What is "rushing"?
10 days (Republican Congress on Iraq and Tax Cuts)
vs
70 years (Democrats on Health Care)
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http://tinyurl.com/Rushing-10-days-vs-70-years
copyright Lee Tilson 2009The Republican creators of the "10 Day Standard" for Congressional action criticize reformers who finally get change after 451 hearings over 70 years as "rushing. LINK Where is the press?
The Republican criticism is absurd. How is holding 451 hearings over 70 years "rushing"? Why does the media let them get away with this?
Congress has spent over 70 years holding 451 hearings on health care reform, http://tinyurl.com/hearings-on-health-care
175 hearings during Democratic administrations (Roosevelt: 8 hearings, Truman: 71, Carter: 11, and Clinton 85) and
276 during Republican administrations (Eisenhower: 19, Nixon: 73, Ford: 56, Reagan: 22, Bush 1st: 77, Bush 2nd: 29). The Republicans call this "rushing." http://tinyurl.com/McConnell-Misinforms
Why is the press giving the Republicans a free pass on the claim that healthcare is being "rushed" through Congress?
The Republicans set a 10 day standard for important legislation:
Decision to Invade Iraq: H.J.Res.114 9 days from Oct. 2 to 11, 2002;
First Bush Tax Cut: H.R. 1836 11 days from May 15 to 26, 2001;
Second Bush Tax Cut: H.R. 2 10 days
(after Sen. Grassley's May 15, 2003 amendment gutted the first version of the bill).
In fact, in 1912, it was Republican Theodore Roosevelt who introduced health care reform to the national debate. The first true champion of health care reform was Republican Secretary of the Interior and AMA President Dr Ray Lyman Wilbur. (See the 1928-32 publications of 28 volumes by Wilbur's Committee on the Costs of Medical Care).
The authors of the 10 day standard criticize those who finally achieve change after 450+ hearings over 70 years as "rushing." Where is the press?
Lee Tilson
Detroit
Michigan
