Corker gives gloomy diagnosis for health care overhaul bill
U.S. Sen. Bob Corker had a gloom-and-doom diagnosis for Democrat-sponsored Senate health care reform legislation at a town hall meeting in downtown Elizabethton on Wednesday.
“If Republicans crafted a (health care reform) bill exactly like the bill that is coming before us, word for word … there wouldn’t be a single Democratic vote for that bill…†the Tennessee Republican told about 100 people inside the Coffee Company. “Many of the people in the Senate are looking at this as having to do with this presidency (of Democrat Barack Obama) and saving this presidency instead of realizing the basic fundamentals of this bill are wrong. … I believe this president truly believes government can solve most all problems. That’s a place I’m not comfortable with at all.â€
Now that the House has passed one health care reform measure with a government-run public health plan, at least two other proposals are being debated in the Senate.
One idea floated by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada would allow states to “opt out†of a government-run health plan.
As he was leaving to go to another town hall meeting in Mountain City, Corker said Reid is using the idea “to count votes†in the Senate.
“He’s trying to figure out about the public option what gets people in or loses votes. … He’s doing this literally behind closed doors,†Corker said of Reid.
A $1 trillion Senate Finance Committee bill calls for creating state health exchanges and imposing an excise tax on people without essential health benefits coverage, and on employers who fail to meet health insurance coverage requirements for full-time employees.
Corker pointed out flaws in each measure and told the crowd he would not vote for federally funded abortions or a government-run health plan “in any form.â€
Unfunded Medicaid costs total $735 million in the Senate Finance bill and $1.35 billion under the House bill, Corker noted.
Corker said the Senate Finance bill also seeks to take more than $400 billion out of Medicare, the federal health care program for seniors, by 2017.
He also pointed to a Blue Cross/Blue Shield-sponsored study saying insurance rates would be driven up 60 percent within five years under the Senate Finance bill.
Corker, instead, advocated tort reform, across-the-border competition among insurance companies, and tax incentives for those buying health insurance.
“The fact that an individual who buys health insurance with their own dollars and doesn’t get it from their company and has to pay for health insurance with after-tax dollars, but if you work at a company you get it with pre-tax dollars, that is something we should have fixed a long time ago,†Corker said.
Corker has done town hall meetings on health care reform in more than 30 counties, and did three in Northeast Tennessee on Wednesday.
“These town hall meetings used to be hard to get people to come to,†Corker said as he looked out at a filled dining room. “Our country has awakened, if you will. … I really do believe the reason many of you are coming out … is you feel like our government is out of control.
“I believe we are experiencing in Washington, and we have been for some time … I think this is the most selfish generation of political leadership that our country has ever seen.â€
That remark won applause, but Corker said he noticed people started looking uncomfortable when he said Republican lawmakers added $8 trillion to the national debt after establishing a Medicare drug benefit in 2003.
“I think what we’re getting ready to do with health care is even worse,†Corker said.
Watch the video related to health care reform bill
September 13, 2009 3:11 am 
By TomStar81, September 13, 2009 @ 3:28 am
Yes you are talking about TORT reform. the Democrats do not want to touch the Lawyers. it seems the Lawyers are in the democrats pocket.*
By Tracy Turnblad, September 13, 2009 @ 4:56 am
First of all, Obama wants to make insurance more available to all and change the system so that it is cheaper. He also wants change so that the insurance companies find it harder to get out of paying for treatment. The system he is proposing looks similar to that which works in Holland and Switzerland where private companies are involved in providing insurance.
Second, of course universal health-cover sucks. That is why we in Western Europe have it. We think, hmm, our healthcare system sucks. I know, lets keep it. I guess that is the same with Japan and Canada as well.
Third, Obama campaigned on reforming the healthcare system. He said he wanted to make insurance more available and he was elected by the American people to do this.
FACT – the US has higher death rates for kids both for kids aged under one and those under five than western European countries with universal health coverage.
FACT – American insurance companies push up prices and work to stop paying out claims on those they cover.
FACT – the USA spends more on healthcare PER PERSON than any other nation on the planet.
That means that a dead American four year old would have had a better chance of life if they were born in Canada, France, Cuba, Germany, Japan etc, all of which have universal health coverage.
Last of all if you do not like the policies that Obama was elected to bring in, he can always be voted out of office in 2012.
By URL Shortener, September 13, 2009 @ 3:13 am
I guess that’d be almost as good as the military jailing everyone. We need someone to recover all the money these politicians have stolen from US ! doughboy
By Youtube Downloader, September 13, 2009 @ 3:54 am
Democrats currently control Congress, (the Senate and the House of Representatives), as well as the WH.
MANY voters are looking forward to voting a LOT of folks OUT in 2010 and also looking forward to voting in 2012!!!
By Anonymous, September 13, 2009 @ 9:06 am
Thank you for this video!!!
By skinnyblink7, September 13, 2009 @ 6:51 pm
the new york times has an interactive feature which is actually very clear to understand. check it out.
By The Conservative Resistance, September 13, 2009 @ 9:35 pm
Under any Democrat President in history, the same M.O. emerges.
The Democrats "identify" a "crisis" and whip the people up into a frenzy about it. They proclaim themselves the carriers of the elixir that will heroically save all mankind from this "crisis.'' When Republicans seek to oppose the spending it will take for this elixir, they are automatically called hate mongers and obstructionists.
Clinton tried it with school lunch menus. He whipped that whole thing into some kind of "crisis." The Democrats wanted to raise the program by 10% and the Republicans wanted to raise it by 7%. That got reported in the media as a 3% CUT by Republicans. Only when a Democrat is President could an INCREASE be reported as a CUT. Just to make Republicans look bad, but too many people buy into the bullshit.
Al Gore, who wasn't even President, tried it with global warming and it didn't work. Today, it's health care. What'll it be tomorrow? The whole "world is ending in 2012" thing, or what?
By Youtube Downloader, September 13, 2009 @ 11:23 pm
I don’t know why the republicans don’t call on the Military to take over Washington to protect Our Constitution and jail all those who are stealing Our Country right from under US ! Like obama, pelosi, frank, dodd, boxer, waters etc and all those who are riding on that bus. doughboy
By Short, Fast, and Loud, September 15, 2009 @ 10:07 pm
Obama does not have a bill. He has only given guidelines to what he wants. His last address made it more specific.
The bills in congress are not healthcare bills. They are health coverage bills. The government is trying to take control of a large portion of our economy. They are trying to make it so the government is a single payer source (I know i will get thumbs down for this, but follow hr3200 to its logical conclusion).
The current bills want to cover everybody in the US (Illegals too, there is nothing in these bills to prevent illegals from being covered. Amendments to ensure citizenship were tabled)
The federal government wants to punish you for not having insurance (they will get your money one way or another)
The government wants to regulate what care you will get. (When the system becomes overblaoted as any government system does, they will have 2 options increase taxes or ration care)
I know that there are a lot of people that will disagree with this. If they actually read the bills, and follow to there logical conclusions, in 10 years we will be a whole lot worse of than we are now. So doing nothing would actually be cheaper.
Reform must actually deal with the underlaying problems. HR 320o does not. Obama gave lip service to 1 of them.