Today in Washington D. C. - July 7, 2009 - Empty Promises

Senate will begin consideration of the fiscal year 2010 Homeland Security appropriations bill, H.R. 2892. Sadly, Al Franken will be sworn in today as senator for the state of Minnesota. Yesterday, the Senate passed the fiscal year 2010 Legislative Branch appropriations bill, H.R. 2918, by a vote of 67-25 after refusing an amendment from Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to strip an earmark from the bill providing money to a museum in Nebraska.

Socialized Health Care: As we learn more about the mistakes made when the administration and Democrats in Congress rushed the costly stimulus bill to approval, Americans are rightly concerned about a similar rush on health care legislation.

Today, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell reminded Americans about the way the stimulus bill was passed. “Earlier this year, advocates of the stimulus said that the bill had to pass right away, with minimal scrutiny and minimal bipartisan support. They gave the American people less than 24 hours to review one of the costliest pieces of legislation in history, and then they hoped for a good result. The reason for the rush is clear. Proponents of the stimulus were concerned that public support would start to fade if people got a closer look at the details. So they short-changed the debate and overpromised on results. And now their predictions are coming back to them.”

Back in February, Americans were told that the economy would face “catastrophe” without swift passage of the $787 billion stimulus bill. President Obama said, “if we don’t act immediately, then millions more jobs will disappear [and] the national unemployment rates will approach double digits . . . .” The administration predicted the unemployment rate would not exceed 8% if the stimulus passed, but it stands at 9.5% today. The administration predicted the stimulus would create up to 4 million jobs, but the AP writes, “Since Obama signed the $787 billion economic stimulus bill in February, the economy has shed more than 2 million jobs.” The administration promised “unprecedented responsibility” in stimulus spending, but Vice President Joe Biden admitted last month, “We know some of this money is going to be wasted … Some people are being scammed already.”

Asked about the promises made on the stimulus bill, compared to the economic reality on Sunday, Biden said, “We misread how bad the economy was.” Sen. McConnell added today, “These were costly mistakes, and we can’t take them back. . . . [N]ow that Americans are hearing the same kinds of arguments about health care that we heard about the stimulus, the taxpayer antenna should go up.” Indeed, the administration has already begun making promises it clearly cannot keep. Obama said last month, “[W]e must preserve what is best about our health care system, and that means allowing Americans who like their doctors and their health care plans to keep them.” But according to the AP, “[N]o president could guarantee such a pledge.” And several news outlets pointed out that Obama “had to concede” that “he wasn’t saying ‘no one’ will take away any American’s health insurance” under his government plan.

The Washington Post noted that despite assurances during the campaign that middle-class voters would not see a tax increase, the White House has refused to rule out “a tax hike on health insurance plans that would hit middle-income Americans.” And The Wall Street Journal noted, “A proposal in the Senate to limit tax deductions for medical costs would fall hardest on middle-income taxpayers who are uninsured and who come up against expensive health problems.” Bloomberg features a story today titled, “Obama’s Health Plan Sparks Unease Among Nation’s Middle Class.” The story includes Strawberry Point, Iowa resident Shelly Syverson’s observation, “The middle class always get stuck paying for everything.”

Sen. McConnell explained today, “Americans who are now waking up to headlines about the problems with the stimulus don’t want to be told a few months from now that the people who sold them a government-run health care system misread the state of our health care industry, or that the health care plan they’re proposing was based on faulty assumptions. . . . On the stimulus, Americans saw what happens when Democrats rush and spend. When it comes to health care, they are demanding we take the time to get it right.”

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