WASHINGTON – The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, chaired by Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) began its markup of his healthcare bill, the Affordable Health Choices Act, on June 17. Republicans balked at the "high costs" of the bill and "failure to cover tens of millions of Americans."

According to Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), the "fundamental flaws" in the bill are the direct consequence of how the bill was put together. "The bill was drafted exclusively by Democratic staff, who excluded Republicans from the process of preparing the actual legislation," he said.

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) defended the bill and the hurried pace. "For the health of our economy and the health of our families, healthcare reform cannot wait, must not wait, and will not wait," he said.
Other signs beyond Capitol Hill reflect the mounting tension over healthcare reform.

Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, on June 24 thanked grassroots Republicans nationwide for raising $100,000 to advertise against what Republicans call "government-run healthcare."

The rally for funding came in mid-June as Republicans vowed to fight what they considered unfair treatment by the media, singling out ABC.

Steele said in his e-mail, "Though the television network has denied requests to air ads counter to President Obama's government-run healthcare ‘reform' plans, they can't keep us off the air."

According to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released June 24, a majority of Americans see government action as critical to controlling runaway healthcare costs, but they’re worried about the potential impact of reform legislation and conflicting views about the types of fixes being proposed on Capitol Hill.

According to the poll, more than eight in 10 said they are satisfied with the quality of care they now receive and relatively content with their own current expenses.