Smell The Bipartisanship

Republicans haven’t changed much from the Bush administration. Bipartisan to them still means that Democrats adopt Republican ideas:

Last week, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) “made it clear that the only starting point for bipartisan compromise would be for Dems to drop their health care plan and embrace the GOP one.” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ken.) made the same offer yesterday.

John McCain took a similar line yesterday, suggesting that the only ideas that can pass in a Democratic Congress are those that come from Republicans.

Mr. McCain, a Republican from Arizona, said on the CBS news program “Face the Nation” that President Obama should sit down with Republican leaders and begin adopting some of their ideas for improving the nation’s health care system such as overhauling medical malpractice lawsuits, allowing residents of one state to buy health insurance from a company in another state, and granting tax credits for people who purchase health insurance on their own.

I wonder how many ConservaDems are jumping up and down in glee at the thought of adopting Republican ideas? Remember the Republican health care plan they introduced this summer?

The Republican plan was nothing short of laughable — it did nothing for the uninsured, nothing for those with pre-existing conditions, and nothing for those worried about losing coverage when it’s needed most. It was an entirely partisan plan, written in secret. The Republican proposal sought to create a system that “works better for people who don’t need health care services, and much worse for people who actually are sick or who become sick in the future. It’s basically a health un-insurance policy.” And as we learned in November, the plan included provisions that “mirror the suggestions put forth by the lobbying entity of the private insurance industry way back in December 2008.”

Indeed, the official Republican plan didn’t even offer modest provisions that the party used to support. Roll Call reported at the time, “Under the GOP plan, insurance companies would still be allowed to exclude anyone with a pre-existing medical condition from coverage, there would be no national insurance exchange and businesses would not face any mandate to provide insurance nor individuals to buy it. Boehner also left out tax credits to help the poor and middle class buy insurance — a central pillar of most GOP reform proposals and a key feature of a four-page outline Republican leaders released in June.”

The individual mandate used to be a Republican idea. Dropping the public option was also a Republican idea. Really, Republicans still don’t have any ideas except protection of the status quo. Senator Baucus spent months trying to hammer out a plan with Enzi and Grassley, which they vowed to vote against no matter how many concessions Democrats made.