The GOP Health Care Plan

First let me introduce you to Roy Blunt. This is just in case you don't remember who he is or don't know him.

From Wikipedia we have this:

Blunt has been married twice. He married Roseann Ray in May 1967, and with her had three children: Matt (the former governor of Missouri), Amy Blunt Mosby, and Andrew Blunt. Amy and Andrew are lawyers and lobbyists. They divorced after 35 years of marriage. Afterward, he married Abigail Perlman, a lobbyist for Kraft Foods,on October 18, 2003.

That's a little about his personal life... As you see he is a fine example of the GOP, first as a Christian Conservative, he had an affair with, then divorced his wife and married his favorite Lobbyist. I removed the names of the grandchildren and the adopted son of Roy and his 2nd wife because I don't believe minor children should be involved in this.

Next we get into his political life.. and again I go back to Wikipedia, yes I know this can sometimes be unreliable, but in this instance, they are very accurate in their depiction of Mr. Blunt. So, back to the telling:

Blunt entered politics in 1972, when he was elected county clerk and chief election official of Greene County, Missouri (whereSpringfield is located). Blunt was the Republican nominee for Missouri lieutenant governor in 1980, but lost to Democrat Ken Rothman. He served as Greene County clerk until 1984, when he was elected Missouri secretary of state — the first Republican to hold that post in 50 years.
He ran unsuccessfully for governor of Missouri in 1992, losing the Republican primary to Missouri Attorney General William L. Webster.
From 1993 to 1996, Blunt was president of Southwest Baptist University, his alma mater.
Blunt was first elected to Congress in 1996, when incumbent Representative Mel Hancock honored his pledge to serve only four terms. Blunt's district, one of the most Republican districts in the country, is located in the Ozark Mountains of southwestern Missouri, a district that includes Springfield and Joplin.
Upon entering the House, Blunt served on the International Relations Committee, the Committee on Agriculture and the Transportation Committee. In 1999, he gave up seats on the latter two committees and joined the powerful Committee on Energy and Commerce. He has also served on the Republican Conference Steering Committee since his election to the House. That committee determines to which committees Republican Members are assigned and elevates members to positions of ranking member or chairman.
After only one term, Blunt was appointed as chief deputy whip, the highest appointed position in the House Republican Caucus. In that capacity, he served as the Republicans' chief vote-counter. When Dick Armey retired and fellow Texan DeLay was elected to succeed him, Blunt was elected to succeed DeLay as majority whip.
On January 8, 2006, one day after DeLay announced that he would not seek to regain his position, Blunt announced he would run to permanently replace DeLay. On January 14, 2006, he issued a release claiming that the majority of the Republican caucus had endorsed him as DeLay's successor.However, when the election was held by secret ballot on February 2, 2006, Boehner won on the second ballot, with 122 votes to 109 for Blunt. In November 2006 he was elected by the House Republicans to their second highest position for the 110th Congress, the Republican whip, defeating Representative Shadegg of Arizona handily.
Since he was first elected in 1996, Blunt has been reelected five times without significant opposition. In the 2004 House election, he received 70.4 percent of the vote.Blunt's political action committee is the Rely on Your Beliefs Fund.

Okay, I think we are up to snuff on Mr Blunt.. oh, except for one thing.. He stepped down from the Whip position earlier this year... and let his 2nd in command step up.. you know who that is.. that fresh faced young man who likes Brittney Spears.. Eric Cantor.

So, now, we are all up to date, and you know who Mr. Blunt is and how important he thinks he is.

Now, lets tell a story.

Earlier this year, the president said he wanted to have a meeting in the White House and start a forum to get people together, Doctors, Hospitals, Nurses, the AMA, and every other interested party including Democrats and Republicans to sit down and discuss Health Care Reform. The first meeting was had and it kicked off the final result we see now working it's way through Congress now. We call it making sausage and although it is messy and nasty it is a process and it has to be done.

Well, the Republicans have said all along they didn't like the plan that the president and the democrats in Congress had put forward, even though there are 160 amendments that are from the republicans. So, starting on February 4th Roy Blunt, stated this:

"Through this working group, Republicans will develop real solutions to improve our health care system.."

That was the first promise made.. notice that date.. February 4th, 2009. Now, from Fired Up! Missouri comes this listing of the Timeline of Roy Blunt's broken promises of real Health Care Reform from the Republicans and the GOP. And this is just a partial list. But, now, they want to say, wait, what is the rush, why are we in such a hurry, we need to slow down. Not just Roy Blunt, but all the Republicans.

So, here is the list, and the links to back up each claim of a promise made. You can check them out and see what promises they made. How can anyone still trust these people? They lied us into a war in Iraq, they have ruined our economy and finally we are starting to see some come back with it, but only through the efforts of our president, and now they want to derail Health Care.. We can't let them.. You have to help push back on this.. Call your Senator or Representative this week and let them know how you feel, even if they are a Republican, call them and tell them. Yes, it may not help but it will make you feel better and it will still get your point across.

Here is the list..Don't forget the one I listed above, just look at the broken promises from the Republicans:

 

Broken Promise, March 8: "Republicans will lead the effort to make health care work for Americans. We'll also lead the fight against any proposals that undermine your ability to get the treatment the doctor you choose recommends."

Broken Promise, March 12: "The group is crafting policy proposals to increase Americans’ access to quality, affordable health care..."
 
Broken Promise, May 11: "We’re looking forward to crafting bipartisan legislation to improve health care for all Americans.”
 
Broken Promise, May 11: "Rep. Roy Blunt (Mo.), who is helming the House GOP’s healthcare task force, said Monday that he wants to provide his colleagues with an alternative reform proposal before Congress recesses for Memorial Day."
 
Audacious Statement, June 2: "No report or headline can take the place of a comprehensive plan - and that is what we have yet to see from the White House..."
 
Broken Promise, June 8: "House Republicans plan to unveil their own alternative healthcare legislation in the coming weeks and Blunt pledged that it will cost substantially less than the Democratic proposals."
 
Broken Promise, June 11: "GOP offers constructive options to improve access to health care"
 
Broken Promise, June 16: "House Republicans will unveil their version of healthcare legislation on Wednesday, Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Tuesday, timing the release to coincide with the start of the Senate markup...The lead architect of the bill is former Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.)."
 
Broken Promise, June 17: "When the details are drafted in the coming weeks,they would present a plan that 'costs far less than the Democrats’ [plan] and provides better results for the American people.'"
 
Broken Promise, June 17: "We believe we can come up with a plan where every person in the uninsured has access to insurance."
 
Broken Promise, June 25: "We'll continue that outreach [to Democrats] whiledrafting our own legislation..."
 
False Statement, July 5: "As for Blunt, he said he's focusing on policy changes he believes in, regardless of the political consequences."
 
Broken Promise, July 8: "As we approach this debate on health care, there are Republican principles that have been out there a long time that are going tofollowed this week by legislation..."
 
False Statement, July 10: My plan is "actually much more detailed than their [Democratic] plan has been." 
 
False Statement, July 14: "This week we outlined a thoughtful reform proposal that expands access to quality care at a cost our nation can afford.”
Blunt has unambiguously committed himself to producing a plan that is "actually much more detailed" than other pieces of legislation.

How is he going to talk his way out of this one? Well, let me show you... Here is his statement from the other day....This was on July 10th. We are still waiting on something, anything.

Republicans who had promised last month to offer a healthcare reform alternative are now suggesting no such bill will be introduced.

Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said, “Our bill is never going to get to the floor, so why confuse the focus? We clearly have principles; we could have language, but why start diverting attention from this really bad piece of work they’ve got to whatever we’re offering right now?”

Blunt, who is running for Senate, is chairman of the House GOP Health Care Solutions Group. Cantor made similar comments to The Hill in June, saying Republicans would eventually offer legislative language on healthcare reform.

Now, who are the others in this Health Care Solutions Group.. well let me show you..

Other members of the task force include: Reps. Joe Barton (R-Texas), Judy Biggert (R-Ill.), Charles Boustany (R-La.), Ginny Brown-Waite (R-Fla.), Michael Burgess (R-Texas), Dave Camp (R-Mich.), Nathan Deal (R-Ga.), Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.), Wally Herger (R-Calif.), Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.), Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.), Tim Murphy (R-Pa.), Tom Price (R-Ga.), Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), and John Shadegg (R-Ariz.).

I think most of those names are familiar to everyone. Some of those names really stand out. Big talkers all.. That's all it is too, big talk. I guess you could say, All Talk, No Action.
But then, we find that often with the GOP... All Talk, No Action.. Or in the words of a great American... All Hat, No Cattle