Republicans Still Have Zero Ideas To Help America

But hey, they sure are good at wasting America's time.

As Democrats scrambled to meet self-imposed deadlines, Senate Republicans froze the health care debate for at least a day Wednesday by insisting that a 767-page mega-amendment be read out loud in its entirety.

The move was poised take some 12 hours or more and grind Senate business to a halt for the day. It also threatened Democrats' ability to pass a health care bill before Christmas.

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Oklahoma, set things in motion around lunchtime Wednesday. As the Senate moved to a sweeping single-payer amendment by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, Coburn objected to the common Senate procedure that waives the actual out-loud reading of the proposal.

"I would ask that the amendment be considered as read," Sanders said on the floor.
"I object," Coburn instantly responded.

Senate clerks began with the table of contents and took turns reciting the rest of the bill.

A Republican leadership aide confirmed that party members discussed the parliamentary move at their caucus meeting and planned to require the reading of the entire Sanders amendment.

You're getting punked, America.  These people think you are nothing more than idiots who will clap for their tricks because they oppose the Greatest Evil To Ever Set Foot In The White House.  They figure you'll think they are doing you a favor.

They continue to fling feces in your face, and you cry "Bravissimo!"

[UPDATE 3:43 PM]  Steve Benen reports that Bernie Sanders, rather than putting up with Coburn's partisan idiocy, pulled his amendment entirely.