Freedom Line Blog

The U.S. Senate this afternoon voted 42-58 to reject an amendment, sponsored by Senator John McCain (R-AZ), that would have sent the Senate health care “reform” bill back to the chamber’s Finance Committee with instructions to strip out nearly $500 billion in Medicare cuts.  In other words, 58 Senate Democrats reaffirmed their desire to cut Medicare by nearly a half trillion dollars.

Democrats Jim Webb and Ben Nelson voted with all Senate Republicans in favor of the amendment.

As Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement sent out immediately following the vote:

If anyone had any question about the Democrat plan to use Medicare as a piggy-bank to fund their new government programs, those doubts are now gone. 58 Democrats just voted to reject a common-sense proposal to protect senior’s health care from a half-trillion dollars in cuts to Medicare.  Only in Washington would anyone have the nerve to claim that such drastic cuts won’t harm the very program millions of seniors have paid into for years and now rely on.”