Johnson: Health care bill not a bipartisan measure

CERRO GORDO – Americans will come to regret the day their Congress approved a national health care program, U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson predicted Monday night.

The five-term Urbana Republican spoke to a small group of about 30 people at the Cerro Gordo High School gymnasium. It was his 15th town hall meeting in the 15th Congressional District this year, and nearly all of the hourlong session was devoted to the upcoming health care vote.

Johnson said he expected debate on the controversial measure to begin Thursday with a vote by Friday night or Saturday morning.

"When you are given a 2,000-page bill and told to take it or leave it, that is not good government," he said. "It's not a responsible way to run this process."

He said that Republicans were given no opportunity to amend the bill.

"I would suggest that if the president, the administration, the speaker of the House and the majority leader of the Senate really believed in post partisanship and bipartisanship, then we would have some role, some ability to amend something that more dramatically affects your lives than anything else in the last 50 years," Johnson said, pounding on a foot-high stack of paper that is the current draft of the health care bill.

"I guarantee you that no matter how thoroughly we vet this legislation, there will be endless numbers of problems with this bill that you will have to deal with for generations to come," he said.

Johnson said he is "not a member of the party of 'no.' I am not here to undermine the president. I am not here to submarine the speaker of the House. I want to see us offer constructive alternatives. I'd like to see us be able to write insurance across state lines. I'd like to see us cover pre-existing conditions. I would like to see associations in health care plans. But we were allowed no input at all with respect to this bill."

Johnson said the health care legislation misses an opportunity to make use of incentives for Americans to exercise personal responsibility to improve their own health care.

"It specifically provides that conditions of health can't be a condition for qualifying for health care," he said. "It (discourages) the sort of thing that is costing us $1,400 to $1,500 a year per person because of obesity," Johnson said. "This bill (discourages) personal choices that would add to one's quality of life. This bill does just the opposite."

Johnson received no questions from the sparse crowd about his recent controversial remarks calling for the eventual withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

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