U.S. Rep. Harry Teague (Photo by Heath Haussamen)
There are dozens of still-undecided members of the U.S. House when it comes to Sunday’s looming vote on health-care reform. Today Politico highlights them, and U.S. Rep. Harry Teague, D-N.M., gets a mention.
Under the category of “The Besieged,” which is largely composed of “at-risk freshman from tough districts,” Teague is among those Democrats who “have it worse than others: They will very likely be walking the plank by voting the party line,” the article states.
Perhaps that’s why the Washington Post has moved Teague out of the undecided category. The Post, in a comprehensive chart of House members’ views on the legislation, lists Teague as leaning against supporting the legislation.
There are some clues to justify placing Teague in that category.
• Teague voted against the House version of the health-care reform legislation last year, saying at the time, “we need to reform our health care system,” but the bill “doesn’t do enough to rein in insurance companies.” He also said he was “concerned that American taxpayers will end up footing a nearly $900 billion tab for a bill that doesn’t do enough to ‘bend the cost curve’ in a way that permanently reduces both costs and the national debt.”
• Teague’s spokeswoman, Sara Schreiber, has said more than once this week that Teague remains concerned about the bill. “Congressman Teague voted no on the House health-care bill and has expressed serious concerns about both the Senate bill and about using reconciliation instead of regular order to move this bill through the Congress,” she has said.
• On Thursday, Teague sided with Republicans in a failed bid to force a direct vote on the legislation, which would have disallowed the possible use of the so-called “deem-and-pass” parliamentary procedure.