Constituents Protest Artur Davis's 'No' Vote on Health Care Reform
March 17th, 2010
Protesters are yelling all the way to Washington, hoping Congressman Artur Davis, D-Alabama, will hear their voices pleading for a “yes” vote on a healthcare reform bill.
“All he is doing is repeating what the republicans have said and this makes absolutely no sense,” said Deborah Carson, who voted for Davis twice. She says she feels as though he has turned his back on his constituents.
“Stop hurting the people in this district,” yelled Carson. “Stop throwing the people under the bus and stop standing with the people who say they want our president to fail.”
Even without a supportive vote from Davis, the movement to pass a bill supported by President Barack Obama may be gaining ground. Wednesday afternoon, Congressman Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, had a change of heart. He announced he will support the bill.
“If Dennis Kucinich can walk it back Artur can, too,” Carson said, but others said don’t count on it.
In a statement to ABC 33/40, Davis said he would vote no.
“While I respect the rights of protesters on both sides of this issue, America cannot afford to keep throwing a trillion dollars at every problem. The residents of District 7 need Washington to protect the financial health of Medicare and Medicaid; they need funding for rural hospitals, and they need action to stop the soaring costs of insurance,” Davis said. “On each of these fronts, this legislation does little or nothing. I will remain a ‘no” vote on the healthcare reform legislation.”
“He’s not there representing himself,” protested Eddie Turner. “We want him to vote for us because that’s what we put him there for.”
Turner says the rising cost of prescriptions is reason enough to pass healthcare reform. He says Davis should think less about his gubernatorial race and more about the people who sent him to Washington.
“Somewhere he’s been brainwashed to think if he can throw us under the bus he will be able to go down to Montgomery and be a governor and I don’t think that will ever happen,” Turner said.
The group has planned protests for the rest of the week. It will be in Huntsville and Montgomery to lobby for a change of vote.
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March 18th, 2010 at 6:08 am
Artur has completely lost my support. If I want a republican governor, I’ll vote for a republican, not a Democrat acting like one.
March 18th, 2010 at 11:29 am
Friends,
Please forward this info. Artur Davis is voting against healthcare reform. I just spoke with his office and gave them a sound constituent lashing. The number is (202) 225-2665. Please call even if you are not in his district. The link below concerns how the bill will impact individual districts.
Mia
http://energycommerce.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1924:benefits-of-health-care-reform-district-by-district-impact&catid=169:legislation&Itemid=55
March 18th, 2010 at 11:32 am
Loyd makes a good point, although it’s no surprise that Davis is voting no. He is running for governor, not for re-election to Congress. The statewide political winds, as he currently feels them, are blowing in a different direction than those in his district.
The fair thing to do would be for Davis to resign his seat and let the district choose someone who would represent the majority wishes in that district. But this is politics. Among other things, politics is not about being fair but about winning.
Davis will likely continue to be unfair and it is highly doubtful that, as a faux Republican, he would beat a real Republican in November, if he gets that far.
March 19th, 2010 at 7:31 pm
Congressman Artur Davis released the following statement regarding his vote on health care legislation:
I will vote no on the healthcare legislation that is scheduled for a vote this weekend. I will repeat what I said several weeks ago: a comprehensive, 2000 page, near one trillion dollar overhaul of the healthcare system is just too cumbersome and too costly in a time of trillion dollar deficits. If Washington would put ideology and partisanship aside, it could pass a simple and affordable bill tomorrow that would stop insurance companies from discriminating against sick people; that would provide subsidies to low income Americans who can’t afford coverage; and that would help small businesses afford the cost of coverage.
http://arturdavis.house.gov/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=de37a9f1-07db-4d4a-8656-0dd03b383dfb
March 21st, 2010 at 12:34 pm
Davis is either a dino or he has no principles and will say anything he thinks will get him elected – either way – I will not vote for him. I caught part of the Lee Davis misinformation and hatefest on the radio a while back and they were boasting about how they got Davis to change his vote on cap and trade. They may have been lying which is par but it was still strange listening to them. They got all of Lee Davis’s 400 listeners to call Artur’s office and and claim they got ADavis to fold. They were laughing – on the air – about how they would NEVER vote for ADavis but they got him to bow to them.
He was on with Matt Murphy the other day and I thought he was going to say, “God, I wish Ronald Reagan was still running the country.”
Sad, I thought he had potential.
March 21st, 2010 at 10:13 pm
AL voters take note. He voted against the well-being of his own people.
March 23rd, 2010 at 1:37 pm
artur davis=sellout