Sen. Al Franken took the floor Wednesday afternoon for his last speech before tomorrow's expected vote on health care reform legislation, once again accusing his Republican colleagues of spreading misinformation about the bill.
With more news this morning that Franken has been stepping on some toes in the Senate, the freshman senator admitted that the health care debate has not always been entirely cordial and expressed regrets for lashing out South Dakota Republican John Thune last week.
"Unfortunately it's been a bit rancorous and I think that's too bad," Franken said. "There have been accusations flying back and forth. Umbrage has been taken. This place has become an umbrage factory. I even took umbrage once and I feel bad about that."
Franken said Republicans are using scare tactics to encourage opposition to the bill, pointing to an op-ed written by Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn titled, "The health bill is scary" -- which Franken referred to as "Exhibit A." He also addressed several recent claims made on the floor which he said were false or misleading.
"People who are trying to kill health reform are deliberately confusing Americans," Franken said. "And it's working. A recent study found that more than half of respondents to health care polls say they don't know enough about the bill to give a hard opinion. Then opponents use the fact that people are confused as a reason to draw out this process."
Also, in a rare admission for the intensly partisan health care debate, Franken noted that some Democrats might be "overselling" the bill.
"Now colleagues on my side are also making statements that might come under the heading of 'overselling,' saying that for most people premiums will go down," Franken said. "While it is true that for many, many Americans, the out-of-pocket costs for better, more secure health insurance will go down…it's also true that most health care premiums will continue to go up, it's just that they will go up at a slower rate than they would have if this bill weren't adopted."
