U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, reached out to some Democratic activists who took offense to his opposition to the recently passed health care reform bill at an East Waco luncheon Monday.

Edwards’ vote against the health insurance reform bill that passed Congress two months ago rankled a number of local Democratic activists.

As a representative of a relatively conservative district, Edwards has from time to time upset diehard Democrats in Waco.

Chet Edwards speaks at a town hall meeting on health care earlier this year.
Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune-Herald, file

The health care vote, more than most, illustrates the tough political space Edwards occupies — a centrist in office at a time when both parties appear to be moving toward opposite political poles.

“I want to be man enough to look you in the eye when we differ on an issue,” Edwards said to roughly 40 people at the Fred Batts leadership lunch, before launching into a speech about how he made up his mind on health care.

“I believe we need health care reform,” Edwards said, pointing to ballooning costs of medical treatment in the country.

However, he said the Democratic legislation was too expensive for him to stomach and opposed by 95 percent of the people he received comments from on the topic.

Edwards said he thought the bill was too big and alluded to Greece as a cautionary tale of what can happen when a government overextends itself by taking on excess debt.

As a condition of significant loans from the European Union and International Monetary Fund, Greece recently adopted a package of heavy cuts and tax increases to right its financial ship.

In such a situation, Edwards asked the crowd, “Who do you think is hurt the most?”

“It’s not the wealthy,” he said.

Edwards said during the speech that there are elements of the health care bill that he thinks should remain on the books, including provisions that:

*  bar insurance companies, starting in 2014, from denying coverage to individuals with pre-existing medical conditions;

*  allow children to remain covered by a parent’s health insurance up to the age of 26;

*  make preventative care free;

*  and give health care tax credits to small businesses.

Edwards said in an interview after the speech that he thought other parts of the bill should be scaled back.

As an example, he noted that the program subsidizes insurance for families making up to $88,000 a year, a level he said should be lowered.

Edwards’ Republican challenger, Bill Flores of Bryan, has said in campaign ads that he would “vote to repeal the Obama health care takeover.”

Support in election

Response to Edwards’ speech suggested that Waco’s liberal community will rally behind Edwards despite differences over the health care vote.

“You’re a lot more conservative than I am,” said David Gray, who leads the Heart of Texas Democrats group, before asking Edwards how he could help him win re-election in November.

Lester Gibson, the luncheon emcee and also a Democratic county commissioner, said time for advocating for passage of the bill is long passed and Democrats need to move on and make peace.

To make his point, Gibson referred to the metaphor about squeaky wheels being the ones that get the grease.

“If you’re going to get squeaky,” Gibson said, “get squeaky before the fact.”

mshapiro@wacotrib.com

757-5707