December 21, 2009 9:41 AM
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Bob Corker: Health Care Bill Process Lacks Integrity
Republican Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee said on Monday that the process by which Democratic senators are moving toward passage of a health care bill has "lacked integrity."
The Democrats' bill got 60 votes early this morning to break a Republican filibuster, setting the stage for a vote on final passage Thursday.
Appearing on CBS' "The Early Show" today, Corker admitted that the bill had cleared a big hurdle, but not without also slamming the Democrats.
"I think the process is something that has lacked integrity," he told "Early Show" co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez. "We've taken creative accounting to a level I never thought was imaginable. I think this bill has so many fundamental flaws. No doubt in a bill this long there are some good things in it, but the way this bill has been constructed as it relates to the accounting, the trickery and certainly some of the last-minute deals that were made, shouldn't make the American people feel very good about Congress and that's regretful."
Corker specially zeroed in on concessions made to gain the support of specific senators with appropriations directed toward their states in the bill.
"It's not appropriate that my state or your state or other states around this country pick up the tab for Nebraska, and something similar was done in Vermont, just so two people would sign on to a bill that otherwise they would not have supported," Corker said.
CBSNews.com Special Report: Health Care
You can watch more from the interview in the video above at left.
The Democrats' bill got 60 votes early this morning to break a Republican filibuster, setting the stage for a vote on final passage Thursday.
Appearing on CBS' "The Early Show" today, Corker admitted that the bill had cleared a big hurdle, but not without also slamming the Democrats.
"I think the process is something that has lacked integrity," he told "Early Show" co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez. "We've taken creative accounting to a level I never thought was imaginable. I think this bill has so many fundamental flaws. No doubt in a bill this long there are some good things in it, but the way this bill has been constructed as it relates to the accounting, the trickery and certainly some of the last-minute deals that were made, shouldn't make the American people feel very good about Congress and that's regretful."
Corker specially zeroed in on concessions made to gain the support of specific senators with appropriations directed toward their states in the bill.
"It's not appropriate that my state or your state or other states around this country pick up the tab for Nebraska, and something similar was done in Vermont, just so two people would sign on to a bill that otherwise they would not have supported," Corker said.
CBSNews.com Special Report: Health Care
You can watch more from the interview in the video above at left.
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Kevin Hechtkopf Kevin Hechtkopf is CBSNews.com's politics editor.
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