Source: AP
WASHINGTON — Even as Republicans pummel President Barack Obama's health care proposals, some GOP leaders worry their party is being hurt by a Democratic counterattack: Where is your plan?
Republican leaders chose not to draft their own comprehensive bill, focusing instead on attacking Democrats' plans as too costly and bureaucratic. Some prominent Republicans now fear they are getting tagged as the "party of no," and they want the GOP to offer more solutions to the nation's health care problems.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a potential GOP presidential contender in 2012, said it's time for Republicans "to pivot and say, in addition to emphasizing what we oppose, here are our proposals" for health care. The two parties can agree on some important improvements, he said in an interview Thursday, but Democrats must trim their proposed costs.
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Privately, Republican lawmakers have debated the pros and cons of offering their own comprehensive legislation in the Democratic-controlled Congress. A leader on the issue, Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said on June 17, "I guarantee you, we will bring you a bill that costs far less, far less than the Democrats' and will provide better results for the American people."
A month later, Blunt seemed to have changed his mind.
"Our bill is never going to get to the floor," he wrote in a blog, "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?"
