Scott Brown Bashes Obama's 'Bitter' Push For Health Care Reform (VIDEO)

WASHINGTON (AP)-- Newly arrived Republican Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts accused President Barack Obama and Democrats on Saturday of a "bitter, destructive and endless" drive to pass health overhaul legislation that Brown warned would be disastrous.

"An entire year has gone to waste," Brown said in the weekly GOP radio and Internet address. "Millions of Americans have lost their jobs, and many more jobs are in danger. Even now, the president still hasn't gotten the message.

"Somehow, the greater the public opposition to the health care bill, the more determined they seem to force it on us anyway."

Brown himself can claim responsibility for the Democrats' failure to pass health overhaul legislation to date. They were on the verge of doing so before Brown claimed the late Edward M. Kennedy's Senate seat in a special election upset in January, depriving Democrats of their filibuster-proof supermajority and throwing the health care effort into limbo.

WATCH: Sen. Brown's address

It has been gradually revived, and Democrats are now pushing for final passage before Easter under complex Senate rules that would allow them to sidestep a Republican filibuster. Republicans in the House and Senate are unanimously opposed to the sweeping legislation, which would extend coverage to some 30 million uninsured Americans with a new mandate for nearly everyone to carry insurance.

The House minority leader, Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, said in an interview for broadcast Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union" that if House Democrats had the votes to pass the health care bill they would have acted by now.

"They don't have the votes," Boehner said.

Brown, as a state senator in Massachusetts, voted in favor of the universal-coverage law in that state. The bill he supported in Massachusetts has a number of features in common with the Democrats' legislation, including a mandate for nearly everyone to be covered.

But he campaigned on a promise to be the Republicans' crucial 41st vote against Obama's health plan, and said Saturday that his victory amounted to a message from voters that Washington should "get its priorities right."

"We need to drop this whole scheme of federally controlled health care, start over, and work together on real reforms at the state level that will contain costs and won't leave America trillions of dollars deeper in debt," Brown said.

Comments

[NightEditor]

07:48 PM on 03/21/2010

Can't help but wonder if he is wearing his pink leather shorts ....

[bevy777]

11:41 PM on 03/17/2010

Amazing how no one is listening to 57 - 75% of the American People - this is NOT the representa­tive form of Gov't we want or need.
The Democrats will JUST do what they want - only God Himself CAN change that ... God bless America and Please Help us!

[CynthiaK]

06:13 PM on 03/16/2010

If you want to reach Senator Scott Brown via e-mail, you won't find it listed on his senate website. Citizens who wish to contact him must call or write.

Wonder why?

[bevy777]

11:42 PM on 03/17/2010

You have to be PART of his district to contact him - if you want to contact him - check his campaign site. I'm sure it's something like ScottBrown­forSenate.­com - :)

[jjgg5]

10:45 AM on 03/16/2010

He's nothing without his Brown bush.

[Jim Pasterczyk]

01:55 AM on 03/16/2010

I just have to ask; have the Republican­s mastered cloning? Because I don't think I've seen an unattracti­ve GOP politician yet. Being photogenic must be one of the entrance requiremen­ts to their country club.

[senatortruth]

02:07 AM on 03/16/2010

No, those are only the ones they allow in public.

But they are ALL ugly on the INSIDE.

What they espouse shows exactly that...

[trapperj20]

10:11 AM on 03/16/2010

I hate to even get involved in this discussion­, but how about Mitch McConnell?

[Greg Petty]

01:31 AM on 03/17/2010

Man he is ugly to the bone

[hernan1333]

10:42 PM on 03/15/2010

hmmm... let me see if I understand this clown...he was for health care reform in massachuse­tts which is much more liberal than senate bill, and he doesn't want the rest of the country to have it...there­'s a word for someone like this....hy­pocrite

[WeCanDoMore]

10:35 PM on 03/15/2010

His election was a fluke. Luckily his term should be a shorty. 2012.

[Justdontgetit]

09:37 PM on 03/15/2010

Who has he been hanging around with because his skin looks kinda orange.

[MarcoEsquandolas]

07:02 PM on 03/15/2010

scott, it's a good thing jobs aren't tied to healthcare­. oh wait, they are? oops, sorry.

[jk4]

06:19 PM on 03/15/2010

I'm sure all of you in Massachuse­ttes are enjoying your wonderfull­y influentia­l and intellectu­ally superior new senator, Scott Brown, over that previous dunderhead­, Edward Kennedy. Have you read Kennedy's autobiogra­phy? You know that idiot was a licensed pilot, climbed mountains, rode broncos, and even shook the hands of miners down in the mines. Do you suppose Scott would even have the guts to even get on a horse?

[ywcachieve]

07:16 PM on 03/15/2010

This Scott Brown character is not, and never will even come close to being like the greatest US Senator who ever lived, who is Edward M Kennedy.

[Joanne Dangelo]

12:12 AM on 03/18/2010

He also had a girl drown in his car.

[chillwind]

05:41 PM on 03/15/2010

We're all aware that Scott Brown's having been elected can mostly be attributed to the fact that voters in Massachuss­etts already had healthcare (passed under rebublican then-gover­nor Mitt Romney, the hypocrite)­.

In spite of his opponent's lack of "wow" factor, MA voters have relinquish­ed any claim to moral high-groun­d. Thanks for throwing the rest of us under a bus.

[whirledgonecrazy]

05:29 PM on 03/15/2010

Is there one single Republican out there with a brain large enough to come up with an original idea instead of a textbook talking point? Seriously, just one?

[helgathewitch]

05:03 PM on 03/15/2010

People here in MA don't care about the health care bill because they all feel as one man said to me "we don't need health care reform. I was just in the hospital for 2 weeks and I didn' thave a problem"

People voted for this guy for other reasons too.

Coakley was a terrrible candidate
He is God to many because he went to Boston College and so does his daughter who was on American Idol

For him to say the American public doesn't want health care reform he is out of touch

[ConcernedInMass]

07:19 AM on 03/16/2010

Have you taken the time to look at any poll taken in the last 2 months? the overwhelmi­ng majority of the public does not want this bill. I live in Massachuse­tts and absolutely hate the health care we have here. It costs me more and I get less care.

[jazzman]

04:25 PM on 03/15/2010

The good folks of Massachuse­tts made a big mistake putting this dimwit in the Senate's chair. I think that is already becoming clear to many of those who voted for him. I'm just hoping that in 2 years the Democrats run someone who really wants the job and is willing to go toe to toe with Scott over the issues and then they can dump this turkey.

We'll see but he's already losing his luster in Mass.

[ConcernedInMass]

07:20 AM on 03/16/2010

Where are you getting your informatio­n? Everyone I talk to is thrilled to have the beginnings of a two party state once again.

[DonJM]

03:24 PM on 03/15/2010

I hope voters in Massachuse­tts are very, very pleased with themselves­.