Etheridge says he'll vote yes

U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge, a moderate Democrat who represents a handful of mostly rural counties outside Raleigh, announced late Friday that he will vote in favor of the health care bill.

In an interview, Etheridge said he waited until he got the numbers from the Congressional Budget Office and could read the bill.

"It isn't perfect," he said. "But it's better than where we are."

He likes that it lowers the deficit, that it does away with denials for pre-existing conditions, and that it is paid for.

"I've concluded that No. 1, it'll save lives. And No. 2, the current system needs fixing," he said. "A lot of folks are hurting."

Etheridge, who had voted for an earlier version of the overhaul, said he had heard from "thousands and thousands" of people, through e-mail, calls and letters.

Buses to Washington

The week ended with a whirl of activity before the expected Sunday vote in the U.S. House.

Americans for Prosperity North Carolina held a rally outside Etheridge's Raleigh office Tuesday and has organized a bus trip to Washington today for a rally and visits to lawmakers' offices.

The group had planned to take six buses to Washington, but by Friday afternoon had added two more. Its Raleigh office phone was busy for much of the day with people calling for seats.

"We could have filled up every school bus in Wake County with people," said Dallas Woodhouse, director of Americans for Prosperity North Carolina. "I have never seen passions as stirred up and people wanting to do something about it."

Organizing for America, a group that supports President Barack Obama's agenda, marched to Etheridge's office in downtown Raleigh earlier Friday to deliver 10,000 stories of North Carolinians relating their problems paying medical bills. Letters came from people whose high bills forced them into bankruptcy, people with medical conditions who could not buy insurance, and others, said Lindsay Siler, state director of Organizing for America.

"We wanted to make sure he knows that we had his back today," Siler said.

Phones continued to ring at congressional offices across Capitol Hill on Friday. Some overloaded phones rang busy or sent callers into voice mail, a troubling development in offices that pride themselves on answering every constituent call in person.

"Oh my goodness; we're literally getting thousands of phone calls, e-mails, faxes and letters," said Democratic Rep. Mike McIntyre of Lumberton. "We're hearing from all over the country, but from our district, it's overwhelmingly opposed."

McIntyre plans to vote against the health reform bill, he said, because he thinks it doesn't do enough to contain costs.

Crashing the site

U.S. Rep. Brad Miller's Web site was largely inoperable Friday, making it impossible for visitors to get beyond the home page. The Raleigh Democrat's spokeswoman, LuAnn Canipe, said the problems were likely because of so many people trying to use it and his staff trying to keep it updated. Miller announced Friday that he will vote for the bill.

Meanwhile, polls show widely varying results on health bill questions.

An Elon University Poll conducted March 14-17 found that 78 percent of North Carolinians surveyed said the nation's health care system needed reform, while 15 percent said it is fine the way it is. The poll surveyed 579 residents and had a margin of error of 4.2 percentage points.

A Civitas Institute poll of 600 likely voters resulted in 50 percent saying they were opposed to the current proposal, with 39 percent saying they supported the legislation. The poll was conducted March 16-18 and had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

And a poll of voters in Etheridge's district by Public Policy Polling showed that 53 percent were opposed and 37 percent in support of the health bill.