Source:  CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY, 11/19/09

Republicans are vigorously attacking the health care overhaul package unveiled by Democrat Harry Reid , and the GOP is preparing to throw procedural roadblocks in front of the Senate majority leader’s effort to call up the proposal on the floor before Thanksgiving.

Early Thursday, the Senate Republican Conference posted a video online showing senators, among others, saying Reid’s proposal would result in higher insurance premiums, tax hikes and Medicare cuts.

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell , R-Ky., lodged a similar critique in a floor speech, lambasting the proposal as an ill-conceived, back-room deal.

“After six weeks of drafting a bill behind closed doors, the majority has produced a bill that increases premiums, raises taxes, and slashes Medicare by half a trillion dollars to create a new government program,” McConnell said. “This is not what the American people want. I don’t believe they think this is reform. This is not the direction to take.”

To fund expanded health coverage for the uninsured, Reid’s proposal would trim federal spending on Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health programs by $491 billion in 2010-19, according to an estimate prepared by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation.

Republicans specifically point to Reid’s decision to push back implementation of some of major provisions in the bill until 2014. They said the move made the cost estimate by CBO artificially low.

Reid will need the votes of all 60 senators in the Democratic caucus to thwart a Republican filibuster of a motion to proceed to a “shell” bill that he plans to use as a vehicle for his health care proposal. Not a single Republican is expected to vote to proceed to the measure.

Republicans plan to do everything possible to prolong the process, aides said. But the GOP’s 40-seat minority leaves the party little leverage in the Senate.

Tom Coburn , R-Okla., is expected to force the Senate clerk to read Reid’s entire proposal word-for-word on the floor. The process is expected to take up to 50 hours and could keep the Senate in session through Tuesday, according to an advisory e-mail sent to Democratic staff Wednesday.