Heath Shuler Against Health Care Reform

Rep. Heath Shuler has come out against America's Affordable Health Choices Act (HR 3200).

“I do not support HR3200 at the present time,” Shuler said during brief opening remarks, referring to the House bill that has passed three committees and will be eligible for consideration by the full House when Congress returns after Labor Day. “I do realize that we've got to reform parts of this system,” he said later.

But the Waynesville Democrat, a member of the conservative Blue Dog Coalition of House Democrats, said the process should not be rushed even if that means delaying reform until after the end of this year, the deadline set by President Barack Obama. “We've got to make sure we do this right the first time. We're only going to have one shot,” he said.

Delay is another way of killing the bill. Obama is losing the Blue Dog Democrats. Shuler has raised $7,500 in health care PAC money. Obama won't put pressure on Blue Dog Dems. Naturally, they are going to support the health insurance industry. The sooner Obama figures that out the better.