February 5, 2010 by Evan
Filed under News
From the Associated Press:
After insisting for a year that failure was not an option, President Barack Obama is now acknowledging his health care overhaul may die in Congress.
His remarks at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser Thursday night sounded contradictory at times, complicating congressional leaders' effort to revive health care legislation as Democrats hunger for guidance from the White House. Even while saying he still wanted to get the job done, Obama counseled going slow, and bowed to new political realities. Democrats no longer command a filibuster-proof Senate majority, and voters and lawmakers are far more concerned with jobs and the economy than with enacting sweeping and expensive changes to the health system.
"I think it's very important for us to have a methodical, open process over the next several weeks, and then let's go ahead and make a decision," Obama said Thursday night.
"And it may be that ... if Congress decides we're not going to do it, even after all the facts are laid out, all the options are clear, then the American people can make a judgment as to whether this Congress has done the right thing for them or not," the president said. "And that's how democracy works. There will be elections coming up and they'll be able to make a determination and register their concerns one way or the other during election time."
It seemed to be a shift in tone for the issue Obama campaigned on and made the centerpiece of his domestic agenda last year.
"Here's the key, is to not let the moment slip away," Obama also said.
Sweeping health legislation to extend medical coverage to more than 30 million uninsured Americans passed both chambers of Congress last year and was on the verge of completion before Republican Scott Brown's upset victory in a Massachusetts special U.S. Senate election last month. Brown was sworn in Thursday, giving Republicans 41 votes, enough to block the initiatives of the Democratic majority.
Now the health legislation hangs in limbo. Lawmakers are looking to Obama for a path forward, but he has not publicly offered specifics. His signals have been mixed. At the DNC event he said Republicans should be part of the process — something they've shown little interest in and that would doubtlessly drag out a legislative effort that many rank-and-file Democrats want to end quickly. The health care bill has become unpopular with the public and a political drag for lawmakers.
"The next step is what I announced at the State of the Union, which is to call on our Republican friends to present their ideas. What I'd like to do is have a meeting whereby I'm sitting with the Republicans, sitting with the Democrats, sitting with health care experts, and let's just go through these bills. ... And then I think that we've got to go ahead and move forward on a vote," Obama said Thursday.
"But as I said at the State of the Union, I think we should be very deliberate, take our time. We're going to be moving a jobs package forward over the next several weeks; that's the thing that's most urgent right now in the minds of Americans all across the country."
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters on Friday that there is no meeting set yet for the president to talk over health care strategy with Republican and Democratic lawmakers.
"There's nothing on the block on this right now," he said. "But I think this just goes to the president continuing to want to hear ideas."
Bipartisan congressional leaders are planning to join Obama at the White House on Tuesday, but Gibbs reiterated that the meeting will be centered on how to create jobs and boost the economy.
Obama had also said Thursday night that "we've got to move forward on a vote" on health care. When asked what the president meant by that, Gibbs said only that White House officials are "still working with Capitol Hill on the best way forward."
Obama's comments came just hours after he met Thursday afternoon with Democratic congressional leaders, but the discussion focused mostly on jobs, and the leaders emerged with no announcement about a path ahead for health care. Rank-and-file Democrats are eager for them to settle on one by the end of next week, after which lawmakers will return to their states and districts for a weeklong recess where they'll likely face questions from voters on the issue.
Don Stewart, spokesman for Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, said Friday that the White House has not requested a sit-down on health care with Republicans.
"The president wants to start over on health care? Sen. McConnell's been saying that for months," said Stewart.
Washington (CNN) -- The Senate passed a $871 billion health care reform bill Thursday morning, handing President Obama a Christmas Eve victory on his top domestic priority.
The bill passed in a 60-39 party line vote after months of heated partisan debate. Every member of the Democratic caucus backed the measure; every Republican opposed it.
Should it become law, the measure would constitute the biggest expansion of federal
health care guarantees since the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid more than four decades ago. It is expected to extend insurance coverage to 30 million additional Americans.
The bill now must be merged with a $1 trillion plan approved by the House of Representatives in November. Democrats hope to have a bill ready for Obama's signature before the president's State of the Union address early next year.
Senate Republicans failed to stop the bill despite utilizing almost every weapon in their legislative arsenal. GOP leaders have repeatedly warned the measure will raise taxes while doing little to slow spiraling health costs.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, was forced to cut multiple deals in recent weeks to ensure the support of every member of his traditionally fractious caucus. Top Democrats needed the backing of all 60 members in three key procedural votes over the past four days to break a GOP filibuster.
Final passage of the measure, in contrast, only requires a bare majority in the 100-member chamber.
From
NPR
As various health care bills wind their way toward the House and Senate floors, the White House is soliciting support from some unlikely allies: Republicans. Recently such high-profile Republicans as California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tommy Thompson, health and human services secretary in the Bush administration, have come out in support of an overhaul. The administration hopes this will help win over moderates in Congress.
The former majority leader of the Senate, Republican Bill Frist, said last week that if he were in Congress, he'd take the heat and vote for an overhaul.
"I'm coming out very strongly in support of what's going on in the Senate Finance Committee," he said on CNN. "It's bipartisan; I hope that it ends up being bipartisan. If not, I think it's going to be a destructive bill. But it's bipartisan, people working together, so we're on the way there."
Then there's Mark McClellan, who ran Medicare under President George W. Bush.
"Congress needs to act. The health care issues facing this country are both major and urgent," he said. "We have a real opportunity now to make some progress — not just on improving coverage, but also on improving health care. My hope is that we'll take advantage of those opportunities."
And then there's Republican Bob Dole, another former Senate majority leader: "I think we need health care reform and we need it now. We don't need it four or five years from now."
Dole spoke to NPR's political editor Ken Rudin a few weeks ago, and his stance has only gotten stronger since — that the Republican minority in Congress needs to be more flexible. He told the
Kansas City Star on Thursday, "I don't want the Republicans putting up a 'no' sign and saying, 'We're not open for business.'"
And there are more Republicans coming out — some after being nudged by the Obama administration: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (an independent running as the Republican nominee for reelection) and former Tennessee Sen. Howard Baker (another past majority leader), in addition to Schwarzenegger and Thompson. Thompson said he signed on to a joint statement with former House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt that says "failure to reach an agreement on health reform this year is not an acceptable option."
