Partisan Jabs Continue in Health Care Fight
"It's not where I get them to compromise, it's what I get them to leave out," Sen. Mike Enzi, a Republican from Wyoming, told a crowd of about 500 in the town of Gillette on Monday, the Associated Press reports.
Enzi is one of six senators from the Senate Finance Committee (referred to as the "gang of six") working on creating a health care bill that could win some Republican support.
The senator reportedly said he still believes Republicans and Democrats can work together to create access to affordable health insurance, but he took a more partisan tone after state representatives and citizens at the town hall said they disapproved of his attempts at compromise.
"If I hadn't been involved in this process as long as I have and to the depth as I have, you would already have national health care," Enzi said, the Gillete News-Record reports. "Someone has to be at the table asking questions."
He later added, "If you're not at the table, you're on the menu."
Enzi is not the only Republican in the gang of six to indicate the group's discussions may be fruitless. Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, has blasted President Obama's health care plans, telling citizens they "have every right to fear" government health care reform. Both Enzi and Grassley have said they would only vote for a bill that received significant Republican support -- an outcome that is very unlikely.
Earlier this week, Sen. Jeff Bingaman, a New Mexico Democrat in the gang of six, told a town hall crowd that that he would support passing health care reform through reconciliation -- a voting procedure for budget-related items that only requires a simple majority.
Using reconciliation to pass health care reform would be a last resort of sorts for Democrats to turn to if they could not win any Republican votes. There is some debate as to whether major components of health care reform could be passed through the process, since Senate rules dictate that only budgetary items may be considered through reconciliation. Democrats have set October 15 as the date on which they may consider using reconciliation for health care reform.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Wednesday indicated reconciliation may be in the cards. At a Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce meeting, the Democratic leader acknowledged the possiblity of using the procedure but said it would only accomplish about 65 percent of Democrats' goals for reform, the Las Vegas Sun reports.
Reid said Democrats would only work with Republicans for "a few weeks" more after its August recess on health care.
The death of Sen. Ted Kennedy, one of health care reform's strongest proponents, has left a void in the debate, but it has yet to be seen whether his death could serve to remind people to avoid partisan acrimony and press the discussoin forward.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Wednesday tried to maintain a civil discussion at a Phoenix town hall and ended up kicking out one woman who would not stop shouting.