Coming, as it does, after Obama's pep rally today, this announcement from an important swing Democrat is very interesting. Zack Space is afraid of taxes squeezing the middle class in the Senate versions of the bill:
After hearing out everyone from President Obama to tea party activists, Dover Democratic Rep. Zack Space announced today that he'll oppose the health care reform bill that's up for a vote on Sunday in the House of Representatives.
Space, who represents a sprawling southeast Ohio congressional district with a high concentration of Republicans, said he doesn't like the bill, and his constituents don't like it, either.
"Probably the most significant concern is the pay-fors in the bill," said Space. "They are opening the door to taxing employee benefits as income, which is going to create, I don’t care how you slice it, a hardship for middle class families that they can’t afford to endure right now."
Space said the version of the bill he supported last year taxed the wealthiest Americans, rather than the middle class, to pay some of the working poor's health care costs.
"This bill has taken those people out of it," said Space.
Space had a one-on-one meeting with Obama Wednesday, and has been getting leaned on by unions heavily.
