Coburn Forces Reading of 767-Page Single Payer Amendment

http://spectator.org/ ^ | 12.16.09 | By Philip Klein

[Maelstorm]

Sen. Tom Coburn has just demanded that the Senate clerk read the single-payer amendment offered by Sen. Bernie Sanders -- and it's 767 pages.

Typically, Senators offering amendments will ask for unanimous consent to avoid reading the entire meausure, but all it takes is one Senator to object to demand its reading, and Coburn objected to Sanders attempt to dispense with the reading of the amendment.

To give you a sense of how this could delay things, it took the Senate clerk 18 minutes to get through the first 6 pages of the amendment, which were the table of contents. At this current pace, it will take 38 hours to get through the entire amendment.

You can follow along with the amendment here.

UPDATE: The body of the bill seems to be going faster than the table of contents, but it still looks likely to take at least 12 hours at this pace

[Maelstorm]

Go Tom go! Make them read the whole damn thing!

[GeronL]

The media and left are going nuts.

They’re reading it? Why? That is such a crime to read something before posting it.

[C19fan]

Did Reid bring in a speed reader?

[GeronL]

I mean voting on it.

I never read anything before posting, duh.

[GeronL]

Kill the individual mandate!!

[C19fan]

Sen. Tom Coburn has just demanded that the Senate clerk read the single-payer amendment offered by Sen. Bernie Sanders -- and it's 767 pages.

This is really funny because Sanders knows this amendment will be defeated when he offered it. Is Coburn striking back because Reid is blocking GOP amendments?

[oh8eleven]

You can let the senator know you're supporting him 100% thru his webpage.

[SamiGirl]

I’m loving it and praying that this nightmare doesn’t pass.

[garykfd]

13:15 EASTERN STANDARD TIME AND STILL READING!!!

LOVING IT

[Maelstorm]

Should make Congressmen who draft these things read them on the floor. The bills would be a lot shorter.

[SouthTexas]

What kind of new tactic is this? Actually reading something BEFORE it is passed?

[FrankR]

This is like Buford Pusser putting the judge’s office in the men’s room.

[JPG]

READ, BABY READ.

[goldi]

I think it should be a requirement that all congresscritters and senators take a speedreading course — either that or refrain from producing 2,000 plus page bills.

[HereInTheHeartland]

A GREAT thing to do.

[Albert Barr]

You can watch her read it

http://www.c-span.org/Watch/C-SPAN2_wm.aspx

I feel sorry for her

[C19fan]

I went to the National Archives and I think I saw an original copy of one the first law, I believe hand written, ever passed by Congress, I think it dealt with immigration or who is a natural born citizen, and it was one page long. Perhaps they should require a handwritten version of the bill.

[longtermmemmory]

what does this do to Reid’s time table?

he wanted to be done Christmas eve day.

[BJClinton]

I never read anything before posting, duh.

Sen. Coburn does not approve. ;-)

[3catsanadog]

Hope they demand they read the entire bill once it is up for vote.