In an interview with Fox News' Neil Cavuto, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) affirmed that neither health care reform bill currently in circulation will get any Republican support. "For either the bill that passed the House Committee or the bill that passed the HELP committee in the Senate, I don't think a single Republican in the Senate would support either of those bills," he said confidently. Kyl went on to say that negotiations between Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee have become "very difficult because" of "liberals in both the House and the Senate." Later he suggested, "Let's start over."
WATCH:
At the Plum Line, Greg Sargent points out that even as Senate Democrats offer concessions to retain GOP support, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) keeps increasing his demands.
This is a relatively minor shift, but the larger pattern is obvious. First Grassley raised the number of votes he wants for a truly bipartisan Senate bill to 80. More recently, Dems handed Grassley a win, nixing the public option from the Senate bill. [...]
There's nothing wrong with Grassley negotiating for whatever he can get. That's his role. But the point is, the question of who's to blame for stalling compromise isn't just a matter of dispute. There's a factual reality we can point to here.