Rep. Matt Gaetz says moderate Republicans seeking more money for their districts are holding the vote on the latest health care bill from the White House.
“Well, moderates want more Medicaid money,” said Gaetz on News Talk 1370 WCOA’s “Pensacola Speaks” yesterday. “The trade that seems to be rather routine in Washington that conservatives want more freedom and liberals want more money. Within the Republican caucus, both of those ideologies are reflected I’m learning. You’ve got some folks, most of whom are from the Northeast or California, who are seeking more money in return for their vote.
He added, “The question becomes, how much of that are we willing to tolerate in a world in which we’ve got to reduce the deficit? Really our goal is to reduce spending on healthcare so that we can meet some of the critical priorities of the country like national defense.”
Gaetz does believe their will be a floor vote this week before Congress takes another recess. He told Inweekly that he thinks House leaders are taking too much time off.
“I don’t think that’s the time to tap the brakes or even take your foot off the gas,” said Gaetz. “For the last recess period, I circulated a petition that every freshman member of the Republican caucus signed, and many of the sophomores had signed, saying that we oppose the recess. We wanted to stay. We wanted to continue work and frankly, I don’t believe that the Congress should take a recess until we pass the Obamacare repeal that we promised. I was not successful in persuading others that that was the right course of action because a lot of folks, I guess, wanted to get back to their districts.”
