WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate’s top Democrat on Thursday accused Republicans of a strategy of “distortion, distractions and deception” on health care as he announced a pivotal committee will vote next week on a comprehensive bill. Republicans said the legislation still costs too much and expands the reach of government.Majority Leader Harry Reid said the Finance Committee will vote Tuesday on a 10-year, $829-billion proposal that would expand coverage to 94 percent of eligible Americans_while reducing the federal deficit. A positive cost report on the legislation Wednesday from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office marked a turning point for its main author, Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont.Immediately after announcing plans for the vote, Reid, D-Nev., tore into Republicans Thursday, saying they have no health plan of their own to offer and are only trying to obstruct.”There are still those who consider this a zero-sum game, and will only declare victory if President Obama concedes defeat,” Reid said. “Let me be clear: Just as Democrats believe in ensuring quality, affordable care for every American citizens, we believe equally as strongly that this country has no place for those who wish for it or its leaders to fail.”He challenged Republicans to be “productive partners rather than partisan protesters”Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky wasted no time in responding.He dismissed the good news on costs and coverage as “irrelevant,” saying Democrats would pump up the Baucus bill as it proceeds through Congress. “The bill … will never see the light of day,” McConnell promised.”What matters is that the final bill will cost about $1 trillion, vastly expand the role of government in people’s health care decisions_and limit choice,” he added.McConnell said Republicans have offered plenty of ideas, but they have been ignored by Democrats infatuated with the notion that they are about to make history.”Listening to the proponents of the administration’s health care plan, you get the sense that they’re more concerned about their legacies than what the American people actually want,” McConnell said. “Here’s an idea: how about asking the American people what they want instead?”Democrats are breathing a sigh of relief over the positive news on the Baucus plan, but that doesn’t mean the proposal has no problems.The middle-of-the-road plan still leaves about 25 million people uninsured when fully phased in, in 2019. Of those, nearly 17 million would be U.S. citizens or legal residents. Nearly 50 million U.S. residents now lack coverage. Absent any change, the budget office projected that would grow to 54 million in 2019.Congressional Republicans — with the exception of Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe — panned the Finance effort.
 
 
 
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