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Republicans are not going to vote for real health reform |
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Just so we’re clear, we know Republicans aren’t going to vote for health reform that actually does anything right?
Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the House Republican leader, said he was unaware of any House Republican inclined to support the Democrats’ proposed legislation.
Asked how many Senate Republicans could sign on to developing Democratic plans, Senator Richard M. Burr of North Carolina, author of a Republican alternative, said: “I think right now, none. Zero.”
So, the question becomes, how far are you willing to push this “bipartisanship” thing? Will you go for bipartisanship at the expense of getting a bill that does what President Obama and the American people want it to do - lower costs, make health care affordable, and increase coverage?
Because it’s possible to get, say, one or two Republican votes in the Senate, but that might not even be enough to satisfy Republicans:
Hoping to lessen the divide, a handful of senators from the two parties who sit on the Finance Committee have been meeting privately, trying to find some consensus. But they left for the weeklong Fourth of July recess without any firm agreement, though they pledged to keep trying. Even a senator at the center of those talks among four Republicans and three Democrats, Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the senior Republican on the committee, indicated a reluctance to back any legislation unless it was constructed to attract more than a handful of Republicans.
“This is not going to be a bipartisan bill with just three or four Republicans,” Mr. Grassley said. “This is a bill that gets broad bipartisan support or it is not going to be a bipartisan bill.”
Now you tell me: What kind of bill do you think more than a few Republican Senators would vote for? Do you think it would do any good? Do you think it would be anything but the status quo? Do you think it would lower your costs instead of bailing out the insurance industry with taxpayer dollars?
If I had to guess, any bill Senate Republicans support would do nothing for the American people. The health care crisis is too great - bipartisanship isn’t worth the price we’d pay.
(also posted at the NOW! blog)
