Blue Dog Rep. Ross suggests he hasn't had time to read health care reform bill
Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR) -- who has a led a Blue Dog rebellion to slow passage of health care reform -- has been accused by pundits like Paul Krugman of the New York Times for using arguments that are incoherent and even contradictory in mounting their opposition.
One line of Rep. Ross' most recent lines of attack certainly seems suspect: His assertion, made in at least two interviews, that he hasn't had enough time to read the America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 -- a bill which was first circulated nearly two months ago.
In an interview this past weekend with Arkansas-based "Under the Dome," Rep. Ross told interviewer Roby Brock the following:
The House legislation was unveiled in early June, more than a month and a half ago. According to The Hill, a draft was circulated on June 9 and a full version released on June 19.
As one might expect from complicated legislation, the bill is huge -- you can read all 800+ pages here -- but it would seem odd that the Blue Dogs' leader on health care reform would not have been able to read the bill in that period of time.
Rep. Ross made the same the assertion in an interview for CNN on Friday, July 24. In that interview, he said:
He again repeats the assertion at the end of the CNN interview (at 4:54), saying:
One line of Rep. Ross' most recent lines of attack certainly seems suspect: His assertion, made in at least two interviews, that he hasn't had enough time to read the America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 -- a bill which was first circulated nearly two months ago.
In an interview this past weekend with Arkansas-based "Under the Dome," Rep. Ross told interviewer Roby Brock the following:
In April, during the so-called break from Congress, I hosted town hall meetings in 35 towns ... The people that I represent were telling me that it's time for us to slow down on the spending, it's time for us to slow down on action, and take the time to make sure that we get it right. And to make sure that we actually have time to read the bills that we're voting on. There's time to do that.Watch the video here -- the comment comes at about 6:20:
The House legislation was unveiled in early June, more than a month and a half ago. According to The Hill, a draft was circulated on June 9 and a full version released on June 19.
As one might expect from complicated legislation, the bill is huge -- you can read all 800+ pages here -- but it would seem odd that the Blue Dogs' leader on health care reform would not have been able to read the bill in that period of time.
Rep. Ross made the same the assertion in an interview for CNN on Friday, July 24. In that interview, he said:
The American people want us to slow down, they want us to get it right, and they want us to have time to read the bills we're voting on.Watch the video below -- the comment is at the 2:18 mark:
He again repeats the assertion at the end of the CNN interview (at 4:54), saying:
We need to slow down, we need time to read this ...Are Rep. Ross' staff really that slow at reading legislation?
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Chris Kromm
Chris Kromm is executive director of the Institute for Southern Studies and publisher of the Institute's online magazine, Facing South.