By John Lyon
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — Sen. Blanche Lincoln suffered a setback today in her bid to have all amendments to the Senate health care bill posted online before being debated in the Senate. She blamed partisan politics.
Lincoln, D-Ark., had proposed that the text of any amendment, or a link to the text, be posted on the home page of the official Senate Web site of the sponsoring member before the amendment comes up for consideration by the Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., asked Monday for unanimous consent to the proposal, but it was not adopted because Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., objected.
Lincoln’s press office issued a news release today with the headline, “Lincoln: Partisan politics block opportunity for Arkansans to review health reform amendments.”
“I was looking forward to reviewing all amendments as they become available, and I want to ensure that my constituents have the same opportunity,” Lincoln said in the release. “Over the past months, I have heard from many Arkansans who are frustrated and lack accurate information on the health care proposals in Congress.”
Lincoln said she will continue to update the Health Resources page on her Web site with information relevant to the debate over health care reform.
Enzi’s office did not immediately respond today to an e-mail seeking comment, but The New York Times quoted Enzi as saying, “In light of some of the trust problems and transparency problems we have, while this appears to lead to greater transparency, we can also see ways that this can limit the ability for the minority to offer amendments.”
Enzi also accused the Democrats of trickery.
“They went ahead and did the unanimous consent solely so they could get the objection,” he said, according to the Times’ report.
Last month, Lincoln and seven other Democratic senators sent a letter to Reid asking that the health care bill and its budget scores from the Congressional Budget Office be posted online at least 72 hours before the first procedural vote and that all amendments to the bill be posted online before being debated.
The Senate granted Lincoln’s request for the 72-hour posting, which delayed the first procedural vote on the bill until late at night on Nov. 21, a Saturday.
