Yesterday, the Senate Finance Committee voted to reject two separate healthcare reform measures introduced by Charles Schumer and Jay Rockefeller respectively. Both proposals would have added a public plan option to a pending bill.
During the hearing, Republican senators, undaunted by truth and consistency, blasted "government-run" healthcare. Apparently tired of the hypocrisy, Schumer asked Senator Grassley (the King of Hypocrites in this area) whether he supported Medicare - which is a public (i.e., government-run) health plan.
Initially, Grassley tried to obscure the governmental nature of Medicare by describing it as "part of the social fabric of America." That is a patently weak answer. Medicare only became a part of the "fabric of America" due to federal regulation, and conservatives opposed the implementation of Medicare by describing it as "socialized medicine." Grassley, however, eventually conceded that Medicare is a government-run plan.
Thanks to TPM, here are Grassley's comments:
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