GOP Says Dems Health Overhaul Would Break The Bank

Two estimates from the Congressional Budget Office this past week — both pricing Democratic health plans at $1 trillion-plus over 10 years — sent Senate Democrats scrambling to pare costs. Committee work in the Senate got off to a slow start, with plenty of partisan bickering but scant progress to show for it.

"They say a new government health plan will keep costs low. Well, expecting a government-run system to help the economy is like praying for rain in the middle of a flood," McConnell said. "The thing you're asking for is the last thing you need."

House Democrats stepped into the breach Friday with a sweeping plan that would require all Americans to have health insurance and create a new public plan to compete with private insurance. But they didn't say how much it would cost or how it would be paid for, sparking more GOP backlash.

Even with trillion-dollar price tags, McConnell argued, "The total cost would be much higher, burying us in deeper and deeper debt."

McConnell compared Democrats' approach on health care to passage of the $787 billion economic stimulus bill earlier this year, which Republicans contend was rammed through Congress before anyone got a good look at it. The GOP also claims the stimulus bill isn't producing the results the administration advertised.