Reading is fundamental, continued

Ezra interviews Lamar Alexander, who seems to be playing a form of passive aggressive jujitsu throughout the conversation, but was particularly struck by this exchange:

But you liked at least part of it. The Senate health-care bill seems like Wyden-Bennett on the margins. If you were willing to build on Wyden-Bennett, which is a comprehensive solution, why not theSenate plan? Are they so different in theory?

I think they are. One thing is you can’t be sure what’s in the Senate bill because it's 2,100 pages long. You just know there are surprises in it. Two, Wyden-Bennett largely eliminates Medicaid. It gives people money to go into the private sector instead. The Senate plan adds 18 million people to Medicaid. The Medicare cuts are a big difference.

Because it's 2,100 pages long, it can't be read? There will be surprises? The King James Bible is quite long, too, but I don't know too many of our elected national leaders who would say it's too long to read. And shit, Leviticus is full of surprises.

Read. The. Bill. You have staff for that. Divvy it up. Raise questions about specific "surprises" you don't like.

Pass the fucking bill.