Ray LaHood
Secretary of Transportation and Former Republican Congressman from Illinois

Chicago Tribune: Beyond politics – Why Republicans should support health care reform

I’ve been a Republican all my life, when I served in the Illinois legislature, when I worked for members of Congress and when I served in Congress… For those reasons and others, most people wouldn’t expect me to be an advocate for comprehensive health care reform. But the truth is, I believe there is no bigger issue to solve and no better chance to solve it than now. Read the rest of this entry »

Recent polling shows the American people want action on health insurance reform legislation and continue to strongly support key elements in legislation that is before Congress.

AMERICANS WANT ACTION ON HEALTH REFORM

• More than three-quarters of Americans (76 percent) believe it is extremely or very important to reform the way health insurance works. [85 percent of Democrats, 79 percent of Independents, 64 percent of Republicans] [KFF, 2/23/10]

• · 63 percent of Americans want lawmakers in Washington to keep trying to pass a comprehensive health care reform plan, rather than giving up on it. [ABC News/Washington Post, 2/10/10]

• · 61 percent of Americans either support the current reform proposals or want Congress to keep working toward a solution to achieve reform. [Democracy Corps, 3/9/10; Pew Research, 2/12/10]

• 58 percent of Americans say they would be disappointed or angry if Congress stopped working on health reform now. [KFF, 2/23/10]

• A recent Ipsos/McClatchy poll found that of the 47 percent who say they oppose reform, 37 percent do so because they think reform does not go far enough.  [Ipsos/McClatchy, 3/2/10] Read the rest of this entry »

PERMALINK | WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman John Boehner (R-West Chester) issued the following statement regarding the visits by President Obama and Vice President Biden to Ohio today:

“Again the President and Vice President have come to the Buckeye State to try and sell their massive job-killing government takeover of health care, but Ohioans aren’t buying it.  Instead, as we approach nearly a year of double-digit unemployment in Ohio, hard-working families are wondering why Washington Democrats refuse to abandon their government takeover of health care, their ‘cap and trade’ national energy tax, and all their government spending that will only make matters worse. Read the rest of this entry »