Report from another bloggers' conference call with Sen. Orrin Hatch

Once again I had the honor of participating in a bloggers' conference call with Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), who spent 45 minutes with us this morning discussing ObamaCare.

The senator published an op-ed Washington Post op-ed on March 2 denouncing the use of reconciliation as manner of ramming the Democrats' health care reform bill into law. It was received like a cold March wind by liberals, which led Hatch to tell us that considering how "unpopular this bill is, I guess it's not a surprise that they're so sensitive." He continued, "I guess I hit a nerve, you know what they say, a kicked dog yelps--and boy is this bill a dog."

Hatch reminded us several times during the call that "reconciliation has never been used to pass sweeping social legislation that did not have overwhelming bipartisan support." The senator said that health care is too important to be forced through in the fashion President Obama and the Democrats have in mind. And he pointed out that other major social bills, such as Medicare and the prescription drug benefit for seniors, passed with backing from Republicans and Democrats.

Only one Republican in the House voted for the health bill the first time around, Joseph Cao of Louisiana, who says he no longer supports it. No GOP senators voted "aye" on ObamaCare.

As for taxpayer funding of abortion, which may end up dooming the legislation, Hatch responded to a blogger's question in regards to the Democrats' claim that their health care bill will not fund abortion. The senator quickly replied, "Oh no, they're not telling the truth."

Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats keep asserting that their bill is not a Trojan Horse that will lead a government takeover of health care, euphemistically known as single-payer. Hatch declared, "The whole goal here is to get to a single-payer system."

Building on that statement, Hatch laid the struggle on the line: "This is not a fight between Republicans and Democrats, but between the Democrats and the majority of Americans. Fifty-eight percent of America is against this lousy bill."

That does not mean 42 percent of Americans support ObamaCare--some people are still undecided. Yep, support for it is meager.

I asked the senator a hypothetical question, "If ObamaCare becomes law, what are the chances of repealing it?" I was surprised by his answer. "Well, it's like anything else, once it gets into law, you'll have fifty percent of the people demanding it."

So a do-over vote isn't as simple as it appears; the status quo, once in place, is hard to overturn.

Returning to reconciliation, Hatch wondered, "Who are they kidding? This administration must think that the American people are stupid" by using reconciliation to pass ObamaCare in a way it was never intended to be utilized.

It's up to bloggers and other concerned citizens to prove the White House wrong.

And don't forget: If the Democrats' health bill becomes law, we could be stuck with it--forever.

There were other nuggets worth note in the call. When a conservative was president, Hatch told us, even with a Republican Congress, the GOP had to compromise to get major legislation advanced. I don't think Obama is a student of history. Hatch said he supports the tea party movement, but is against it becoming a third political party, and I agree with him on this, because it could split the conservative bloc.

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Report from the bloggers' conference call with Sen. Orrin Hatch

Technorati tags: Orrin Hatch politics Democrats health universal health care health care reform utah tea party pro-life socialism abortion gop Republican obamacare single payer