Asa Hutchinson: “I agree that the process in many cases does not matter. Normally, the American people do not care about process.…”

“I agree that the process in many cases does not matter. Normally, the American people do not care about process. Instead, they care about results. They care about their pains and their families' pains, and they are concerned about the future. But if you have a process that is a prescription for failure, then process matters. If you have a process that is set up to ensure there is no result, then process matters. I say to my distinguished colleague from Michigan that it is easy to ridicule concerns about the process, but when the process results in 60 votes needed for passage instead of 51 votes--a process which is going to guarantee that we don't get a prescription drug benefit for our seniors, and that is exactly the situation--then process matters. If the fact that we didn't go through the Finance Committee, and the fact that we didn't have a markup in the Finance Committee results in a point of order that sets the bar so high that we are not going to get a bill through, then it matters.”