Earlier this week, the ranking member of the Senate Financial Services Committee which debated its version of Obamacare last month -- the Democrats' socialized medicine scheme, a $829 billion monstrosity -- Senator Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, accused the Democrats of making changes which are bad for America's seniors, veterans and workers.
That committee's Obamacare bill will be up for a vote in the committee next Tuesday which -- if passed in the committee by the 13 Democrats on the committee (10 Republicans) -- will be merged with the Senate health and education committee's even more left-wing legislation, a bill costing the American economy far more than 1 TRILLION dollars.
The Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada will then come up with a compromise bill working with the two major committee chairmen, Senators Chris Dodd, D-Connecticut and Max Baucus, D-Montana. Senator Reid hopes to have a bill on the Senate and House floor in a few weeks.
Senator Grassley said of the sneaky midnight moves by the Democrats' staffers making changes in his committee's bill which are detrimental to our nation's seniors, veterans and laborers: "These changes need to see the light of day. Americans considering what this health care proposal means for them deserve to know that Medicare prescription drug premiums would probably go up, veterans' access to health care would be diminished, and workers' wages could be garnished in the midst of growing unemployment and a prolonged recession, in order to pay for other spending in the health reform bill.
"The issues behind seniors being subjected to higher premiums in Medicare Part D also emphasize the reason why it's important for senators to have actual cost estimates from the Congressional Budget Office before being asked to vote on major policy changes."
LifeNews.com reported this week that in both of the Senate bills and the three Obamacare bills in the House of Representatives, there is a massive increase in taxpayer-funding for abortions and in mandates. In addition, the least liberal of these five Obamacare bills -- the Baucus bill -- does not have provisions to protect the conscience rights of medical professionals.
In response to the supposedly good news from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) last evening -- reporting that the cost of the Baucus/Obamacare bill emerging from the Senate Financial Services Committee is less than a trillion dollars -- the leader of the Republicans in the Senate, Senator Mitch McConnell from Kentucky, said that the "good news on costs and coverage" are "irrelevant" since the big-spending Democrats will pork up the Baucus/Obamacare bill with much higher spending.
Republican Leader McConnell said that "The bill ... will never see the light of day. What matters is that the final bill will cost about $1 trillion, vastly expand the role of government in people's health care decisions and limit choice." He also said that the Republicans been rebuffed by the Democrats as they have offered countless commonsense amendments which will really reform the health care system in America.
"Listening to the proponents of the administration's health care plan, you get the sense that they're more concerned about their legacies than what the American people actually want," Senator McConnell said. "Here's an idea: how about asking the American people what they want instead?" How the Democrats answer this question will determine how massive their loss of seats in Congress next year will be.