House Republicans plan a full court press on health care this week, including the release of their own version of a health care reform bill. GOP leaders said today their goal is to make passage of the bill offered by Speaker Nancy Pelosi last week “as difficult as possible to vote for,” and plan to use women to fight it.
“Our women leaders will take the premiere role” in a multi-pronged attack on the bill this week, House GOP conference chair Mike Pence said at press briefing with House minority leader John Boehner this afternoon.
The rest of their plans to combat the Pelosi bill include attacking specific provisions the pair said show the bill’s true intent — to nationalize the American health care system. They said that if the public read the bill, they would be outraged at the Democratic health care reform plans. Pence said his party intends to make sure the GOP reading of the bill is heard.
“Americans deserve to know what’s in the bill,” he said.
For the time being, educating people on what’s in the Pelosi bill will be the only talk of health care specifics the GOP will offer — Boehner and Pence continued to be vague about exactly when a House GOP version of a health care reform package will be announced, but they promised one will be coming sooner rather than later.
In the meantime, the focus will be on the Pelosi bill, which Boehner said is essentially a hidden plan to push the country towards a universal government-run health system.
“All of the infrastructure is being built to help the country get ready ready for that,” Boehner said of the Democratic reform package.
The GOP leaders said that once people get a look at the provisions inside the 1,900 page Pelosi bill, they’ll quickly come to agree with the Republican take on it. To that end, they plan to open a public “reading room” on Capitol Hill for members of Congress, the public and the media to review the bill under the guidance of “experts in the field.”
On Thursday, they’ll take the plan a step further, kicking off a 12-hour “tele-town hall” on viewers Republicans across the country. The forum will start at 1 p.m. on Thursday.
Boehner and Pence said they plan to put the GOP House caucus’ women members front and center in the battle against the Pelosi plan, suggesting that women would have a unique take on the health care debate. The women leaders begin their push tonight, with a series of floor speeches.
“Eighty-five percent of Americans’ health care decisions are made by women,” Pence said, explaining the plan.
