Originally Posted By: tonyc
Ultimately, this bill is VERY close to the Republican alternative proposal to Clinton's 1993 plan put forth by Sen. John Chafee, and mirrors the Mitt Romney Massachusetts plan in most respects as well.

Thanks for pointing that out. I'm now really curious what has happened in the past 17 years to cause the GOP position to change so drastically. The chart here pretty much lines up the GOP proposal in 1993 with the bill that passed, along with putting in the GOP 2010 proposal.
http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Graphics/2010/022310-Bill-Comparison.aspx

17 years, and a party completely reverses it's position. Or were they not sincere when they proposed it back then?