Request for List of Earmarks in $2.5 Trillion Senate Health Care

[PegLeg45]

Isakson, Chambliss Request List of Earmarks in $2.5 Trillion Senate Health Care Bill

Urge Democratic Leader to Comply with Open Government Act of 2007
Jan 12 2010

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., today joined 21 of their Senate Republican colleagues in signing a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., asking him to provide a list of all earmarks and congressional directed spending in the Senate health care bill, as well as in any future version of the health care bill that House and Senate Democrats might push to a vote.

Isakson and Chambliss have repeatedly criticized the lack of transparency throughout the process of drafting the $2.5 trillion health care bill, as well as the backroom deals that Reid made with certain Senate Democrats in order to secure their votes.

The text of the letter is below:

Dear Majority Leader Reid,

We write to express our concern over the inclusion of several provisions in the Manager's Amendment to The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Since the nearly 400 page amendment was introduced, we discovered over half a dozen provisions that appear to have been included for the primary purpose of benefitting some states in particular. Though your office has referred to these provisions as "a normal part of the legislative process," we are concerned that the inclusion of these items without appropriate disclosure may violate The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007.

The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-81) changed Senate rules to enhance transparency in the legislative process. The relevant change requires any amendment sponsor to publicly disclose each congressionally directed spending item and limited tax benefit included in that amendment. The design of this provision was to ensure that the American people know which lawmakers advocated for specific carve outs and earmarks.

It is clear that the Manager's Amendment, in addition to the underlying bill, includes specific provisions which benefit some states and not others. We therefore ask you, as the sponsor of the Manager's Amendment and underlying bill, to provide a list of all earmarks and congressional directed spending as required by The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007.  We request this information be shared with our offices and posted on the majority's website within 24 hours.

Finally, we anticipate that in coming weeks you and Speaker Pelosi will introduce a bill combining the House and Senate health bills.  Upon the introduction of that bill we request a similar list of provisions, as required by The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007, be shared with our offices and posted on the majority's website within 24 hours.

The American people deserve a transparent Congressional process.  All Americans should know which States and entities will benefit from Congressional negotiations related to the health bills and amendments.

http://chambliss.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=4c623479-64a5-4338-80ae-62fc2b050ade&ContentType_id=5c81ba67-be20-4229-a615-966ecb0ccad6&Group_id=29a81778-8944-46e0-a550-9d034534e70a

[twyacht]

Harry Reid could care less about providing "openness" and fulfilling the "transparency" promise of the POTUS, and Congress.....

We'll see....

Rat Bastards....

[Teresa Heilevang]

http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/starner.asp

Dr. Starner Jones.
 His short two-paragraph letter to the White House accurately puts the blame on a "Culture  Crisis" instead of a "Health Care Crisis". 
It's worth a quick read:

     
                           Dear Mr. President:

 During my shift in the Emergency Room last  night,  I had the pleasure of evaluating a patient whose smile revealed an expensive shiny gold tooth, whose body was adorned with a wide assortment of elaborate and costly tattoos, who wore a very expensive brand of tennis shoes and who chatted on a new cellular telephone equipped with a popular R&B ringtone.

        While glancing over her patient chart, I happened to notice that her payer status was listed as "Medicaid"! During my examination of her, the patient informed me that she smokes more than one costly pack of cigarettes every day and somehow still has money to buy pretzels and beer.

   And, you and our Congress expect me to pay for this woman's health care?  I contend that o ur nation's "health care crisis" is  not the result of a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses. Rather, it is the result of  a "crisis of culture",  a culture in whichit is perfectly acceptable to spend money on  luxuries and vices while refusing to take care of one's self or, heaven forbid, purchase health insurance.  It is a culture based in the irresponsible credo that "I can do whatever I want to because someone else will always take care of me".

        Once you fix this  "culture crisis" that rewards irresponsibility and dependency, you'll be amazed at how quickly our nation's health care difficulties will disappear.

        Respectfully,

        STARNER JONES,  MD