Feingold open to health care reconciliation only for certain provisions; not full bills
In a statement Sunday, Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., said he would support reconciling health care reform legislation only in specific instances.
The statement came after Feingold talked to constituents in Racine on Saturday about health care.
Feingold said he is open to using reconciliation to enact health care provisions specifically targeted at reducing budget deficits. He also said reconciliation would not be an appropriate way to move forward wide-ranging health care reform measures, such as the bills passed by the House and Senate.
NY Times: White House Gives Itself 51 Percent Chance of Passing ObamaCare
By PETER BAKER
As Emanuel put it the morning of the Massachusetts election, the final judgments will depend on the final results. If the president and his chief of staff manage to salvage their ambitious campaign to overhaul health care in the next few weeks — a proposition the White House privately put at 51 percent as the month began, according to an official — then, as Emanuel said, they will be seen as smart all over again. But that 49 percent chance of failure could devastate Obama’s presidency, weaken Democrats heading into the fall midterm elections and trigger an even fiercer, more debilitating round of finger-pointing inside the administration.
Daily Caller: Marshall — Obama health-care plan will bankrupt country
Rep. Jim Marshall, a Blue Dog Democrat from Georgia, said Friday that his vote against President Obama’s health-care reform in the fall was “a good vote” which he’ll cast again this time around, citing the legislation’s inability to control skyrocketing costs.
Obama’s proposal will bankrupt the country, Marshall said, during an interview on Fox News.
The president’s plan will only perpetuate current problems with the health-care system because it does nothing to make health-care providers and insurers directly accountable to consumers for the fees they charge for service, he said.
“The problem here is we’ve disconnected consumers, patients and physicians from cost considerations too much,” Marshall said in an interview on Fox News. “People are very concerned about cost; I’m concerned about cost. If you just do more of the same, which is largely what this does, more third party pay, that’s basically what the problem is here, then you’re going to get continued explosive costs.”
Marshall also said, “The reason it costs so much is because of the current structure. If you do more of the current structure, it’s just going to cost more. I think people realize that. People also realize that we’re bankrupting the country over this…the next generation is going to be buried in debt.” When questioned if this would happen if the current bill was signed into law Marshall answered, “That is my opinion.”
The Hill: DeMint will force vote on one-year earmark moratorium this week
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) will push again for a one-year moratorium on earmarks, piggybacking on reports that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) may consider such a measure.
DeMint is likely to force a vote on the earmarks ban by offering a motion to suspend the rules this week at the conclusion of the Senate debate on an extenders bill.
The conservative senator renewed his push for an earmarks ban, which is similar to one he offered at the height of the healthcare debate in December, after reports indicated Pelosi may enact a complete ban on earmarks for one year.
“Nancy Pelosi and I don’t agree on many things, but if she’s willing to take a stand for taxpayers, I’ll work with her to put an end to the earmark favor factory,” DeMint said Monday in a statement.
FOXNews.com: ACORN Registration Workers Charged With Felony Voter Fraud
Five Wisconsin residents, including two who worked for community organizing group ACORN, were charged Monday with election fraud relating to the 2008 presidential election.
State Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen announced felony charges against Maria Miles, Kevin Clancy, Michael Henderson, Herbert Gunka and Suzanne Gunka.
Miles and Clancy worked for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now and are accused of submitting multiple voter registration applications for the same individuals, including each other, to meet voter registration quotes imposed by the community organizing group.
Henderson is charged with one count of voting by a disqualified person and providing false information to election officials. The allegation claims he was on a felony probation and prohibited from voting at the time.
Herbert and Suzanne Gunka are each charged with double voting — a felony — by allegedly absentee voting and then going to the polls to vote.
“The integrity of elections is dependent upon citizens and officials insisting they be conducted lawfully. Wisconsin’s citizens should not have to wonder whether their vote has been negated or diminished by illegally cast ballots,” Van Hollen said.
Massa on ObamaCare: “[N]ow they’ve gotten rid of me and it will pass. You connect the dots.”
Massa says that didn’t hear of the harassment allegations until after the announcement he would not seek reelection.
“It wasn’t until after I stood in front of the American people and said I simply can’t do this anymore … did anyone say anything to me about a House investigation concerning [the harassment allegation],” Massa said on his radio show. He continued:
“And then you turn to Roll Call newspaper this morning — ‘Massa’s resignation good news for health care backers’ — and the light comes on. That with the departure of Congressman Neil Abercrombie, who is running for the governorship of Hawaii, and with the tragic, and very sad passing of my personal good friend Jack Murtha, mine is now the deciding vote on the health care bill.
And this administration and this house leadership have said, quote unquote, ‘they will stop at nothing to pass this health care bill.’ And now they’ve gotten rid of me and it will pass. You connect the dots.”
Griffith: Message on health care is ignored by Democrats
America is watching the House of Representatives as it is the last line of defense to protect them from a government-takeover of health care. Recently, the President reversed his earlier stance and endorsed a controversial legislative tactic known as reconciliation to pass a government-takeover of health care. It will change the rules to pass the health care bill by denying Senate Republicans the right to kill the bill by stalling with a filibuster. The House and the Senate would then use reconciliation to pass a set of fixes to the bill, to satisfy the demands of lawmakers in the House.
Reforming our health care system is perhaps the most important issue that Washington will address this Congress. As a member of the Republican Truth Squad during the President’s Health Care Summit and now by delivering the Republican response to the President’s weekly address this weekend, I have been fortunate to play a leading role in the health care debate. My response to the President’s weekly address outlined the dangers of putting government in charge of medical decisions that should be made by patients and doctors. As a physician who spent 30 years treating patients across north Alabama, there is no doubt that our health care system needs to be reformed, however, the President’s bill does nothing to offer a solution to our health care reform needs.
Wash. Post: National debt to be higher than White House forecast, CBO says
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 6, 2010
President Obama’s proposed budget would add more than $9.7 trillion to the national debt over the next decade, congressional budget analysts said Friday. Proposed tax cuts for the middle class account for nearly a third of that shortfall.
The 10-year outlook released by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office is somewhat gloomier than White House projections, which found that Obama’s budget request would produce deficits that would add about $8.5 trillion to the national debt by 2020.
News.com.au: Portugal forced into austerity plan
THE Portuguese Government said it would cut spending, delay investment and sell state assets to fix Portugal’s finances just a week after fellow eurozone member Greece took similar unpopular steps.
The aim is to get the public deficit– the shortfall in the annual accounts – back to 2.8 per cent of Gross Domestic Product by 2013, under the European Union’s three per cent limit.
Last year’s deficit soared to 9.3 per cent of GDP from 2.8 per cent in 2008 as Portugal, just like Greece and several other eurozone members, tried to pump-prime their economies in the face of the worst global slump since the 1930s.
The stability and growth programme for 2010-2013 will shortly be submitted to the European Commission, after local consultations, Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos told a news conference.
The main focus will be on spending cuts, Teixeira dos Santos said, while tax increases will be limited to the wealthy.
House Republican Leader Blog: White House Blog Treats The American People Like They’re Stupid
By Michael Ricci on March 8th, 2010
A new White House blog post marks the beginning of the Obama Administration’s last-ditch, 11th-hour, now-or-never, line-in-the-sand, this-time-we-really-mean-it push for a government takeover of health care by railing against – wait for it – higher insurance premiums.
The American people’s health care costs are going up, you say? No way. Can’t be. Cue the outrage!
‘Well, duh,’ the American people are saying. They know their health care costs are going up. They’ve recognized that’s the problem from the beginning. They’re the ones living through the day-to-day struggle of having to make ends meet in this tough, uncertain economic climate.
But here’s the thing: the American people have heard all this rhetoric before, and they have only become more rather than less opposed to a government takeover of health care. Read the rest of this entry »
