GOP Bullshit: Amending the bill

Anyone who has read my previous posts about the health insurance reform knows that while I support the passage at this point, I am no fan of the bill in its current form. The absence of a single payer system, or the dropping of the public option are two big failings for anything trying to be "health care reform." That being said, the bill has come this far and needs to get through the Senate with, or without GOP votes.

Making sure that they earn their status as the party of "No!" Republican senators have been introducing a slew of, frankly, common sense amendments to the current legislation. Is it because they realize that this is happening and they should not try to offer some constructive measures to improve it? Is it because they truly care about Americans' access to quality, affordable health care? If only that were the case. These insurance company backed weasels are offering these amendments because they know that if ANY of their amendments should pass, the whole bill will need to go back to the House for yet another vote, further threatening the likelihood of the reconciliation fixes taking place, which will allow them to keep tossing around terms like "corn-husker kickback", "gator aid", and "the Louisiana purchase."

Ultimately, even if their amendments are added to the bill they still aren't going to vote for the reconciliation. We can see the evidence for that in the original Senate bill HR. 3590 which did contain some Republican amendments but in the end, not a single Republican senator voted for it. So, if they aren't going to vote for it, no matter what amendments are allowed into the bill, because they are determined to say "No" to the American people and "Yes" to the insurance company lobbyists, then why should any of their amendments be considered? The GOP has no political interest in seeing this reform have a positive impact on the American people. In fact, the worse it is in the end, the better their political futures, so one must recognize that any action taken at this point is to delay, weaken, or kill the bill. It would be tantamount to allowing Toyota executives select the brake pedal manufacturers for GM.