The Administration and Congressional Democrats continue to push their August deadline for healthcare reform. This is surprising considering the setbacks the legislation suffered on multiple fronts this past week. On yesterday’s Sunday morning talk shows, top Democrats stuck by their timetable when asked about the August deadline.
BUDGET DIRECTOR PETER ORCZAG: “I think the chances are high” to pass the bill by August.
SEC. KATHLEEN SIBELIUS: “We think this can be done; the House and Senate are on track and on time.”
REP. CHARLIE RANGEL: “The president has given us a deadline. We’re working under it. Our committee has reported out a bill.”
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER: “We expect the House and Senate to have passed bills” before leaving Washington.
SEN. KENT CONRAD: The bill will “be through the Finance Committee by the August recess.”
As Republicans seek to derail government-run healthcare plans, a key argument should be against the frantic efforts from Democrats to pass reforms immediately. Conservatives need to clearly articulate the dangers of rushing to pass any particular bill. Appropriate research and scoring needs to be done on legislation that could completely alter all Americans’ healthcare coverage. Prudence, not time, is of the essence.
Sen. Mitch McConnell previewed this argument yesterday:
“This is the same kind of rush-and-spend strategy we saw on the stimulus bill,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, said on “Meet the Press.” Any plan merely hatched among Democrats to meet a deadline “shouldn’t pass at any point, either before the August recess or later in the year.”
“What we need to come up with is a truly bipartisan proposal,” he said.
As voters grow weary of the Democratic Congress’ “spend, spend, spend” strategy, talking points that compare the unnecessary rush to pass a healthcare bill by August to the failed stimulus plan will resonate. Republicans can use this approach to delay action until after recess, and while lawmakers are in their districts, the party committees and third party groups should hammer the weaknesses of the bill. Americans want to control costs and keep taxes low. Neither of these are true of the current legislation. This is a winnable debate that the GOP should force into the fall.