3 months ago
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Yet, Lincoln says she doesn't support portions of the bill.
Senator Lincoln stressed that in the end, she will not vote for a public option like this bill includes. But she voted in favor of this bill, to get the health care debate going and not to drop the issue.
"I told the leader, I cannot support the government option," says Lincoln.
Instead, Lincoln says we should take advantage of the programs already out there for low-income families like ARKids First and Medicaid.
"There are 230 thousand of those who are eligible for Medicaid but are unenrolled," says Lincoln.
Many Republicans feel the same way. But now the Republican National Ccommittee says she sold out her principles.
On the Republican National Committee's web site is a new ad against Democrats, saying they voted in the dead of night for a secret health care reform bill. Senator Blanche Lincoln is painted as a hypocrite after she voted for a bill that includes a public option after she publicly said she is against it.
"She should have stopped the bill in its tracks and waited on a bill that had not been drafted privately by Harry Reid and so it's more bi-partisan," says Doyle Webb, Arkansas Republican Chairman.
Webb says not one Republican voted for this bill because it contained a public option and could increase the national debt.
"The private industry can deliver services and coverage better than the government," says Webb.
As far as the new ad, Lincoln says it doesn't surprise her at all.
"The political sides have been hitting me from both sides, whether it is the on the left or the right. They will continue after health care is long gone," says Lincoln.
This bill includes a tax increase aimed at those earning more than $200 thousand a year. It would also set a five percent tax on elective cosmetic surgery.
