Health care bill is a 'fiscal Frankenstein,' said Ryan

'The arrogant idea that Washington knows best.'

The health care bill is a "fiscal Frankenstein" said Rep. Paul Ryan, R-WI, 1st District, during the House's interminable, nearly 10-hour debate Sunday. "This bill is a fiscal Frankenstein, it's a government takeover, it's not democratic," Fox News quoted him saying.

Here is more of what our Congressman had to say yesterday as he tried to convince his colleagues: "Let's start over, let's defeat this bill.".

The New York Times live-blogged the entire debate, and had this post at 2:42 p.m.:

Rep. Paul Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin, has been denouncing the bill as a fiscal nightmare. “This is not democracy,” he said. “This is not democracy.” Ryan, like many other House members today, also detailed his mother-in-law’s battle with ovarian cancer, asserting that were she a British citizen, she wouldn’t be able to receive the drug that she’s taking to fight her illness.

Ryan, calling the bill "the mother of all unfunded mandates," tried to get a point of order approved, to remove approximately $20 billion in what he calls unfunded mandates on states, small businesses, individuals and health care providers. He made an 11-minute speech on the floor of the House. It can be watched here.

Ryan also appeared on Chris Wallace's Fox News Sunday, paired with Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-FL. Video of the 13-minute appearance is here. In that appearance, Ryan argued with Schultz about whether the bill funds abortions, something President Obama pledged to countermand by executive order. A transcript of the show quotes Ryan saying:

"It does fund abortions. But on an executive order, that is not the rule of law. That's the rule of man. One man can sign an executive order and one man can repeal that again, the president of the United States.

"So for those of us in the pro-life movement and the — and my Democrat friends who are pro-life, that doesn't cut it. A executive order is not something that is permanent law like the Hyde Amendment. So we just do not see that as something sufficient to actually permanently prohibit taxpayer funding of abortions."

Wisconsin's eight members of the House of Representatives split their votes strictly along party lines -- no surprise. Voting for the health care bill were Democrats Tammy Baldwin, District 2; Steve Kagen, District 8; Ron Kind, District 3; Gwen Moore, District 4; David Obey, District 7. Voting no were Republicans Tom Petri, District 6; Ryan, District 1; and James Sensenbrenner, District 5.

After the 219 - 212 vote was tallied, Ryan issued a statement with a headline that left no doubt how he feels:

This heavy-handed overhaul is at odds
with what made this country the greatest nation on earth.

After months of twisting arms, Democratic Leaders convinced enough members of their own party to defy the will of the American people and support the Senate health bill which was crafted in secret, behind closed doors. In a historic abuse of legislative budget rules, the Majority also jammed through a "fixer" bill in an attempt to paper over the deeply flawed Senate bill.

Together, these bills would exacerbate our fiscal crisis by adding trillions of dollars to our debt burden, raise taxes on families and small businesses by more than $500 billion, and dramatically expand the federal government's role in personal health care decisions. Most unfortunately though, these bills will do little to make health care more affordable or accessible for the American people. These bills do not represent reform; they represent an ideological power-grab.

Sen. Russ Feingold, D-WI, said:

"Today the House took an important step towards fixing our broken health insurance system by voting to pass the Senate reform bill.

"After decades of gridlock and debate on this issue I am proud to be a part of an historic effort that takes on the insurance companies, makes health care more affordable and gives people more control over their own health insurance. This bill ends abusive practices by the insurance industry like denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions, improves the unfair reimbursement formula that has shortchanged Wisconsin for years, and will bring millions more in Medicaid funding to reduce the burden on state taxpayers.

"After listening to the people of Wisconsin for many years on this issue it is clear that they don't want us to walk away from this challenge. We are now one step closer to providing more insurance choices and lower costs for families and small businesses, more accountability for health insurance companies, and lower deficits for taxpayers.”