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JuanDeFuca
Big Wall climber
Peenemunde
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Topic Author's Original Post - Dec 17, 2009 - 02:38pm PT
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PRESS RELEASES
Completely Reckless, Completely Irresponsible
from the Office of Senator Mitch McConnell
Thursday, December 17, 2009
‘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’
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor Thursday regarding the importance of getting it right on health care reform:
“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.
“But let’s just compare the process so far with previous legislation for some perspective. Here’s a snapshot of what we’ve done and where we stand:
• The Majority Leader intends to bring this debate to a close as early as this weekend — four days from now, on this $2.5 trillion dollar mistake
• No American who hasn’t been invited into the Majority Leader’s conference room knows what will be in that bill
• This bill has been the pending business of the Senate since the last week of November — less than four weeks ago.
• We started the amendment process two weeks ago.
• We’ve had 21 amendments and motions — less than two a day.
“Now let’s look at how the Senate has dealt with previous legislation.
“No Child Left Behind (2001):
• 21 session days or 7 weeks.
• Roll Call votes: 44
• Number of Amendments offered: 157
“9/11 Commission/Homeland Security Act (2002):
• 19 session days over 7 weeks.
• Roll Call votes: 20
• Number of Amendments offered: 30
“Energy Bill (2002):
• 21 session days over 8 weeks
• Number of Roll Call votes: 36
• Number of Amendments offered: 158
“This isn’t an energy bill. This is an attempt by a majority to take over one sixth of the U.S. economy — to vastly expand the reach and the role of government into the health care decisions of every single American — and they want to be done after one substantive amendment. This is absolutely inexcusable.
“I think Senator Snowe put it best on Tuesday:
‘Given the enormity and complexity,’ she said, ‘I don’t see anything magical about the Christmas deadline if this bill is going to become law in 2014.’
“And I think Senator Snowe’s comments on a lack of bipartisanship at the outset of this debate are also right on point.
“Here’s what she said in late November:
‘I am truly disappointed we are commencing our historic debate on one of the most significant and pressing domestic issues of our time with a process that has forestalled our ability to arrive at broader agreement on some of the most crucial elements of health care reform. The bottom line is, the most consequential health care legislation in the history of our country and the reordering of $33 trillion in health care spending over the coming decade shouldn’t be determined by one vote-margin strategies – surely we can and must do better.’
“The only conceivable justification for rushing this bill is the overwhelming opposition of the American people. Democrats know that the longer Americans see this bill the less they like it. Here’s the latest from Pew. It came out just yesterday.
“A majority (58 percent) of those who have heard a lot about the bills oppose them while only 32 percent favor them.”
“There is no justification for this blind rush — except a political one, and that’s not good enough for the American people.
“And there’s no justification for forcing the Senate to vote on a bill none of us has seen.
“Americans already oppose this bill. The process is just as bad.
“It’s completely reckless, completely irresponsible.”
###
More Press Releases
Printable Version
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corniss chopper
Mountain climber
san jose, ca
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Dec 17, 2009 - 03:51pm PT
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Juan -I'll go with the simplest explanation of why they are mad dog crazy
to pass this - huge increase in wealth and power of the Federal Govt.
Telling us we have to buy something just for being alive is as Un-American
as it gets. Where would it end?
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Fat Dad
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
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Dec 17, 2009 - 03:58pm PT
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Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...
Mental giants both of you.
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bvb
Social climber
flagstaff arizona
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Dec 17, 2009 - 03:59pm PT
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dab.
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apogee
climber
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Dec 17, 2009 - 04:01pm PT
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Juan, TGT already posted McConnell's letter on the Repubs are Wrong thread earlier this morning. How about being considerate of others, and delete this redundant thread?
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Reeotch
Trad climber
Kayenta, AZ
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Dec 17, 2009 - 04:10pm PT
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HELLO!
They never saw the Banker Bail-out Bill, or the Patriot act before they voted either, just to name a couple of the more significant examples of blind legislating.
Wake-up, our government has been completely taken over by comercial interests.
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wbw
climber
'cross the great divide
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Dec 17, 2009 - 04:19pm PT
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Not sure I understand how this thread is inconsiderate of others. Anyway, this health care bill really concerns me. I mostly side with the Dems. on things, and I support what President Obama is trying to do, in general. But all of the talk about hurrying this bill through, or else it will not be brought up again for a generation (V.P. Biden) is BS. I remember an administration in the not-too-distant past saying that a bill called TARP had to be passed very quickly, and look at the mismanagement that occurred with all of the taxpayer money. (as well as the arrogance displayed by the banks that were bailed out.)
Why the hurry? Something this big needs to be done correctly. My own personal concerns stem from the talk that I hear that most middle class folks will end up with premiums that are about 10% higher. Those of us in this category have always been told that we pay higher premiums to cover the folks that don't have health insurance, and the folks that cannot afford to pay for health care. My family is getting squeezed hard enough without paying more. Also, a bill that mandates health insurance, but does not provide any additional competition to the established health care companies, to encourage more ethical insurance coverage does nothing. They are the biggest part of the problem, and this bill apparently will simply serve to provide them with more business.
If these are the costs of "reforming" the health care system, maybe it should be put off to some future generation that has politicians that actually serve the people, and can focus more on problem solving than these a-holes in the Senate can.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Dec 17, 2009 - 04:22pm PT
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Don't you know? people falling through the cracks boosts the profit margin!
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dirtbag
climber
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Dec 17, 2009 - 04:24pm PT
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Did someone say "Mitch McConnell"?
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malabarista
Trad climber
San Francisco, Ca
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Dec 17, 2009 - 04:46pm PT
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Or you could just move to Canada, Australia or a host of other western nations where healthcare is both excellent and affordable and politicians don't make endless excuses why it can't be that way.
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Tea
Trad climber
Behind the Zion Curtain
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Dec 17, 2009 - 05:29pm PT
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God help us all if the feds run our healthcare, and I don't believe in God.
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Jeremy Handren
climber
NV
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Dec 17, 2009 - 05:36pm PT
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As of today it looks like the heath care sellout is complete......its really been a shameful spectacle from start to finish.
Whether you agree with the idea of universal healthcare or not, what this process says about the state of American Democracy is pretty disturbing to say the least.
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corniss chopper
Mountain climber
san jose, ca
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Dec 17, 2009 - 05:50pm PT
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Fat Dad
bvb
[(apogee )]
dirtbag
malabarista
are all either radical leftists who understand the issues or are wishful
dreamers who don't understand them. Uh-oh, seems that makes them all radical
leftists either way.
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apogee
climber
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Dec 17, 2009 - 06:33pm PT
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"Not sure I understand how this thread is inconsiderate of others."
Well, some ST'ers find OT threads like this one to take up too much space on the 'front page', and push down other topics that are directly related to ST's primary raison d'etre (climbing). Others argue that this is 'Climber's Website', not just a Website about Climbers, and therefore OT threads like this are just a reflection of the multi-facted lives of climbers.
I find myself somewhere in the middle/leaning toward the latter, but at the same time believe the former has a reasonable argument. When a sudden flush of OT threads appears, &/or there is obvious redundancy in another thread, it seems reasonable to remove the redundancy and share the space more fairly.
Obviously, Juan, 'king of the trolls' feels quite differently, and really doesn't give a flying feck. Ah, well.
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malabarista
Trad climber
San Francisco, Ca
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Dec 17, 2009 - 06:38pm PT
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radical leftist... lol I hate politics. I just see free healthcare everywhere else. I'm the ultimate capitalist. I'll just go get it where it's cheap, as in FREE. My Canadian buddies seem to have the good life -high wages, great healthcare, a country not overburdened with debt, and some of the best ice climbing on the planet. I mean freedom as seemingly described by the corporate health care system is the freedom to pay them unbelievable sums of money for crappy coverage. You have the freedom to be enslaved by corporations for profit. Yeah... that's freedom.
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wbw
climber
'cross the great divide
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Dec 18, 2009 - 10:22am PT
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Maybe democracy has "evolved" to the point, where it is no longer a government for the people, and by the people. I know that I'm mixing apples and oranges making any comparisons to communisim, but the Soviet form of communisim got to a point where it was no longer viable. Are we reaching that point with our American style of democracy.
Maybe we've just gotten too fat and comfortable to care about holding our politicians accountable for their decisions. The influence the big corporations and investment banks have on our system is shameful. The influence the health insurance companies have had on this so-called reform of the health care system is beyond shameful.
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Reeotch
Trad climber
Kayenta, AZ
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Dec 18, 2009 - 11:26am PT
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apogee, get off your soapbox!
tea, " . . . God help us all if the feds run our healthcare . . ." Yeah, I feel a whole lot better handing over healthcare to a bunch of corrupt money grubbing private insurance companies. I'm sure they have my best interests at heart.
Actually, they're the ones who got us into this mess in the first place. And now (just like with the Banker Bail-out) we expect them to be able to get us out of it????
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Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
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Dec 18, 2009 - 11:58am PT
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Apogee writes:
"Juan, TGT already posted McConnell's letter on the Repubs are Wrong thread earlier this morning. How about being considerate of others, and delete this redundant thread?"
This thread's a different topic.
This one's not about the Republicans being wrong.
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rotten johnny
Social climber
mammoth lakes, ca
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Dec 18, 2009 - 12:21pm PT
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the death of what health insurance....? i'm uninsured .... it's the moral minority republican health insurance shills like juan de fuca that keep america from progressing into the 21st century and functioning like a modern society...your brainwashing enables the health insurance maggots to maintain a death grip on control of our lives while gouging the american public....you suffer from the patty hearst syndrome where you identify with your captors....snap out of it....!
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apogee
climber
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Dec 18, 2009 - 12:25pm PT
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"apogee, get off your soapbox!"
reeotch, get your panties untwisted!
"This thread's a different topic."
Oh, yes, we must always remember that at all times, all things are about me me me me me me me me me me
And that if someone else doesn't like it, feck 'em...after all, this is Uh-mer-i-kuh, and that's just how we do things around here.
Carry on...
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