Media Advisory

For Immediate Release

March 22, 2010

Statement by Governor Daniels on passage of federal health care bill

“Our two best hopes for more jobs are investment and small business.  The new ‘health care’ bill raises taxes drastically on both, and will harm our economic prospects badly.  Hoosiers will also face higher state taxes as Medicaid rolls explode. It will raise by trillions the crushing debt we already are leaving young Americans; any claims to the contrary are worse than mistaken, they are knowingly fraudulent.  In a life of optimism about America and its future, this morning I am as discouraged as I can remember being.”

The Senate healthcare bill is now law.  Obamacare has passed, regardless of what happens in the reconciliation process. The debate over reconciliation is about details.

It was always a long shot that Bart Stupak would block the bill.  He always supported Obamacare except for the abortion language.  The controversy surrounding Stupak and abortion has obscured what really happened:  the outcome of the battle ultimately hinged on the controversial Senate vote recount in Minnesota and the subsequent seating of far-left comedian Al Franken.

Here’s why:

1. The Senate voted 60-39 to approve its health care bill in December, including the vote of Al Franken.
2. Following the election of Scott Brown in the Massachusetts special election in January, the Democrats faced the reality that they would would not be able to obtain the 60 votes needed to approve another bill in the Senate.
3. President Obama and House Democrats eventually decided that the Senate bill was better than no bill.

The 60 votes in the Senate also included the vote of Paul Kirk, Sen. Kennedy’s temporary replacement, who voted after the Massachusetts legislature changed state law to allow him to be seated immediately, rather than waiting for a special election.  Be that as it may, had Al Franken had not been declared the winner in Minnesota, there would be no healthcare bill.  And there is little humor in that.