Reid to Republicans: healthcare reform is now law of the land
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid proudly proclaimed on Wednesday that the “historic healthcare reform is now no longer a bill it is the law.”
Someone please tell Republicans.
They are planning a flurry of amendments to try to stall a package of changes being considered by the Senate that Democrats want to make to the legislation signed into law by President Barack Obama.
House Democrats demanded the changes, which among other things would close the Medicare prescription drug coverage gap for the elderly.
Republicans want to change the new law too. They want to repeal it. Some of their amendments would do just that. It is unlikely Senate Democrats will reverse course and undo the hard fought victory for Obama.
But other proposed Republican amendments could force Democrats to take politically unpalatable election-year votes on measures such as one that would strike Medicare spending cuts from the bill.
The GOP has yet to put a single piece of legislation on the table that benefits anyone but big business. They have staked their future on blocking the agenda of the elected administration and tied themselves to the insurance and financial industries over the interests of the American public. So far, they have lost every legislative confrontation with the majority, and the defeat they have just been dealt in the healthcare fight is historic on many levels. Negative messaging can only go so far in an improving economic environment. Eventually, people realize that one side is putting their political goals above the goals of the nation as a whole.