Marshall to resist health reform proposals

Thomas L. Day of the Macon Telegraph wrote this piece:

Rep. Jim Marshall, D-Ga., said he would oppose proposals from his own party on health-care reform during a phone interview Tuesday from his Washington office. Last week, the Senate Finance Committee passed its health-care reform package with one senator, Olympia Snowe of Maine, crossing party lines to support the bill.

The bill, written largely by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., is generally considered to be the version of health-care reform legislation most likely to garner support from moderate Republicans.

Marshall appears to be the first member of the centrist Blue Dog Coalition to firmly say that he will oppose the Baucus bill. He won’t support any other bill currently being debated by the House and Senate, Marshall said.

“I think these bills missed a critical opportunity for the country,” he said. “Whatever we do has to address the rising costs. None of these plans do that very effectively.”

He also ratcheted up criticism of President Obama.

“It would be great if the president would take some leadership. I don’t think he’s done that,” Marshall said.

Far from defending the existing health-care system, in recent weeks Marshall has compared America’s health insurance companies and government health-care programs — Medicare and Medicaid included — to the Soviet UnionAppearing on Fox News on Monday afternoon, Marshall said that he blamed “centralized” decision-makers for wasteful spending on health care.

“We’ve got this sort of centralized payment system, which is the fundamental problem,” Marshall said. “Consumers and doctors (are) pretty divorced from the decisions that are being made. As a result, we’ve had an explosion in costs.”

In a letter to a constituent dated Oct. 9, Marshall warned that health-care expenditures will “soon bankrupt the federal government” without reforms.

And you wonder why republicans are wasting their time challenging Jim Marshall. The man is a "TRUE" Conservative Democrat.