Steele: Claims GOP is stalling healthcare 'are right'

Democrats are right to accuse the GOP of slowing down or halting healthcare reform, Republican National Committee Chairman (RNC) Michael Steele said Thursday.

In a memo to Republican leaders released this morning, Steele said that the GOP is in fact trying to stall or stop Democrats' health reform plans, but only because it reflects the will of the American people.

"The Democrats have accused us of trying to delay, stall, slow down, and stop this bill," Steele wrote. "They are right."

"We do want to delay, stall, slow down, and ultimately stop them from experimenting on our nation’s health care," the RNC chairman added. "And guess what, so do a majority of Americans."

Democrats have hammered away at Republicans for weeks now over healthcare, levying varying charges of "obstructionism," or, as House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) termed the GOP in a speech this week, "The Party of 'No.'"

Steele marshaled various polls in the memo to argue that healthcare has flagged in support among Americans, and asserted that allowing Democrats to pass health reform would hurt them politically (though the GOP won't let that happen, he said).

"I have heard Republican political operatives say that it will be good for our Party next November if the Democrats pass this bill," he said. "That may be, but we cannot take that approach. Some things are more important than politics. This is one of those times."

Update, 2:22 p.m.: Democratic National Committee (DNC) National Press Secretary Hari Sevugan responds:

With this memo and Senator Judd Gregg's obstruction manual, Republicans have laid their cards on the table and made explicit that their intention, their singular goal, is obstructing the President's agenda for the sake of politics no matter how high the price for the American people.  They've made the choice crystal clear for voters - while Democrats are working to get things done for the benefit of the American people, Republicans are obstructing progress for the benefit of themselves and their special interest allies.  If they think that's a winning proposition, they are in for a world of hurt. 

Also telling of how out-of-touch they are, and notwithstanding that a poll conducted by the Republican Party has the credibility of the Saddam-era Iraqi information minister, the fact that Republicans have to ask whether we needed to focus on the economy or health care only demonstrates that they don't get it.  If they understood that soaring premiums are forcing our businesses to choose between creating jobs and paying for insurance, and that families are paying medical bills instead of buying Christmas gifts, if they understood that out of control insurance costs are intricately tied to the ability of our economy to grow, then we wouldn't be in the mess we are in now.

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