Finally a plan

The (dis)loyal opposition has said they will stop healthcare reform (again). They lied and sold their souls to the devil in the 90's and stopped it. Now they are trying to stop it again.
This time they told us they would have an alternative plan. We have been waiting but still no plan. Now they say there isn't one. Or there is but no one knows where.

The Republicans Have A Plan ... Or Not

by BarbinMD

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Thu Jul 23, 2009 at 03:28:04 PM PDT

It was less than six months ago that House Republican Leader John Boehner proudly announced:

Health care costs are too high, access is too limited, and American families and small businesses are looking to their leaders in Washington for free-market solutions, not a government-dominated health care bureaucracy," said Boehner. "House Republicans will not be content to be ‘the party of no.’ Instead, we will be the party of better solutions, and few issues demand more positive solutions than our nation’s health care crisis. Roy Blunt is uniquely qualified to chair this Task Force, which will help shape innovative House Republican health care solutions at a time when the American people need them most.

And since then, they've kept us up-to-date on all of the progress the task force has been making:

• June 17th, Boehner said:

  I want to congratulate Roy Blunt and all of the members of the health care solutions working group that are here with us today. They have worked for months on making sure that -- that we have a plan that will accomplish the goal that the president and Democrats all agree on.

• June 25th, Blunt said:

  Republicans have reached out to Democrats and the administration to create bipartisan health care reform legislation. We’ll continue that outreach while drafting our own legislation aimed at helping small businesses and families.

• July 10th, Blunt said:

  Our plan is actually much more detailed than their plan has been. I think, finally, as the majority, they’ve finally put a piece of legislation together after six months talking about how they were the only ones that had a plan. Our plan’s been more detailed. I think we’re more prepared to debate our plan than they are.

And today, the Blunt-led Republican brain trust had an announcement:

Republicans who had promised last month to offer a healthcare reform alternative are now suggesting no such bill will be introduced.

Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said, "Our bill is never going to get to the floor, so why confuse the focus? We clearly have principles; we could have language, but why start diverting attention from this really bad piece of work they’ve got to whatever we’re offering right now?"

Blunt later decided to "clarify" and claimed that:

Our reform plan to lower costs, increase access, and improve quality was released weeks ago and it is well-known. There’s a variety of tactics that could be employed during the debate on the House floor and the leadership won’t make a final decision next week until the Democrats announce how they will proceed.

In other words, the Republicans have a plan, apparently in an undisclosed location, to be unveiled only after they know what those tricky Democrats are going to do. Or more accurately, after six months of broken promises to deliver a better solution, House Republicans are content to be the Party of No.