Where, oh where, can the GOP ideas be? Killed by the Dems...

There has been a cry for the GOP's ideas to reform health care . "Where are their ideas?" -- "all they say is no" -- "they don't really want reform" --"they want the status quo" - all sorts of accusations have been bandied about by the left and the Prez.

I think the real problem is that even though the Republicans have similar goals -- we agree on 80% of this stuff, right? -- curiously, when they offer amendments or legislation that will ensure the promises that the Prez and the Dems have made, their efforts are quashed.

Why haven't most folks heard about them? Because the mainstream media isn't reporting on it. Of course, it could be because they feel that bills and amendments shot down by Democratic-controlled committees or blocked from the floor by Nancy Pelosi aren't newsworthy.

But there are plenty of GOP ideas being reported in stories from news outlets that may not be on every leftie's reading list. (I like this article from Real Clear Markets.)

For example:

• Rep. John Shaddeg (R-AZ) presented a bill (H.R. 3217) that would allow purchasing health insurance across state lines, dramatically affecting competitive forces in the insurance market. But the bill lies dormant in the Energy and Commerce Committee. This is puzzling, given that PBO's "guiding principle" relies on market forces and increased competition to relieve problems.

• Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) offered an amendment in the Energy and Commerce Committee that fell in line with PBO'S promise that "I will make sure that no government bureaucrat or insurance company bureaucrat gets between you and the care that you need." Gingrey's amendment would explicitly prohibit federal officials from making those type of decisions. Waxman and co. killed the amendment.

• Sometimes the GOP has reservations based on forecasts, so they want to add provisions as a safety net. Republicans fear that the employer mandate will cause a loss of 1.6B jobs. So Reps. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) and Wally Herger (R-CA) came up with the idea of suspending the mandate if unemployment reaches 10 percent. Both their amendments were killed in committee. (Another congressman tried the idea of allowing businesses that befall hardship from the mandate to appeal for an exemption -- again, thumbs down from Dems.)

• Rep. Buck McKeon (R-CA) tossed an amendment in the ring that would allow small businesses to band together to buy health care coverage at a lower cost. Defeated in Ways and Means.

So many other amendments that would have addressed public concerns and help keep PBO's promises -- about no additional deficit, no "comparative effectiveness research" and most notably more than one amendment that would have ensured -- as the President has explicitly promised -- that no funds would be used to provide abortions: One by one, like ducks at a shooting gallery. Blam, blam, blam.

But this has been going on since the onset of this administration, not just since the h.c. bill raised its gargantuan head. Back in January, Senator and physician Tom Coburn (R - OK) proposed legislation that would have provided private health insurance options for families with children enrolled in SCHIP and another that would have provided lower income families a choice of health care insurance options for their children rather than just government-run programs. The amendments were both rejected by a vote of 36 to 62 with no Democrats supporting them.

So who exactly is saying no to everything, who exactly has been opposed to bipartisan cooperation from the beginning?

Some other ideas from the GOP you may not have heard about: They have been calling for insurance portability so you don't lose your insurance when change jobs. Respected former Senator (andphysician) Bill Frist has touted programs that attack our nation's number one health concern -- obesity. Why haven't these ideas been acknowledged?

The Prez did give credit to McCain for suggesting high-risk pools for pre-existing conditions (although McCain wanted them state-based and the Prez wants a federal pool) but everyone continues to declare that there are no ideas coming from the GOP.

But for me the big cahuna is TORT REFORM -- which the Prez has finally given lip service to, mentioning trying out some pilot programs. Well, we already have two huge programs that have had great success in California and Texas. These programs have reduced insurance premiums 20-40%. No need for any further studies -- this aspect of reform which has been on the docket of every GOP member of Congress from the get-go needs to be included now.

There has been political posturing on both sides, and bipartisan obstruction of progress. Big money has been throwing their weight around in their best interests.

There is a lot of work to be done -- I suggest we quit talking about firm deadlines and start over, taking reform in small chunks. But the first notion we need to throw out the door is that the GOP has no ideas and that they are opposed to reform. Then maybe we can start to get something done.

Comments

[ChunLing]

Well, I tend to take the view that anything that increases the scarcity of life increases the value of it. So a society that devalues life needs to encounter scarcity where it hurts.

For all of that, I still can't actually get behind something that's so blatantly unconstitutional as Obamacare. I guess killing the baby boomers is going to have to take a backseat to preserving the Constitution.

Or so I say....