GOP: Dems ignore its healthcare concerns

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- A healthcare bill emerging from the U.S. Senate Finance Committee "looks an awful lot like the Democrats' earlier proposals," a Republican leader says.

Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., speaking for the GOP Saturday during its rebuttal to President Barack Obama's weekly radio and Internet address said the version of the healthcare reform proposals that survived this week's debates and committee votes "ignored" Republican concerns and "looks an awful lot like the Democrats' earlier proposals."

"It would still result in a major expansion of government into our healthcare, and the cost will be $1 trillion, $700 billion over 10 years when the bill is fully implemented," Isakson said. "It would still cut Medicare benefits for our seniors."

Isakson said the proposals represent "government-run health care (that) doesn't work in Canada or in England, and it won't work in America, either."

Warning that the proposals would mean higher taxes "on virtually every American and small business," Isakson said, "The kind of massive tax increases proposed by the Democrats is exactly the wrong approach for our families, our small businesses and our economy, especially in a recession. "