Fresh off their congratulatory Rose Garden press conference, House Republicans were eager to nose their way in front of TV cameras Thursday evening to take an extended victory lap for passing a health care bill that will likely never become law. Two such Republican members, New York Rep. Chris Collins and Virginia Rep. Tom Garrett went on CNN and MSNBC respectively to gush about their win and extol the virtues of the latest GOP plan, when they both got caught in a record scratch of a moment. Asked if they had, you know, actually read the whole bill, both admitted, they had not.
Blitzer: The language in this bill, including the two amendments that were added to it, we only saw that language in the past 24 hours. Did you actually sit down and read the entire bill plus all of the amendments?
Rep. Collins: I will fully admit, Wolf, I did not. But I can also assure you my staff did. We have to rely on our staff. I had many meetings with the chairmen of Energy and Commerce as we discussed how this plan will affect Americans.
Advertisement
Rep. Garrett: Oh, gosh, Let’s put it this way: People in my office have read all the parts of the bill. I don’t think any individual has read the whole bill. That’s why we have staff.
No wonder they love it. They haven’t read it.
