Pat Roberts Pleads For Three-Day Delay So Lobbyists Can Read Health Care Legislation

[meegbear]

Senate Finance Committee member Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) earnestly pleaded on Wednesday for the committee to delay a vote on its version of health care reform until after the proposed legislation has been up on the committee's website for at least three days.

"The thing I'm trying to point out," said Roberts, "is that we would have at least 72 hours for the people that the providers have hired to keep up with all of the legislation that we pass around here, and the regulations that we pass around here, to say, 'Hey, wait a minute. Have you considered this?' That's all I'm asking for."

Hard to imagine that "the people that the providers have hired to keep up with all of the legislation" means anything other than lobbyists from the health industry.

The statement is odd not only for its candor, but also for the fact that as far as anyone knows, the lobbyists are the ones writing the finance committee's bill to begin with. They should be pretty familiar with what's in there by now.

ThinkProgress caught the quote, and has video

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/23/pat-roberts-pleads-for-th_n_297563.html

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Love it. There are members of the House and the Senate who refuse to read it before they

vote against this piece of legislation and here is a plea to give more time to the lobbyists to read it.

[Richardo]

2. Read it? They *wrote* it.

Jesus.

[KharmaTrain]

3. This Is A Mark-Up, Not Final Passage, Stooge...

Looks like the two week delay for CBO numbers game isn't working, so the new 72 hour stall? Guess that's progress.

You'd think this douchnozzle would have a staff that handles committee matters and already have read at least the two Senate bills if not the matching legislation in the House. If not, fire their asses...or in Roberts case, he can quit, too. This traitor is the master of stall...remember all those reports on Iraq that he kept from coming forward?

This process is going line by f'in line...it can't be much more open and explicit than what he's seeing in that committee room. But then who really cares what a rushpublican thinks on this issue...they've already had their public option...it's obstruction.