According to the Tribune Review-Altmire is voting no.

[wisteria]

I thought I would post this here in case anyone was interested. It is sad, but not too surprising. He is more interested in saving his skin then doing what is right. The Tribe was even pressuring him to vote no and you know what they would have done if he had said yes, but still I think he shows himself to be the wimp he is. I wouldn't be surprised he turns Repub. He even makes false claims about Medicare in the piece and says his constituents are overwhelmingly opposed to it. I have to wonder if he even took any time to explain it to them.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_672516.html

[femmocrat]

1. No surprise. He's just a shill for UPMC

***I cannot vouch for this source as the writer raves about Melissa Hart, but found this interesting background on Altmire:

>snip<

"I believe he received backdoor funding from UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) sources -- specifically, through a contribution from Congressman Jack Murtha's campaign committee.

One major problem I have with Altmire is that he portrays himself as a "health care expert" -- although originally the claim was "a health care policy expert." Whichever he claims to be, he's neither.

Apparently, he's mainly a shill for his former employer, UPMC. That huge hospital chain and health insurer provides the key to understanding Jason Altmire.

Who is he exactly? Before he resigned in June, 2005, to run for Congress, Altmire served as
"Acting Vice President for Government Relations and Community Health Services for UPMC, an 18-hospital system with 40,000 employees and $5.5 billion in annual revenue."

Careful readers will focus on the term "Acting . . . ." That means Jason's job was to sit in the vice president's chair until UPMC found somebody who merited a permanent role.

>snip<

The "government relations" phrase in Altmire's old job is corporate doublespeak that means he was a lobbyist for UPMC's policy positions. In that role, his job was to do everything he could to enhance the company's revenues and profits -- period.

But in what way is Rep. Altmire still UPMC's boy? Consider his position statement on health care:

"Altmire will work to make health care more affordable and accessible for everyone and to guarantee that patients' medical decisions remain in the hands of health care professionals, not insurance company bureaucrats."

That basically means health care professionals -- such the administrators and doctors at UPMC -- can charge as much as they want for services. In that effort, they are not to encounter any pesky concerns about cost rasied by the insurance companies, who pay the bills.

That's not exactly a good way "to make health care more affordable and accessible." "

*** SOURCE: http://camp2008com.blogspot.com/2006/12/jason-altmire-upmcs-boy-in-dc.html

[wisteria]

2. Thanks for the information. He really is not much of a Democrat is he? n/t

[MrMickeysMom]

4. I couldn't agree with you more-

I as much as said that to him to his face at one event he and Tim Murphy put on for the hustings (bi-partisan fellows, those two)

I'm sick to death of lobbyists, beginning with Reagan's Ruling Class and hopefully ending with the likes of him. Unfortunately, I have Murphy in the 18th, the gerrymandered district in itself.

[Joe Bacon]

3. TPM has him as a No vote.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/altmire-will-stay-a-no-on-health-care.php

His only saving grace is that he isn't Melissa Hart. From now on, not a penny from me. I'm from Ambridge, still angry that my parents lost their house because of medical bills. Even if he gets re-elected, they'll probably eliminate his district after PA loses another couple seats after the census.

[nimvg]

5. Ohio and New York...

...are also projected to lose very heavily in the next census.

I grew up near Akron and their population has been devastated over the last decade, really the past thirty years.