KYL DOUBLES DOWN: NO GOP SUPPORT FOR REFORM…. This week, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) said “almost all Republicans” are likely to oppose health care reform, no matter how many concessions Democrats make, even if it’s the result of a bipartisan compromise.
Any chance Kyl might try to walk these remarks back? Apparently not. Reader V.S. alerted me to this interview yesterday, in which Kyl talked to Fox News’ Neil Cavuto and doubled down. “For either the bill that passed the House Committee or the bill that passed the HELP committee in the Senate, I don’t think a single Republican in the Senate would support either of those bills,” Kyl said.
When the discussion turned to the possibility of splitting the bill in two — one bill with popular consumer protections, another with more controversial elements — Kyl added that Republicans will reject those bills, too. “That’ll be no deal,” he told Kyl.
It’s worth noting that Kyl isn’t just a member of the Republicans’ Senate leadership, he’s the Minority Whip. In other words, he’s responsible for counting and rounding up votes for the party. If Kyl says there are no GOP votes for reform bills, it’s likely there are no GOP votes for reform.
He went on to say that Democratic reform efforts are intended to “totally change the entire system of health care delivery and insurance in the country,” which further helps demonstrate the fact that Kyl doesn’t really understand what he’s talking about.
Kyl didn’t address specific concessions he’d like to see, but he did say that to get Republican support, Democrats would have to throw away the entire health care reform bill.
I’m not sure what more it’ll take to prove Republican lawmakers aren’t interested in passing reform legislation.
