Heritage Foundation Looks At Senate Health Care Committee Bill

This piece on the Heritage Foundation blog examines some of the amendments added to or voted down in committee as the Senate debates whether or not to annex the health care of individual citizens. Did you know that Democrats have buried more community development spending in the health care takeover? Oh yes, rebuilding sidewalks and creating bike paths will lower our health care costs. Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn attempted to control this with an amendment:

Financing Neighborhood Construction. (Coburn Amendment #49 ) To foster creation of healthier communities, the Senate Committee bill would provide federal community transformation grants to state and local governments. However, the legislation offers only broad guidelines as to where the money can go and does not limit the size of the grant. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) offered an amendment that would prohibit the use of grant money to build and maintain sidewalks, parks, bike paths, or street lights. Other federal programs already direct money toward these projects. Dollars designated for improving the health care system, Coburn argued, could be spent on far more constructive areas, such as increasing access to health care. Remarkably, Coburn’s amendment failed on a straight party-line vote, meaning taxpayers’ hard earned dollars can wastefully go towards projects that are already funded by the federal government.

Keep watching for more details. The Left is very "creative" when it comes to spending your money.