From The Oklahoman ~ Sen. Tom Coburn warned Thursday that he would take action to stop any last-minute deals made to persuade wavering House Democrats to vote for health care legislation.
At a news conference, the Muskogee Republican
said House members who vote for the bill shouldn’t expect to be confirmed to any federal position if they leave Congress. He said he would block any such nominations. See Coburn: http://weeklystandard.com/blogs/coburn-house-dems-go-ahead-make-my-day The senator said he also has instructed his staff to comb through spending bills looking for special projects in the districts of Democrats who wind up voting for the bill.
"So if you think you can cut a deal now, and it won’t come out until after the election, I want to tell you that isn’t going to happen,” Coburn said. "And be prepared to defend selling your vote in the House.”
Deals made to get Senate votes on the reform bill in December — including one to have the federal government pay all of the related Medicaid costs in Nebraska — have become symbolic to some of the process Democrats have used to get a bill passed without Republican support.
Now, rumors are circulating in GOP circles that some retiring Democrats who voted against the House health care bill last year are being offered plum federal jobs to support the bill on their way out the door.
Coburn, a medical doctor, appeared at a news conference with about a dozen other Republican lawmakers who are physicians. All criticized the health care bill that the House may vote on as early as Sunday, saying it doesn’t solve the biggest problem – spiraling costs of care.
One lawmaker, Rep. John Fleming, of Louisiana, said the bill was a "dive into incremental socialism,” while others said the current health care system was the best in the world and was being threatened by the legislation.
"This is a system that has worked and worked well,” said Rep. Parker Griffith, of Alabama. "It is being misrepresented by the Democratic Party.”
On the other side of the Capitol, House Democratic leaders held a news conference with people who had serious trouble getting coverage for expensive treatments. In the last few weeks, Democrats pushing for health care reform haven’t been criticizing physician or hospital care; rather, they have been attacking the insurance industry for raising premiums by double-digit amounts in a single year and making coverage unaffordable for people who can’t get it at work.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released a preliminary report on Thursday estimating that proposed changes to the Senate bill would result in the bill costing $940 billion over 10 years. At the same time, the agency estimated, the bill may decrease expected deficit spending by $138 billion over 10 years.
At the White House, President Barack Obama noted that the report included a rough estimate that the health care bill could save an additional $1.2 trillion in its second decade.
"That makes this legislation the most significant effort to reduce deficits since the Balanced Budget Act in the 1990s,” Obama said.
"That makes this legislation the most significant effort to reduce deficits since the Balanced Budget Act in the 1990s,” Obama said.
"And this is but one virtue of a reform that will bring new accountability to the insurance industry and greater economic security to all Americans. So I urge every member of Congress to consider this as they prepare for their important vote this weekend.”
Coburn took issue with the report, saying it assumed that doctors who treat patients in government programs such as Medicare would not get an increase in their payments for 20 years.
"It’s not only smoke and mirrors; it’s flat-out dishonest,” Coburn said.