Health care reform bill not that bipartisan

Bookmark this story:

In his weekly address, President Barack Obama warned health insurance companies not to derail health care reform, and he praised the progress Congress has already made.

Obama said a broad coalition of supporters including "doctors and nurses, workers and businesses, hospitals and even drug companies — folks who represent different parties and perspectives, including leading Democrats and many leading Republicans" were pushing reform forward. 

"Just this week, the Senate Finance Committee approved a reform proposal that has both Democratic and Republican support," he said.

It was the last statement that caught our attention. Leaders of the majority party often boast about bipartisan support when in fact they have only a handful of votes from the minority. But in this case, Obama so far has just one Republican in the Senate.

The Senate Finance Committee voted to approve a version of the health care overhaul on a vote of 14-9 on Oct. 13. Sen. Olympia Snowe, a Republican from Maine, voted with the Democrats. Every other Republican on the committee opposed the measure.

Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican member on the committee, called the measure partisan and deeply flawed.

So Obama is technically correct that the proposal had "Democratic and Republican support." But he didn't mention that it got only one Republican vote, which meant the nine other GOP senators voted against it. That's not exactly a robust example of bipartisanship. So we rate his statement Barely True.