Over the past few weeks, the Democrats/media have been pushing the narrative that evil Senate Republicans are hiding their non-existent health care bill from the public. CNN New Day host Chris Cuomo went as far as to say: “The Democratic version of ObamaCare was like truth and light compared to this process that’s going on right now.”
The false attacks are occurring continuously across all networks (including Fox News). On Monday, during a segment on At This Hour, CNN Senior Political Analyst Ron Brownstein proclaimed: “We have the Senate in the process now of possibly the most secretive process ever of a major piece of legislation...No hearings, no public debate, no public disclosure of the bill...”
Former Senator Rick Santorum annihilated this, as he put it, “baloney.” Despite being arrogantly yelled at and interrupted by Brownstein, Santorum explained that there is no bill. Republicans have to first create something that they think is worth introducing before they actually go public with it.
However, before the former Pennsylvania senator could even respond to Brownstein’s hyperbolic comments, he was interrupted by the “analyst”: “Really? How many hearings have there been? Have you seen the bill?” How Brownstein is considered an analyst and Santorum a commentator is a whole other matter. Santorum had to explain to the “senior political analyst” that it does not work that way:
SANTORUM: The answer is it has not been. They are still working on trying to put the bill together. You don't have hearings on a bill–
BROWNSTEIN: Did it go through the committee? Did it go through the committee?
SANTORUM: Excuse me Ron, you don’t have hearings on a bill that you don't have yet--
BROWNSTEIN: Really?
SANTROUM: They’re still trying to put the language together.
Brownstein thought he had Santorum beat when he brought up welfare reform in the 90's:
BROWNSTEIN: When you worked on welfare reform in 1994, Senator.
SANTORUM: That’s right. We sat together–
BROWNSTEIN: ‘95.
SANTORUM: We put together and took a lot of time--
BROWNSTEIN: How many hearings did you have?
SANTORUM: I took a year and a half of my time– excuse me. I took a year and a half of my time when I was in the House and worked on welfare in private meetings before we introduced a bill. Afterwards, when I got elected to the Senate, we worked in private meetings for months before we came forward with a bill, and then we had hearings. Ron, the idea that there needs to be hearings before there is a bill is outrageous.
Oops. That was awkward. Maybe the “senior political analyst” should do some research before so righteously attacking others.
Today’s At This Hour was brought to you by AARP Medicare Insurance Plans, USPS, and TripAdvisor.
The more complete transcript of both Cuomo’s remark and the exchange between Brownstein and Santorum can be found below:
8:09 AM ET
CHRIS CUOMO: I'll tell you what, none of them answered any of the questions by saying I don't care about this because I need to deal with this health care thing that's such a secret that the Republicans are doing it in a way that not only did they mock the Democrats for, the Democratic version of ObamaCare was like truth and light compared to this process that’s going on right now. Maybe the distraction is helping him.
(...)
11:14 AM ET
RON BROWNSTEIN: Usually, a scandal is a cloud over an administration’s agenda. This time, it's operating more like a cloak because we have the Senate in the process now of possibly the most secretive process ever of a major piece of legislation with a health care bill that could change the health care situation for millions, tens of millions of Americans. No hearings, no public debate, no public disclosure of the bill and it’s almost being completely eclipsed by the focus on Russia. So in this way it is actually benefitting, I think-
RICK SANTORUM: Ron, Ron, I’m sorry. That's just baloney, Ron. All these bills--BROWNSTEIN: Really? How many hearings have there been? Have you seen the bill?
SANTORUM: Has the bill been voted on, Ron? Has the bill been voted on?--
BROWNSTEIN: [Talking over each other] How many bills of this magnitude–no.
SANTORUM: The answer is it has not been. They are still working on trying to put the bill together. You don't have hearings on a bill–
BROWNSTEIN: Did it go through the committee? Did it go through the committee?
SANTORUM: Excuse me Ron, you don’t have hearings on a bill that you don't have yet--
BROWNSTEIN: Really?
SANTROUM: They’re still trying to put the language together.
BROWNSTEIN: When you worked on welfare reform in 1994, Senator.
SANTORUM: That’s right. We sat together–
BROWNSTEIN: ‘95.
SANTORUM: We put together and took a lot of time--
BROWNSTEIN: How many hearings did you have?
SANTORUM: I took a year and a half of my time– excuse me. I took a year and a half of my time when I was in the House and worked on welfare in private meetings before we introduced a bill. Afterwards, when I got elected to the Senate, we worked in private meetings for months before we came forward with a bill, and then we had hearings. Ron, the idea that there needs to be hearings before there is a bill is outrageous.
(...)
