it--that most small business owners file their buisness taxes as personal income tax (thus personal incomes greater than $250,000...$500,000...or even $1,000,000 are not uncommon). When small business's employ the most Americans and create the most jobs...it's interesting, again, to see the dynamic in voting on such a major piece of legislation. Not arguing...just making an observation. (waiting on the name-calling)
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designer5
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11-09-09 10:59 AM
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HUGE thanks to Scott Murphy, and all the others that realize that this bill will not solve the problems with the health care system.
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