Throwback Thursday: "Skinny Repeal" Edition
As Senate Republicans prepare to vote on their “skinny repeal” plan, just a quick reminder that there have been no hearings, no mark-up, and no opportunity for the public to review the legislation (or, really, even Senators for that matter, since the text was only just released...). So, we’re just going to leave these right here…
Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY): “When it comes to solving problems, Americans want us to listen first, and then, if necessary, offer targeted, step-by-step solutions. Above all, they’re tired of a process that shuts them out. They’re tired of giant bills negotiated in secret, then jammed through on a party-line vote in the middle of the night.” [Remarks, 2/23/10]
Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN): “What we are saying is we need to read the bill and know how much it costs before we start voting on it. We need to read the bill. It needs to be online 72 hours. That is a modest request, it seems to me. That is a short period of time. Then we need to know how much it costs. Does it raise our premiums or lower them? Does it cut your Medicare, or does it not cut your Medicare? Does it increase the national debt, or does it not increase the national debt? We need to know the answers to those questions. It would be the height of irresponsibility for us to begin debating a bill that affects 17 percent of the economy at a time when our debt is going up so rapidly without having, one, read the bill and, two, knowing exactly what the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office tells us every provision costs.”[Congressional Record, 9/29/09]
Senator John Barrasso (R-WY): “One of the questions that came up this past weekend was: Have you read the bill? What is in it? What is it going to cost? People of Wyoming say: Am I going to be able to read it? How do I read the bill? Is it going to be on the Internet? Will I be able to see it?” [Congressional Record, 9/30/09]
Senator John McCain (R-AZ): “Again, wouldn't it be nice for our constituents--by the way, many of them come to the townhall meetings with a sign that says ‘Have you read the bill?’--to let them read the bill too. Wouldn't it be nice if every American citizen who wanted to could go online and read the legislation and give us their ideas and thoughts as to how we could make it better?” [Congressional Record, 9/29/09]
Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA): “Just ramming through something we cannot read, we cannot quantify, we cannot score is not the way to go about it.” [Congressional Record, 9/29/09]