Rep. Poe Resigns From Freedom Caucus

YAHOO News
https://www.yahoo.com/news/ex-freedom-caucus-member-some-in-the-group-would-vote-no-against-the-ten-commandments-153442597.html

One of the founding members of the House Freedom Caucus has resigned in protest of the hard-line conservative group’s opposition to the Republican bill to repeal and replace Obamacare.

Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, said that both President Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan reached out to the caucus and made changes to the GOP health care proposal several times.

“No matter what changes were made, the goalposts kept getting moved,” Poe said on “Fox & Friends” on Monday. “And then at the end of the day, ‘no’ was the answer. And sometimes you’ve got to say ‘yes.'”

and

The Texas Tribune
https://www.texastribune.org/2017/03/26/ted-poe-resigns-freedom-caucus/

WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, a Republican from Humble, announced Sunday afternoon he is resigning from the hardline Republican group that helped sink GOP attempts to repeal former President Obama's 2010 health care law.

"I have resigned from the House Freedom Caucus. In order to deliver on the conservative agenda we have promised the American people for eight years, we must come together to find solutions to move this country forward," Poe said in a statement. "Saying no is easy, leading is hard, but that is what we were elected to do. Leaving this caucus will allow me to be a more effective member of Congress and advocate for the people of Texas."

"It is time to lead," he added...

It was always time to lead. This action is that of a profound change and was based on profound importance, and it wasn't conservative doctrine - for that has not changed. What has changed is the race of the president.

Mr. Poe has done a George Wallace: a reformation following a period of severe illness and time of reflection:


The Texas Tribune
https://www.texastribune.org/2016/09/16/congressman-ted-poe-and-his-friends-unleash-leukem/

... A day later, Poe, R-Humble, announced he was fighting leukemia — a cancer of the blood and bone marrow...

When Poe announced his diagnosis, he said had every intention of defeating cancer and continuing to serve in Congress. And after a summer of treatment, Poe is back in Washington for the September round of legislating.

“I feel real good," Poe said on Wednesday, in his most extensive interview since his diagnosis. "I do. The treatments are going well. Everything is right where it’s supposed to be.”

While his hair is thinner from chemotherapy these days, his spirits are high. In an interview with The Texas Tribune, he sported the tie color of leukemia awareness — orange — and talked about his battle and the support system he has enjoyed over the last couple of months.

After Poe was diagnosed with leukemia, his Washington physicians promptly directed him to return to Texas and the world’s most renowned cancer treatment center.

“The doctors, of course, said, ‘You need to go back to the best place in the world,'" he recounted. "It’s Houston, Texas, MD Anderson."

Oncologists treated him with inpatient chemotherapy intravenously, and he’s currently taking the treatment in the form of a pill.

“I take a chemo pill everyday,” he said. “I will forever.”

But Poe’s focus is not just on his own personal battle. He talks about how that it’s possible to find a cure for cancer, and that access to centers like MD Anderson is key.

It is a human story and one  we should all admit to being familiar with or liable to experience. We are all good and evil and as time and learning permits, we become better.

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