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Loading...The GOP Shame Deficit: Republicans blatantly mislead public on Reconciliation
President Barack Obama outlined his administration’s proposal Wednesday, seeking to bring reform of the American health care system to a successful conclusion. Considering the recent spurious criticisms from reform opponents, it appears that, indeed, the arduous process of steering health care reform through Congress may well be nearing its end.
It’s really only become apparent in the last week or so. Leading up to and during the White House bipartisan health care summit, Republican politicians have repeatedly acknowledged the need for reform, but that Democrats should scrap their health care bills and “start over.”
Meanwhile, the Democrats began to show some spine leading up to the summit, signaling their willingness to use the budget reconciliation process to pass reform, if necessary. Consequently, Republicans’ concerns over the use of reconciliation became more prominent within their media talking points, and at the Blair House summit where the issue was frequently raised. Since the summit’s conclusion, however, GOP concerns over reconciliation have evolved into what appears to be panic.
Republicans are decrying the potential use of the parliamentary measure, attempting to gloss over the GOP’s historical record, having happily employed the measure when it suited them.
Further, in their attempts to rationalize their hypocrisy — insisting that the pending health care legislation is beyond the parameters of reconciliation — they have engaged in a campaign of historical revisionism. Senator Orin Hatch (R-UT) wrote an op-ed, published Mar. 2 in the increasingly subjective Washington Post, is a prime example of how Republicans are falsely framing the historical use of reconciliation.
Regarding Hatch’s opinion piece, Steve Benen of The Washington Monthly writes, “Hatch is simply and unambiguously wrong. And the Post published his demonstrably false arguments anyway…” From Benen’s Political Animal blog, Mar. 2:
The whole pitch is absurd to the point of being insulting. Hatch has repeatedly supported up-or-down votes on legislation large and small. Indeed, he thought it was a great idea for delivering massive tax breaks for the rich — packages that cost far more than health care reform now — but whines incessantly when Dems consider the same procedure to pass a modest fix related to health care.
Hatch really ought to be embarrassed.
But Hatch, and those who mimic his intellectually dishonest argument, aren’t embarrassed, as Rachel Maddow deftly explains in this clip from her Mar. 2 MSNBC broadcast:
Adding emphasis to his lack of shame, Hatch tweeted his response to Maddow’s damning assessment. Here’s his tweet by way of PoliticusUSA:
@maddow ran me down on her show last night over my views on health care reform. Wonderful badge of honor.
However, if you watched the above clip you’d know that Maddow’s assessment had nothing to do with his “views.” Rather, as Maddow indicated in her response tweet, it was Hatch’s misstating of the facts which were at issue.
Sadly, no matter how plainly the GOP’s efforts to falsely frame reconciliation are laid out, they’ll continue beyond the bill’s passage. And, as Maddow put it in the above clip, “It’s going to pass.”
What I’m struggling with is, how could Republicans expect anything different from the Democrats? It seems to me that consistently obstructing Democratic efforts on health care — and everything else, for that matter, guaranteed that reconciliation would be used.
They’ve already telegraphed their intentions to use health reform’s passage as a campaign issue in the 2010 midterms, asserting that using reconciliation will cost the Democrats votes. However, wouldn’t a failure by the Democrats to use any means at their disposal to conclude a year’s worth of work cost them more?
Frankly, the GOP needs to get over it. I think is was Jon Stewart who put it best. Following Obama’s 2008 election to the presidency, Stewart reminded the already whining congressional Repbulicans of what their electoral losses meant. “You’re in the minority,” Stewart said. “It’s supposed to taste like a s#!t sandwich.”
See Also:
- Igor Volsky, “Republicans ‘Agree On About 80% Of the Issues,’ But Want to ‘Start Over’ on Health Reform.“ ThinkProgress.org, 26 February 2010.
- Watch Rachel Maddow’s March 3 follow up segment regarding her tiff with Sen. Hatch at MSNBC‘s site.
Related on Care2:
- A tip ‘o the hat to Care2 blogger Greg Ligon for his recent “Health Reform 101″ posts:
- Also see the latest from Ann Pietrangelo, to whom my hat is perpetually tipped.
Read more: barack obama, congress, democrats, gop, health care reform, health reform, legislation, obama speech, opinion, orrin hatch, politics, rachel maddow, reconciliation, republicans
Sen. Orrin Hatch image via the United States Congress, by way of Wikimedia Commons.
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may
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+ add your ownTo Renee L., you can thank Tom Delay in the past administration for your troubles. He used reconciliation to adversely affect medicare and medicaid. And believe me, your old health insurance might not be approving everything instantly anymore either. My elderly mother has medicare and BCBS. She has ovarian cancer and I've had to haggle to get things recoded to get coverage for some things because insurance doesn't make distinction between treatments for 87 year olds and young people and there is a big difference. If medicare doesn't cover something, neither will any other insurance. So her BCBS is about useless. Medicaid might be a better insurance overall if there wasn't so much fraud either, which health care reform will work to eliminate. I worked with seniors in a senior building for 8 years and there is plenty of fraud among that group and they all know it. Medicaid paid for housecleaning services, eye, dental, and everything else for some of my clients, while many of these poor old people were out galavanting around in their cars. There is plenty of fraud going on, no different than the surplus food programs. Seniors rush down to get the food and pass it on to their 40-50 year old kids. I've seen plenty that can be fixed that would save millions so people like yourself could get coverage and quickly. This reform is trying to do that.
What do you expect from the Party of NO? Tom Delay the biggest thug in Congress in the past administration used reconciliation to adversely affect medicare and medicaid, and cut taxes for the rich. Reconciliation was used more by Repugs in the past than Dems. During the Bush/Cheney regime, reconciliation was the reason many of us kept asking: "When did that pass? How did that happen?" Now we know.
The Republicans should be ashamed of themselves; they sit there voicing a chorus of "no, no, no" to any legislative action & doing nothing else; I think we need to pass health care reform with or without the Republicans
After seeing an article a few days ago mentioning an AP poll that shows only 14% of the US opposing Healthcare reform, it makes me question where a lot of the people quoting 2/3 opposing it are getting their numbers (I mentioned my source, so now it's your turn, unless you've made up that number...).
Socialism hasn't failed, nor is it a bad thing; we already have numerous socialized systems, such as Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security, and most of the rest of the world has socialized healthcare programs already. Socialism is too often confused with Communism, which is the reason a lot of people think it's a bad thing, but for one, pure Communism never existed as most of the countries that tried to be Communist ended up becoming dictatorships while Social Democracies have tended to be very successful countries as they have tended to be much less influenced by corporate money, unlike our current Capitalist system with little to no regulation to prevent such influence.
In fact, that influence pulls the curtain away from where the healthcare industry stands on reform. If anyone truly believes that the healthcare industry is bribing Democrats to pass reform, they should either give up the drugs or brush up on using logic in their thinking; no industry would bribe someone to take measures that would hurt their industry, and it's well known that the Republicans have been benefiting much more from healthcare industry money.
Healthcare reform must be passed ASAP.
The thing some people don't get is that tax cuts are a BUDGET issue, which is what the reconciliation process was designed to be used for, and has been limited to in the past. The portions of the Heath Care package that are related directly to taxes and spending can certainly (and WITHOUT objection from the Republicans) be dealt with that same way.
But the non-budget items ... abortion limitation, requirements for everyone to have health insurance, the creation of new regulatory agencies and rules, and so one ... these are NOT budget items, and are not proper for consideration under reconciliation rules. They have to go through the Senate's regular procedures.
Reconciliation was never designed to give blanket authorization for the party in power to have a carte blanche way to make an end run around the senate rules. It was put in place to be sure that vital SPENDING measures could be handled expeditiously. Republicans have adhered to this standard, and are insisting that the Democrats do so as well.
The hypocrisy is mind boggling
Don't you people get it??? Medicare, Medicaid, SS, USPS, RR's, are all run by the g'ment, and ALL are bankrupt. Now the g'ment owns GM, Chrysler, AIG, working on the banks and Wall St. Do you mean to tell me that you now want the g'ment to now run our HC system??? Wake up and smell the SOCIALISM, people.
good to know, thanks:)
Ronni, this may surprise you. But I am on Medicaid. I have an aggressive, severe form of Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia. I am poor and I can tell you that medicaid is far worse than regular health insurance. When I had health insurance my $8000 per treatments were approved instantly, but now that I am on medicaid, I am still waiting for approval since August 2009! Now you tell me that government health care is not going to be rationed, that people are not going to be treated. Plus I was unemployed until recently and still had to pay a copay for my prescriptions.
I am telling you right now that if the government would open up competition between states and not allow disapproval for pre existing, you would be able to have very good affordable private health insurance.
One last thing Ronni, on this Care2 site, there are many people who believe and trust that the government can fix everything and look to the government to provide for them, take care of them, tell them what they can or can not do. Seriously, it is sickening. Look around and ask that question, I think you will be horrified by the response you get.
Have a blessed day as well.
Mick R. - I think they listen to the Republicans because they think it's in their self interest.......which it actually isn't ! Rachel Maddow is fabulous!!!! The Repubs have gotten away so often by pulling the wool over peoples' eyes that they think they must be able to forever. Fear is their major tactic.
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