WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- Congressional Democrats won't start over with healthcare reform in the wake of a political setback, a senior lawmaker said Sunday.
Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation" that while Democrats are "considering our strategy" on mustering enough votes to pass a healthcare reform package in the face of a stinging defeat in last week's special election to fill the Senate seat of the late Edward Kennedy, they're not going to start from scratch as demanded by Republican critics.
"For those who say, start over, let's start at the beginning, let's do a little bit, let's maybe do nothing, some say, I would just tell them, if we do nothing, the Medicare trust fund will be exhausted in seven years. The plan we have before the Senate would extend the life of Medicare for nine more years."
Durbin also rejected assertions that Republicans have been shut out of the process of crafting the healthcare bill.
"We have kept door open," he said. "We waited for months in the hopes of bringing across three Republican senators who expressed an early interest."
