Baucus: We Hire Experts

From America's Right:

“We Hire Experts”


August 26, 2010 by Jeff Schreiber

Filed under Assigned Reading

3 Comments

Washington Examiner: Max Baucus, Author of ObamaCare, Admits He Never Read His Own Bill



“We’ve got a long way to go, but we’ve made great progress here,” Baucus told the crowd of about 40 gathered at Libby City Hall. [...]



Judy Matott asked Baucus if he would work to improve Libby’s image, and then asked him and Sebelius, “if either of you read the health care bill before it was passed and if not, that is the most despicable, irresponsible thing.”



Baucus replied that if Libby residents assembled an economic development plan, he would do what he could to help, and he took credit for “essentially” writing the health care bill that passed the Senate.



“I don’t think you want me to waste my time to read every page of the health care bill. You know why? It’s statutory language,” Baucus said. “We hire experts.”



“It’s not perfect, nothing’s perfect, but I’m telling you, ma’am, it’s a good start,” Baucus said. “Mark my words, several years from now you’re going to look back and say, ‘eh, maybe it isn’t so bad.’”



Last I checked, nowhere in the United States Constitution is Congress authorized to legislate “just for the hell of it.” As much as I celebrate congressional vacation time because I know for certain that people like Max Baucus are nowhere near Capitol Hill, when Congress is in session everyone involved needs to understand that they’ve been elected to represent people, not to dine on foie gras while so-called “experts” determine and oversee the future of the nation.



What amazes me is that he actually justifies his incompetence and malfeasance by citing the extreme length of the health care reform bill. It’s as if he’s saying, “that darned thing was more than 2,400 pages long, folks … if I read all of that, I won’t have time for cocktail hour.” Now, perhaps I’m oversimplifying things, but perhaps folks like Baucus should look into avoiding Tolstoy-esque legislation in the future.



Please recall that, in November 2009, House Republicans released a plan of their own for health care reform, the Affordable Health Care for America Act. It focused on modest tort reform, the facilitation of interstate competition among health insurance providers, increasing incentives for states to bring down premium costs, and on individuals’ increased use of health savings accounts. In total, the Republican plan topped out at roughly 230 pages–no longer than most books on Oprah’s reading list–and according to the Congressional Budget Office would have had a ten-year cost to taxpayers of only $61 billion while cutting the deficit by $68 billion — the [unread] plan put forth by Democrats stood at well over 2,000 pages in length and was scored by the CBO and other organizations at anywhere from $1.05 trillion to $2 trillion.



We need to do better. America deserves better than “eh, maybe it isn’t so bad.”