GOP Leaders & Chamber Of Commerce: 'This Bill Is A Job Killer'

Senate GOP leaders and the leadership of the U.S. Chamber Of Commerce joined forces today to paint the Senate health care reform bill as a "job killer."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sens. Mike Enzi (R-WY), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and John Cornyn (R-TX) addressed reporters with dozens of Chamber members lined up behind them, led by Chamber president Bruce Josten.

"This bill is a job killer," Grassley said, summarizing the group's complaints, mainly that the mandates and revenue streams found in the bill would prevent small buisness owners from hiring new workers for fear they'll be forced into a maze of government bureaucracy.

McConnell dismissed the new compromise rolled out last night by Senate Democratic leaders as simply "different mutations of this monstrosity."

"I don't think it's relevant to the core of the measure," McConnell said. "The core of the measure is a job killing bill."

Josten called on Congress to scrap the whole process and "start over" with a new bill, claiming that the months of debate have created a bill that rejects President Obama's original vision for health care reform.

"While the bill contains some favorable provisions," he said, "the Senate's efforts to protect American jobs and revive the economy [through health care reform] fall flat."

"Unfortunately, this legislation does not meet the goals that the President laid out at the beginning of this debate," Josten added.