Friday, December 18, 2009

McConnell on ObamaCare: "You could fit into a phone booth the number of people who've seen this bill"

Where is the Senate Democrats' health care bill? Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) wants to know. Oh, this mysterious legislation will transform--or perhaps destroy--one-sixth of the US economy.

From a McConnell press release:

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor Friday regarding the importance of getting it right on health care reform:

The majority leader has signaled that he will finally unveil the most significant piece of domestic legislation in modern history some time on Saturday — and force a vote in the middle of the night about 36 hours later.

This is outrageous.

This will be a bill that none of my constituents have seen; that none of the Majority Leader’s constituents have seen; that none of you have seen and that nobody outside of the Capitol has seen.

You could fit into a phone booth the number of people who've seen this bill that will affect the lives of every single American in the most profound ways.

Every American should have an opportunity to know what their Senators are being asked to vote for before anyone can see it. I defy anyone in this chamber to come down here and defend the secrecy surrounding this bill.

Earlier this week, the President said "I think it's important for every single member of the Senate to take a careful look at what's in the bill."

Unfortunately, there is no bill to read. Let me repeat: there is literally no bill to inspect. Even Senator Durbin, the second in charge on the Democrat side, admits he hasn't seen the details of this bill.

The only thing we know for sure about this bill is that it will raise taxes, raise premiums, and slash Medicare by nearly a half trillion dollars to pay for a vast expansion of government into health care that an overwhelming majority of Americans oppose.

That's what's at the heart of this bill that no one's seen yet. So we may not know all the details, but we already know this bill can’t be fixed.

And we know Americans are outraged by what's happened in this debate: a bill that was supposed to lower costs, lower taxes, and lower premiums will actually raise all three — making existing problems not better, but worse.

It's not too late to start over and deliver the reform Americans really want — the step-by-step reforms we know would actually lower health care costs.

The majority knows this bill is a colossal legislative blunder. That's why they’re rushing it through.

That's why the only argument they're left with is a call to history. Well, history will be made either way. And this much is clear: Passing this bill in this way would be a historic mistake that those who support it will come to regret.

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