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Senate GOP Vows United Opposition to Health Reform Reconciliation

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Gee, the Republicans must be uber-scared by the possibility that, after 30 years of fighting for the American people & the US economy on long overdue health care reform, Democrats are very close to pulling off victory...don't Republicans have any work to do on behalf of their districts & constituents, or do they just spend all day playing political games and throwing slimy accusations and threats at Democrats re health reform.One wonders.
Here is Senator Byrd's response to the Daily Mail, W.Va, when he was misrepresented as being against the use of budget reconciliation for the current health reform bill. He supports use of the procedure for this bill and, since I believe he wrote the law, his opinion should carry weight.
Thursday March 4, 2010
Reconciliation can be used to find savings
Advertiser
It has been said that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. In the Daily Mail's March 2 editorial regarding health care reform legislation, "Using reconciliation would hurt Democrats: Choking off debate is no way to muscle through health legislation," the newspaper's misunderstanding of congressional procedures misinforms readers who, in rapidly increasing numbers, find themselves unable to obtain or afford medical insurance.
The editorial correctly quoted me as saying in the spring of 2009 that using reconciliation to enact a huge health care package would "violate the intent and spirit of the budget process . . .".
I believed then, as now, that the Senate should debate the health reform bill under regular rules, which it did. The result of that debate was the passing of a comprehensive health care reform bill in the Senate by a 60-vote supermajority.
I continue to support the budget reconciliation process for deficit reduction. The entire Senate- or House- passed health care bill could not and would not pass muster under the current reconciliation rules, which were established under my watch.
Yet a bill structured to reduce deficits by, for example, finding savings in Medicare or lowering health care costs, may be consistent with the Budget Act, and appropriately considered under reconciliation.
With all due respect, the Daily Mail's hyperbole about "imposing government control," acts of "disrespect to the American people" and "corruption" of Senate procedures resembles more the barkings from the nether regions of Glennbeckistan than the "sober and second thought" of one of West Virginia's oldest and most respected daily newspapers.
My commitment to protecting the best interests of all West Virginians and the American people remains as firm and consistent as my devotion to observing the necessary and essential Senate rules and procedures intended to guarantee debate and the airing of diverse views.
Robert C. Byrd
Washington, D.C.
Byrd is the senior U.S senator from West Virgini

Arabella of NY 11:34PM March 17, 2010

A very good link with the Dollars and cents...
http://www.taxcutsincreaserevenue.com/

Bill Hedges of MO 8:47PM March 11, 2010

Bush tax cuts increased government revenue from rich:
"Two of the most oft-cited objections to the Bush tax cuts by the left are that it helped only the rich and it was largely responsible for the federal deficit at the end of the Bush presidency. Instead, it is true that if the current administration allows any or all of the Bush tax cuts to expire, economic growth will be slowed and tax revenue could actually decrease, perpetuating our deficit dilemma."
http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/03/lying_about_bushs_tax_cuts.html
Historic proof cutting taxes increases taxes paid by rich:
http://www.heritage.org/research/taxes/wm327.cfm

Bill Hedges of MO 8:36PM March 11, 2010

The two Bush Tax cuts passed with Republican reconciliation could have fully funded health care reform a couple times over, but instead helped bankrupt the country.
Where's the beef? Republicans wasted billions subsidizing the rich and shift the tax burdens onto the poor. It didn't work. Lets try something different.

John of IA 8:13PM March 11, 2010

Who cares what these boneheads say anymore.

John of IA 8:06PM March 11, 2010

I understand there were good people for good reasons that voted for obama.
It is refreshing to hear from someone such as yourself.

Bill Hedges of MO 5:46PM March 11, 2010

Please don't fool yourselves into thinking that this health fiasco is supported by rank and file Democrats. Don't believe everything you hear on the media, right or left.
I voted for our president, but now I don't trust him. One of the first significant things he did was to throw money, with no strings, at the very institutions that caused our economic calamity - effecting the entire globe. The guy is a lawyer and knows there are two sides to a contract.
Even now there have been no effective leashes put on financial houses regarding dealing in derivatives and credit default swaps. A new Glass-Steagal has not been made (that was legislation put into effect after the Great Depression to ensure it would not happen again. It was whittled away to nothing by successive administrations and would have prevented our current economic problem).
In effect, Obama's first major act was to stab the trusting public in the back.
I don't trust a darned thing that he does, now.
When I hear that his health care bill was a deal struck in a back room with industry, favors industry with little commensurate benefit to the public, I want no part of it.
This comes from a guy who promised an open administration, shining the light of day on such 'deals'.
The guy is not at all what he appeared to be during his campaign.
I do think families should not be ruined and destitute due to health care costs. I believe in some sort of public option.
Our country seems to be heading down the road of some Latin American countries, with a few extremely wealthy families on top and the rest, peasants, there being no middle class. I compare this to some European countries, like Denmark, with practically all in what we would take as a middle class - sure, it is some form of socialism, but seems better than the Latin American model that we are racing towards.
Denmark was supposed to be the happiest country in some report I read. I know middle class professionals who are responsible people who cannot get employment or are grossly underemployed due to outsourcing.
Obama said a lot about jobs during the campaign, but these folks have seen no change in their status.
The way I see it, many past presidents did a lot to favor the wealthy and screw the middle class. Republicans are usually 'blamed' for this by the left, but we must remember that Nafta was passed under the Clinton administration.
There just seems to be a concerted effort, no matter who is in charge, to bring this country to its knees for the sake of international business conglomerates. It is to 'their' advantage if we keep fighting against each other as liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats.
It might be time to drop the rhetoric of both sides and act together for the benefit of the country, before we lose it.

Pat Meakin of AL 3:48PM March 11, 2010

be doing everything in their power to stop this legislation because they have the backing of the American people.
Dems erroneously believe that might makes right. That they can change the rules of the game because they have a majority in both houses of congress. Their "might makes right" mentality led them to marginalize and exlude the Republican party, railroad the health care bill, and foist the biggest entitlement program on the backs of the American people.
A bill of this magnitude, with it's inevitable reprecussions on ALL aspects of American society for generations deserves, no, DEMANDS, substantial input from both parties. The banal platitudes of Obama/Pelosi/Reid regarding their thin attempts at concensus are drowned by a cacophony of back room deals, kickbacks, phoney summits, CBO book cooking/fuzzy math, lies, and threats.

david of ID 3:29PM March 11, 2010

Everyone needs to work hard the best they can from every angle; no use shooting each other in the foot. This is the Dem. method!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoE1R-xH5To
The insurance bill is just a power grab and they don't care anything about morals, ethics, accountability, -- this is, as one contributer put it, "creepy".

Lioness of WI 9:29PM March 10, 2010

"CNN’s Cafferty Slams Obama for ‘Lie’ on Healthcare Talks."
"Is CNN going rogue on President Obama?"
"Commentator Jack Cafferty — who has been outspoken in his praise of Obama in the past — launched a blistering attack on Obama and the Democrats over the closed-door negotiations to reconcile the House and Senate versions of healthcare reform legislation."
“How dare they!” he began on a recent edition of CNN’s “The Situation Room.”
“President Obama and Democratic leaders have decided to bypass a formal House and Senate conference committee in order to reconcile those two healthcare bills. Instead, White House and Democratic leaders will hold informal — that’s another word for secret — negotiations meant to shut Republicans and the public out of the process."
“What a far cry from the election, when candidate Obama pledged to ‘broadcast healthcare negotiations on C-SPAN so the American people can see what the choices are.’"
“President Obama hasn’t even made a token effort to keep his campaign promises of more openness and transparency in government. It was all just another lie that was told in order to get elected.”
"C-SPAN Chief Executive Brian Lamb sent a letter to House and Senate leaders on Jan. 5 asking that the negotiations be televised, saying healthcare reform “will affect the lives of every single American.” The request was rebuffed."
“The Democrats insist this is all on the up and up,” Cafferty continued, “with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying ‘there’s never been a more open process for any legislation.’ Really?"
“This is the same Nancy Pelosi who, you may recall after becoming speaker in 2006, promised the Democrats would have the ‘most honest, most open, and most ethical Congress in history.’ "
“Here’s hoping the voters remember some of this crap when the midterm elections roll around later this year.”
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
"The blast was a sharp turnaround for Cafferty, who in March rhapsodized about the “bright” and “terrific” Barack Obama in an interview with Media Bistro."
"Asked whether he thought the president could turn things around, Cafferty described himself as "hopeful" and gushed, "I like him a lot. I think he's a bright guy.”
"Then in a statement that now appears strikingly ironic, he added: “I like the fact that he's visible and that, you know, he's attempting to bring some transparency and some legitimacy and honesty to the office, which has been missing for a while."
http://www.newsmax.com/InsiderReport/CaffertySlamsObama-AmericanMuslimExtremists-RushLimbaugh-RonPaul/2010/01/17/id/346602