Over the weekend Redstate’s Erick Erickson made an impassioned plea that Republican Senators avail themselves of every parliamentary device at their disposal to obstruct the nationalization of health care. We posted a long response from a GOP Senate source in “How is Obamacare to be stopped?” Today Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell made the following statement on the floor of the Senate:
Senators on both sides acknowledge that the health care bill we’re considering is among the most significant pieces of legislation any of us will ever consider.
So it stands to reason that we’d devote significant time and attention to it.
Indeed, some would argue that we should spend more time and attention on this bill than most — if not every — previous bill we’ve considered.
The Majority disagrees.
Why? Because this bill has become a political nightmare for them.
They know Americans overwhelmingly oppose it, so they want to get it over with.
Americans are already outraged at the fact that Democrat leaders took their eyes off the ball. Rushing the process on a partisan line makes the situation even worse.
Americans were told the purpose of reform was to reduce the cost of health care.
Instead, Democrat leaders produced a $2.5 trillion, 2,074-page monstrosity that vastly expands government, raises taxes, raises premiums, and wrecks Medicare.
And they want to rush this bill through by Christmas — one of the most significant, far-reaching pieces of legislation in U.S. history. They want to rush it.
And here’s the most outrageous part: at the end of this rush, they want us to vote on a bill that no one outside the Majority Leader’s conference room has even seen.
That’s right. The final bill we’ll vote on isn’t even the one we’ve had on the floor. It’s the deal Democrat leaders have been trying to work out in private.
That’s what they intend to bring to the floor and force a vote on before Christmas.
So this entire process is essentially a charade.
I read this statement to mean that Senator McConnell has not exhausted the tools in his kit to slow and stop the rush to ram a horrendously destructive and wildly unpopular piece of legislation through the Senate. He has some tools left and he means to use them. This statement is a marker. It signifies.
Via Drudge.
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