Posted on 04/02/2014 12:33:41 PM PDT by maggief
House Republican leaders got an earful in two separate private meetings Wednesday from conservatives fuming over their move last week to pass a Medicare payment fix without a full House vote.
The leadership on Thursday had abruptly put up a bill to prevent a cut in Medicare reimbursements to doctor, passing it by voice vote rather than holding a recorded roll-call vote. Few members were on the House floor to object, angering conservatives who accused the leadership of subverting the democratic process.
“I’m getting used to being deceived by the Obama administration, but when my own leaders do it, it’s not acceptable at all,” Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.) said. During a closed-door meeting of the Republican Study Committee on Wednesday, lawmakers kicked staff out of the room so members could air their concerns with Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), who is a member.
“It was a closed-door meeting so I probably shouldn’t share, but it wasn’t pleasant,” Salmon said when asked what was said.
Rep. John Fleming (R-La.) said lawmakers voiced their “frustration that this was not the process that we should be going through.”
Cantor told members that the voice vote was “the least bad” option, Fleming said. GOP leaders had only days to move a bill before doctors would have faced a 24 percent cut in Medicare payments.
The House was scheduled to leave Thursday for a long weekend, and leaders did not want to extend the session by several hours to set up a vote requiring a simple majority to pass. They had hoped to pass the bill through a procedure requiring a two-thirds threshold, but they realized they were short of the votes.
Fleming said Cantor complained that Republicans were getting little cooperation from Democrats, who planned to publicly blame the GOP if the Medicare bill failed. Democratic leaders agreed not to object to a voice vote, and the bill passed in less than a minute, before most lawmakers had reached the floor.
Several conservatives also stood up to complain in an earlier meeting of the full Republican conference. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) accused the leadership of flouting democracy in using the maneuver, while Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) questioned whether the cost of the bill was fully paid before, as the leaders had claimed.
A GOP aide noted that Massie was on the floor when the bill was called up and did not object.
Mulvaney said later that the Republican budget, which was unveiled on Tuesday, needed to account for the passage of the Medicare bill, commonly known in Washington as the “doc fix.”
“It pays for that by reducing the deficit in 2024, but I don’t happen to agree with that,” Mulvaney said of the budget.
Mulvaney had been among the angriest members after the action on Thursday, telling reporters it was “bullshit.”
Asked how he planned to vote on the budget, which he has supported in the past, Mulvaney replied: “I have no idea.”
Lawmakers praised Cantor for coming to the RSC meeting and answering questions, and a person in the room said he received a standing ovation despite the member concerns.
“I thought it was a satisfactory meeting,” Mulvaney said. “I don’t know that we’ve reached a satisfactory conclusion.”
Ok then, Obamaholes, they “deceived” you.
Do something about it.
Suggestion: Kick their smelly butts out of leadership.
Show some b*lls, or go somewhere and die.
As of now, you are all useless RINO supporting POS pieces.
neither party was going to let those cuts go through before the mid elections.
Well, THAT's a relief.
This is the whip’s job. Fire McCarthy.
How are they allowed to pass things without a quorum?
Until I see Boner, Cantor, and the REST of the GOP-e “Leadership” with Baseball Bat marks in their heads I say the GOP-e is BULLSH!TING US YET AGAIN!
Our side is conceding everything this year to try to win more seats in the House and win the Senate. All things considered, this is not a bad strategy, as much I like the fight. We made our stand last fall (rightfully so) and the status quo emerged. We know our side will not gain ground as long as Harry Reid is the Senate leader.
If our leadership (which I use loosely because they have been anything but) now folds on Obamacare and starts talking about ‘fixing it’, then they lose me for good. Sometimes in a battle you gain ground by staying pat, and 2014 may be that time. If they start retreating, that’s a whole different story.
I didn’t leave the Republican Party, the Republican Party left me.
I said that around 2004, when the Repubs had both house and the white house and they did not cut government but grew government.
Well then they lost you. The Doc Fix was exactly that. Language in Obamacare that cut doctors Medicare reimbursements. They caved! Whining, sniveling cowards...Oh my, those evil Rats were gonna blame us for it. HELLO YOU WROTE THE LAW, YOU PASSED THE LAW, NERO SIGNED THE LAW. Taint one of them worth a dry spit!
The low-information voter is not/will not be aware of this. But they would blame the republicans if their doctors refused to see them. Remember, the MSM controls what they are told.
The dirty secret is this medicare reduction was used to “pay” for new spending 10 years ago.
The spending happens right away, the savings never happen.
Sarah Palin posted on Facebook the other day about the fakery of Paul Ryan’s unbalanced budget plan that kicks the spending can down the road 10 years.
The powers that be in both parties are not committed to ending wasteful spending and balancing the budget.
The D’s and R’s put on an emotional word show over manufactured differences without taking action on real solutions because the strings that pull them don’t want it.
The large financial institutions (bailed out in 2008) that buy the Uniparty politicians want to keep us on the national debt credit card making regular payments to maintain a good credit rating. Balancing budgets and not creating more debt would give the country a bad credit rating just like it does to people when they don’t use their credit cards.
In 1997 Congress passed legislation, known as the “sustainable growth rate” (SGR), to try and reduce Medicare spending. If Medicare spending grew faster than a predetermined amount, doctors’ Medicare reimbursements would be cut the next year by enough to offset the overspending.
Not surprisingly, Medicare spending didn’t hit the target rate, and, again not surprisingly, Congress didn’t want doctors to take the financial hit. So Congress has passed legislation, known as the “Doc Fix,” multiple times to postpone the cuts and keep the reimbursement levels roughly the same.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/merrillmatthews/2013/12/02/doctors-facing-a-24-pay-cut-in-both-medicare-and-medicaid-reimbursements/
Voice votes should be illegal.
Hey asswipe your an elected official, you serve at our pleasure....
Close door meeting my die'n ass open this crap up and if your not addressing the wishes of the people then your a damn crook.
Cantor complained that Republicans were getting little cooperation from Democrats, who planned to publicly blame the GOP if the Medicare bill failed. Democratic leaders agreed not to object to a voice vote, and the bill passed in less than a minute, before most lawmakers had reached the floor.
They are scared to death of what the Democrats might/will say.
Your GOP-E summed up in one sentence.
Vote GOP-E. "The least bad option".
The D’s and R’s put on an emotional word show over manufactured differences without taking action on real solutions because the strings that pull them don’t want it.
***
Bingo!
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