Fox News just reported that Sen. Orrin Hatch (R., Utah) “told Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-MT,Wednesday that he is officially stepping away from the health care negotiating table.” I’m awaiting a response from his D.C. office, but I notice that he Tweeted two hours ago, “Was on Imus radio show this morning talking about how terrible the Democrat health care bill will be for Americans . . . Even Imus couldn’t defend it – that means it really is bad.”
UPDATE: From Hatch:
Hatch Statement on Need for Financially Responsible and Truly Bipartisan Healthcare Reform
WASHINGTON – Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), member and former chairman of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today made the following statement on the need for financially responsible and truly bipartisan healthcare reform:
“For years, I have worked in the United States Senate on behalf of Utahns fighting for policies that best promote the interest of families in Utah and across the nation. Bipartisanship has been one of my hallmarks, especially when it comes to health care laws. I have found ways to work with very liberal members in both the House and Senate when partisanship has been set aside and compromise has been forged for the good of the American people.
“In today’s health care debates, everyone realizes that ensuring access to affordable, quality and portable health care for every American is not a Republican or Democrat issue – it is an American issue. Our nation expects us to solve this challenge in an open, honest and bipartisan manner. I have spent the past several months working with members on both sides of the aisle to ensure that any effort to reform our health care system not only makes quality health care more affordable for our families but is also fiscally responsible to protect future generations.
“We as a nation are facing the worst financial crisis since the Great depression. Our national debt is on the path to tripling within the next decade, the deficit this year alone will approach $2 trillion, the unemployment rate is almost in double digits, and states across the nation are facing more than $200 billion in deficits.
“I am of the strong mind that we need to urgently reform our health care system while recognizing the economic realties of our time. Simply passing a bill entitled ‘Health Care Reform’ that spends another trillion plus dollar is not the answer. Instead, we should focus on reforming the current market for every American to ensure that insurance companies no longer discriminate against sicker Americans and every American has an opportunity to keep and get the coverage of their choice. We have to address the tremendous waste, fraud and abuse in our system that costs billions of dollars every year. Most importantly, we need to target our hard-earned tax-payer dollars to help Americans who truly cannot afford insurance and start on a pathway to cover all Americans.
“The head of the Congressional Budget Office told us in no uncertain terms that the health care policies being pursued by this Congress will only worsen our deficit, create more joblessness, expand unsustainable entitlement programs that are driving our states bankrupt and start us down a path of a Washington-driven health care system. In my conversations with Utahns and Americans across the country, it is clear that people are frustrated with the ill-conceived and costly stimulus exercise and do not believe we should take the same rushed approach to health care.
“For months, I have been participating in bipartisan discussions with other members of the Senate Finance Committee in an effort to craft a compromise bill which that could be signed into law and help American families. During our discussions, I grew increasingly concerned that the President and congressional leaders have, to date, been unwilling to roll up their sleeves and agree to protect a bipartisan health care compromise from being gutted on the Senate floor and in a conference with the House. I praise Sen. Baucus and my other colleagues in the group – Democrat Sens. Conrad and Bingaman and Republican Sens. Grassley, Snowe, and Enzi – for trying to come to a bipartisan consensus. However, it has become increasingly clear to me that Sen. Baucus has not been given the flexibility necessary to construct a realistic healthcare reform bill that can achieve true bipartisan support.
“I have great faith in my colleagues, and I will continue to work on solving our nation’s health care problems in a way that best protects the health and financial well-being of families and small businesses across the nation. My door will remain open and I continue to sincerely hope that we can do this the right way for every American out there. We have a real need for reform and an opportunity on behalf of the American people to get it done. If we are responsible in our policy approaches, we can get meaningful reform done this year.”