Report from today's GOP Whip Team blog call about ObamaCare

The Republican Chief Deputy Whip, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), held another Whip Team bloggers' conference call this afternoon, and once again the topic of discussion was the Democrats' increasingly unpopular proposal for health care reform.

McCarthy always has at least one guest for the call, today newly-minted Republican Parker Griffith, a retired Alabama oncologist, filled that role.

Most media sources have the ObamaCare "Yes" votes at 211 or 212--not McCarthy, who says the Democrats have "probably about 205" votes for their version of health care reform--216 is their magic number to pass it. McCarthy reminded us that no House Republicans will vote for ObamaCare.

Which is why the Democrats are considering invoking the aptly named "Slaughter Rule" to "deem" the Senate health care bill as passed.

McCarthy doesn't know if they'll invoke the so-called rule, which he called "a trick," and it led McCarthy to elaborate. "I think that will just make the American public so angry, that would be such a stupid move on their part."
Of course the the president is engaging is some horsetrading for for votes. McCarthy represents Bakersfield in California's Central Valley. The region is suffering from a man-made drought to protect smelt. But in a move believed to secure "Yes" votes from two Democratic Central Valley representatives, irrigation allocations have been increased by 25 percent. McCarthy adds that the area has received normal rainfall this year, so hopefully there is more green in the valley--I took the photograph on the left near Merced last summer. But McCarthy feels 100 percent of the water is due to the valley.

Dr. Griffith took his turn--and described the battle as "trying to defeat a bad bill that started off as a bad bill and as the weeks and months went by, it became even worse."

"But as a physician," Griffith continued, "I can tell you that parts of that bill not only are going to discourage young men and women from going into medicine; it is an impossibility to reform the health care system around the shortage." And the Alabaman said there already a shortage of physicians in America. During the question-and-answer session, Griffith used the example of cardiovascular surgeons, and based upon the enrollment of current residency programs, we will go from 4,800 of these physicians to half that number in the next 15 to 20 years.

Gee, that's about the time the likelihood of my having heart problems shoots up!

The election of Obama was supposed to institute change, but Griffith warned, "If this bill were to pass, there will be no change--except for the worse in the delivery of health care."

Our health care system has much to be proud of in regards to accomplishments. "We often forget, Griffith reminded us, "how well we have done in America as far as health care is concerned. Cardiovascular deaths are plummeting in America, deaths from our major cancers in America are plummeting in America. We have the highest survival rates for major malignancies than any other county except maybe Sweden and Switzerland," which Griffith explained have a different demographic nature than our nation.

Griffith warned of a "haves and have not" availability of health care if the Democrats have their way; doctors will gravitate towards the better communities and the best hospitals. That works for someone such as myself, but not everyone lives in Chicago's northern suburbs. Some people will be left out.

Coverage is one thing, but what about access? "And this bill does not fix access," Griffith said.

The Democrats' health care bill is an A to Z heavy-handed government attempt at reform--whereas the Republicans support an incremental approach. When my turn arrived during the question-and-answer session, I asked the congressmen about the GOP starting point for reform. McCarthy suggested tort reform, allowing the purchase of insurance across state lines, and addressing coverage of people with preexisting medical conditions.

Griffith said we should take a look at the 30 million uninsured, find out who they are, and see which existing government programs can cover them.

No need to reinvent the wheel--or create a new one.

What to do now? If you oppose ObamaCare, my advice is to call your representative and let that person know how you feel. But hurry up--Politico is reporting that the House phone system is at the brink.

The final words belong to McCarthy:

What the majority party is doing right now is firing the people, and come November, I think they're going to get fired themselves.

Related posts:

Newsweek looks at Kevin McCarthy

Kevin McCarthy: GOP's new rock star

Weekly Republican address with Rep. Parker Griffith

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