Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich is now having to defend his vote change on health care reform, after for a long time suggesting he would vote not because plan did not go far enough. He’s now under fire from some on the Democratic party’s left, who believe that a bill that doesn’t have all they want is worse than having the bill go down in flames. Kucinich went on CNN’s Larry King Live to explain his vote switch, which came after intense personal lobbying by President Barack Obama:
Footnote: The Dems got more good news. The Politico reports that Minnesota Rep. James Oberstar, an ardent backer of the House abortion restrictions will vote for HCR. According to the Washington Independent, the GOP health care count: 209 no, 204 yes, 18 undecided. (On Larry King Kucinich said he thinks HCR will pass — a view recently also stated by former President Bill Clinton and Tea Party bigwig Dick Armey.)
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.