From Erika Bolstad in Washington D.C. --
Don't expect Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski to cross party lines to vote for the health care bill released this week by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada.
Murkowski calls it "deeply disappointing and in many ways is even worse than the Senate Finance Committee-passed proposal."
"First and foremost, the American people have said, and both parties have agreed, that health care reform must reduce health care costs," she said. "But this bill doesn’t do that. In fact, it’s laden with budgetary gimmicks that would massively increase the size and reach of government and send federal spending into the stratosphere."
She adds:
"At a town hall meeting on health care that I held last week in Chugiak, the one thing that constituents repeated was 'don't pass a bill that raises taxes, increases insurance premiums and cuts Medicare.' We should listen to the American people."
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