Recently, Congressman Artur Davis has taken some flak from conservatives about the proposed health care plan pushed by President Obama.

Some, including letter writers to The Selma Times-Journal, have drawn a connection between Davis and Obama and assure that the congressman, who is running for governor, will march to the administration’s tune without turning his head.

It’s true Davis was the point man for Obama’s campaign here in Alabama and the two have an academic connection.

But Davis has made it perfectly clear that some portions of the proposed health-care plan in the House have him troubled.

Here’s what he said recently, “My concerns match questions I have heard from every sector of the state. The cost of the bill is too expensive a burden during a time of trillion dollar deficits, and the results, which could still leave over 10 million individuals uninsured are too uncertain.”

Then, Davis takes an interesting position for the left-wing Obama puppet he’s painted to be on this issue.

“The decision to base mandates for businesses on the size of a company’s payroll gives every small business in America an incentive to hire fewer workers — a wrongheaded approach when an economic rebound depends on those companies beginning to hire again.”

He points out another weakness in the House measure, including the lack of a requirement to have congressional campaign committees to insure their employees. This omission, Davis says, is hypocritical.

There is no doubt that health care in this country has reached a crisis. That’s evidenced by the fact that a Family Doc in the Box here in Selma is necessary for the poor and the working without insurance.

A variety of reforms is necessary. Davis agrees on this point and said he would support subsidies for middle- and low-income people in the U.S. to buy insurance; tax credits that would help cover the costs of offering insurance to small businesses. He also would support ending the practice of denying or restricting coverage for individuals who suffer serious illnesses.

There is much more to debate on this issue. The Senate has its own bill and there will be a lot of negotiation going on between the two bodies and the administration.

One of the reasons Davis is so strong here is he puts partisan approaches aside for the common sense ones. The next month will remain an interesting one to watch as the health-care measure continues to take shape in Congress.

It’s expected Davis will stick to his guns if past performance is any predictor of the future.