Keeping an Eye on Rhode Island Politics
Massachusetts Republican Senator Scott Brown talked with CNBC’s Larry Kudlow and said that President Obama should “start over” on Health Care Reform. Brown warned Democrats they would pay a high price in 2010 if they jam ObamaCare through using “Reconciliation.”
Brown said, “I’m challenging the President to do better.”
Standby. An impending Chernobyl-like disaster is on the way: Obama has decided to launch the nuclear option on health care – reconciliation.
With no hope of reaching the 60-vote threshold necessary for a Senate victory and the American public growing increasingly against the Obama’s government-run takeover of health care bill, the President has decided that reconciliation is the only way he can get ObamaCare across the finish line and onto his desk.
Forget that 57% of Americans want him to start over on this bill. Forget that he doesn’t even have the 60 necessary “yes” votes from his own Party to pass this bill. The President is willing to do anything possible to force this bill through Congress – because instead of worrying about what the American people want, he’s more concerned with his imposing his own agenda.
What President Obama fails to recognize is that while reconciliation has been used before, in the last 19 reconciliation bills enacted into law, 12 of them were bipartisan and passed with the support of 60 of more Senators – something the President can’t say about his health care bill.
Mr. President, instead of risking a nuclear meltdown down of the health care system by ramming a 2,074 page bill through the Senate, the House, and down the throats of the American public – do everyone a favor and rip up your massive bill and start over.
Sign the Petition: Start Over on Health Care Reform
Source: Republican National Committee
In the Weekly GOP Address, Sen. Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) discusses the recent health care summit with President Obama and Democrats and why it’s important to start over on health care.
During the White House Summit on health care on Thursday, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, and President Obama disagreed as to whether the Democratic health care bill would cause premiums to rise. Fox News’ Jim Angle found Senator Alexander was right.
Less than one hour into the President Obama’s health care summit the Senate’s most powerful Democrat reminded Republicans they can jam through a takeover of the health care system no matter what’s said during the next few hours of the meeting.
In his opening statement Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat said, “reconciliation isn’t something that’s never been done before.”
By saying this, Leader Reid has shown the irreconcilable difference between the Democrats and the American people who have already rejected their plans.
Americans have said loud and clear they do not want this bill. They don’t believe trillion dollar government takeovers will lower costs, they know it will explode our debt and reduce their freedom. They don’t want government bureaucrats making decisions for them in the most personal part of their lives.
But the Democrats continue to show they aren’t listening. They have been be planning to pass their health care takeover using a complicated Senate maneuver, called reconciliation. This procedure was originally created to resolve budget matters, not to push through a new complex entitlement program.
The summit was held under the pretense that the President would seriously listen to Republican ideas that enjoy popular support (solutions like buying insurance across state lines, tort reform, and tax equity for those who don’t get health coverage from their employer). But by refusing to take reconciliation off the table, President Obama and Democrats are turning a deaf ear to Americans.
A CNN poll released Wednesday found 73 percent of Americans want Washington to start over and begin working on an entirely new bill or stop work all together on health care reform…
Read More: Senator Jim DeMint’s Blog
The Democrats are already setting us up for the possibility of an upset victory by Scott Brown in Massachusetts.
It looks like the fix is in on national health-care reform – and it all may unfold on Beacon Hill…
But if Brown wins, the entire national health-care reform debate may hinge on when he takes over as senator. Brown has vowed to be the crucial 41st vote in the Senate that would block the bill…
…Today, a spokesman for Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin, who is overseeing the election but did not respond to a call seeking comment, said certification of the Jan. 19 election by the Governor’s Council would take a while.
“Because it’s a federal election,” spokesman Brian McNiff said. “We’d have to wait 10 days for absentee and military ballots to come in.”…
…In contrast, Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-Lowell) was sworn in at the U.S. House of Representatives on Oct. 18, 2007, just two days after winning a special election to replace Martin Meehan. In that case, Tsongas made it to Capitol Hill in time to override a presidential veto of the expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Yesterday, Brown, who has been closing the gap with Coakley in polls and fund raising, blasted the political double standard…
Read More: The Boston Herald
(Told You So.)
Some married couples would pay thousands of dollars more for the same health insurance coverage as unmarried people living together, under the health insurance overhaul plan pending in Congress.
The built-in “marriage penalty” in both House and Senate healthcare bills has received scant attention. But for scores of low-income and middle-income couples, it could mean a hike of $2,000 or more in annual insurance premiums the moment they say “I do.”
The disparity comes about in part because subsidies for purchasing health insurance under the plan from congressional Democrats are pegged to federal poverty guidelines. That has the effect of limiting subsidies for married couples with a combined income, compared to if the individuals are single…
Read More: The Wall Street Journal
This might ring a little hollow coming from a liberal like Jack Cafferty on CNN, who said “President Obama hasn’t even made a token effort” to keep his repeated campaign promises of openness about health care reform transparency. Gee, ya think?
This is a pretty good web ad from the National Republican Congressional Committee, pointing out the complete lack of transparency by the House Democrats in crafting health care “reform” legislation behind closed doors, in violation of the president’s own repeated promises.
A Government takeover of Healthcare is knocking on America’s door. Unfortunately for Americans, Nancy Pelosi and her Liberals allies aren’t opening up their door to let anyone in on the process.
As good as it is, the appearance of what certainly looks to be an iPhone in the ad probably will mean that it won’t be up too long after the ‘cease and desist’ order is received from Apple. However, the point will have certainly been made by then.
Washington (CNN) – The top Republican in the House of Representatives is backing a move by C-SPAN to allow television coverage of House-Senate health care reform negotiations.
In a December 30 letter to Democratic and Republican congressional leadership, C-SPAN Chairman Brian Lamb requested that they “open all important negotiations, including any conference committee meetings, to electronic media coverage.”
C-SPAN is a non-profit cable entity largely devoted to coverage of Congress.
House Minority Leader John Boehner supports C-SPAN’s move, saying “hard-working families won’t stand for having the future of their health care decided behind closed doors.”
“Secret deliberations are a breeding ground for more of the kickbacks, shady deals and special-interest provisions that have become business as usual in Washington. Too much is at stake to have a final bill built on payoffs and pork-barrel spending,” added Boehner, in a letter to Lamb that was released Tuesday.
Democrats say it’s impossible to predict what kind of media coverage might be possible, given that it is unclear at best if there will be any formal negotiations between the House and Senate to merge the two chambers’ health care reform bills into one piece of legislation.
“We will continue to keep the American people informed,” said Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen, a member of the House Democratic leadership.
“There has never been a more open process for any legislation,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. But “we will do what is necessary to pass the bill.”
Pelosi and Van Hollen spoke to reporters Tuesday, after huddling with other House Democratic leaders.
Top Democrats are prepared to short-circuit the traditional legislative process and exclude their GOP counterparts during final congressional health care deliberations, senior Democratic sources have told CNN. Democrats are trying to prevent the Republicans from using Senate rules to slow the push for final passage of a comprehensive reform bill, the sources added.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs refused to weigh in on Lamb’s request, saying he had not read the letter.
Source: House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH)
Here is video called “Obama Promised” produced by a liberal group called “Yes We Still Can,” which hammers President Obama for going back on his word to insist that a “Public Option” be in the Democrats’ Health Care Bill. Those on the Left are not pleased with the Senate bill which omits a so-called “Public Option.” One can only hope that their pressure during the bill reconciliation process between the House and Senate can keep the bill from becoming law.
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George Will: ‘The House Is All That Matters’
As he often does, George Will made an excellent point on “This Week,” regarding the status of the health care vote in Congress. Will said that the vote in the House of Representatives is “all that matters.” If the House passes the Senate Bill as is, it can then go to President Obama’s desk and become law. Will said that Democrats do not currently have the votes to pass it.