Bayh Bows To Pressure From Liberal Interest Groups, Backs Government-Run Health Care Plan

Thursday, 29 October 2009 00:00

WASHINGTON - Just 24 hours after U.S. Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) admitted that a vote for cloture on Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) current health care legislation is a vote for government-run health care, the Indiana Democrat announced today that he would indeed vote to bring the current bill to the Senate floor.

According to a report in Politico this afternoon, "Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) backed off of previous statement saying he was considering siding with the GOP on a public option filibuster," with a Bayh spokesman adding: "Senator Bayh will support moving forward to a health care debate on the Senate floor..."

"According to the standard he set yesterday, Senator Bayh’s announcement today equals a vote in favor of Harry Reid’s government health care takeover, which raises taxes, increases premiums, and slashes Medicare funding for seniors in Indiana," National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Colin Reed said today.

Notably, Bayh’s sudden change of heart came on the heels of a liberal interest group ratcheting up the pressure on him to get behind the health care legislation or risk facing the wrath of the left-wing activists.

Politico reported this morning that "The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, the pro-reform advocacy group that's been pressuring Harry Reid in Nevada, commissioned a poll this week of likely Indiana voters and found that Bayh could face a Democratic backlash by opposing the public option."

"Instead of standing strong and putting partisanship aside, Bayh buckled to pressure from the left-wing of his party and fell in line with Harry Reid’s health care bill. By doing so, he has forfeited any right to portray himself as a ‘moderate’ or ‘independent’ voice in the U.S. Senate, and he will be forced to explain his support for this costly government-run health care plan to Hoosier State voters in 2010," Reed concluded.