Growing Number of GOP Leaders Encourage Health Reform

By Shailagh Murray
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 6, 2009 12:11 PM

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday became the most prominent elected Republican to urge Congress to complete work on health-care reform, departing from the widely held GOP view that lawmakers should scrap the current process and start over again.

The governor said he shared President Obama's goal of "slowing the growth in costs, enhancing the quality of care delivered, improving the lives of individuals, and helping to ensure a strong economic recovery." Echoing other high-profile Republicans who have spoken up in recent days, Schwarzenegger urged lawmakers in Washington "on both sides of the political aisle at the national level to move forward and accomplish these vital goals for the American people."

The consensus approach is not taking hold with GOP leaders in Congress. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), in remarks prepared for delivery on the Senate floor, conceded "Americans aren't happy with the status quo" but said Democrats' closed-door deliberations, now that five committees have finished their work, would result in legislation that would harm seniors and drive up the federal deficit.

"The final bill will be worked out, out of sight, by a mere few whose decisions will affect everyone in America," McConnell said.

(More here.)