GOP Tries To Stall Health Care Debate

by David Welna, NPR

As Democrats rush to finish a health care bill by Christmas, Republicans are reaching into a bag of parliamentary tricks to slam on the brakes. For more than three hours Wednesday, they forced the Senate clerk to read a single-payer amendment — all 767 pages of it — until it was withdrawn by its sponsor, Independent Bernie Sanders. Republican Tom Coburn, who demanded the reading, said he was only trying to follow regular order, but an aide to the minority leader put out a different message on Twitter: We're trying to kill the bill.

Broadcast Dates

• All Things Considered, December 16, 2009