In clumsy attempt to shiv Republicans while trying to look evenhanded, manages to stick knife into own foot

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Republicans have been trying to pass tort reform for years – stymied by TLA sock puppets Democrats. To my knowledge, Republicans have for years ALSO been at least talking about other ways of actually lowering medical costs, along with things like insurance portability.
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Since the current Congress has convened, and Democrats began to advance their plan to take over and wreck the whole national health care system, Republicans have offered for consideration no less than 3 separate plans:

• Patients Choice Act of 2009, May 20 by Sen Coburn et al, 130 pages.
• Health Care Freedom Act of 2009, June 23 by Sen DeMint, 82 pages.
• Empowering Patients First Act, July 30, by House RSC Chair Tom Price, 130 pages.

But to hear AP’s Erica Werner, you’d think the House GOP had finally gotten around to writing a “draft bill” of their own – and mainly just to blunt criticism for that “party of no” charge. Isn’t it nice to be finally noticed by Pravda?

She sets the proper tone here:

After months spent criticizing Democrats’ health overhaul plans, House Republicans have produced a draft proposal of their own. It’s much shorter and focuses on bringing down costs rather than extending coverage to nearly all Americans.

Because, you know, those mean Republicans really don’t want poor people to get coverage, they want to lower medical costs. Which……won’t help poor peo……..
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Hey, wait a minute. What?

A 230-page draft was obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press.

Republicans weren’t trying to hide it from the public? What the…..

The bill leaves out a number of the key features of the Democrats’ 1,990-page legislation

No.
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Really?
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Probably that “costs $1.2 trillion” part.
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Or maybe that “creates 111 new bureaucracies” part
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Just sayin’.

Instead, the Republican plan increases incentives for people to use health savings accounts, caps non-economic jury awards in medical malpractice cases at $250,000, provides various incentives to states with the aim of driving down premium costs and allows health insurance to be sold across state lines.

Driving down premium costs. That’s like, un-American, isn’t it?

Democrats immediately dismissed the Republican plan as insubstantial.

Apparently fails their “has to be at least 1000 pages”, and “must tax the crap out of high earners and employers” litmus tests.

The GOP alternative “does little to provide security and stability to all Americans, doesn’t provide insurance availability for all Americans, does little to expand access to coverage,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters.

“Ours is vastly superior and we think the American public will think that,” Hoyer said.

Would that be the “bill you are scared to show the American people”, Steny?
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That “vastly superior” one?

The Republican bill includes a permanent ban on any federal funding for abortions except in cases of rape, incest or threat to the life of the mother, stronger language than the Democratic bill,

“Stronger language”.
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That’s funny, right?
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I guess “mentioning it” is stronger language than “not mentioning it”.

Across the Capitol, senators are waiting to see the final language and price tag on a health bill that Majority Leader Harry Reid and a few other top officials wrote in secret. It’s not clear when those details will be available and Reid, D-Nev., may not be able to begin debate on the issue until the week before Thanksgiving.

“Senators are waiting to see”
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“top officials wrote in secret”
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“not clear when those details will be available”
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And yet, the AP got a copy of the Republican proposal, by……making a phone call to Boehner.
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Yeah, I don’t see anything interesting about that either.