At a press conference Thursday marking the release of the Senate health care bill, HELP Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) says, “This is an opportunity that comes oh so rarely to any Congress to make a difference for 100% of your fellow citizens…[to] improve the quality of life for every single American for decades to come.” (0:34)
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) invokes a statement former President Harry S. Truman wrote to Congress 64 years ago today that said “we should resolve now that the health of this nation is a national concern, that financial barriers in the way of attaining health shall be removed, that is, the health of all the citizens deserve the help of all the nation.” (0:27)
Says Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), “We have been working to reform health care since the first half of the last century.” (0:16)
Travis Martinez – University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service
On Thursday Rep. Leonard Lance (R-N.J.) urged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to remove raising of the national debt ceiling language from the Defense spending bill. Lance said he’d like the Speaker to allow for a separate vote on the issue.
Currently, the national debt ceiling stands at $12.104 trillion. On Tuesday U.S. Treasury officials confirmed that the U.S. debt has hit it’s highest level since World War II at $12 trillion.
“The recent news that our nation’s debt has for the first time topped the $12 trillion mark should be of grave concern to every American…I stand here today with my colleagues to call on Speaker Pelosi to allow on the floor of the House of Representatives such a debate and a clean up-or-down vote on raising the debt ceiling,” said Lance.
Lance addressed a letter he sent on November 6 2009 to the Speaker asking for a stand-alone vote on raising the nation’s debt ceiling. 27 other House Republicans have joined with Lance in his efforts, including Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas), Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) and Ron Paul (R-Texas).
“I will vote against a needed increase in the limit the federal government can borrow unless Congress creates a commission to come up with proposals to bring the deficit and debt under control,” said Lance.
The New Jersey Republican said that he is waiting to hear back from Pelosi.
By Marianna Levyash – Talk Radio News Service
Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) displayed concern over the high cost of the Senate health care bill during a press conference Thursday.
According to statistics Gregg obtained from the Senate Budget Committee, the bill increases federal spending by $1.2 trillion between now and 2019, and if fully implemented, it would cost over $2.5 trillion over the next ten years.
“This representation that it’s an $850 million dollar bill is simply wrong,” said Gregg.
Republicans opposed to the legislation say taxes will go up by nearly $500 billion, Medicare will be cut by $465 billion and that 24 million people will still be left uninsured.
“Revenues shouldn’t go to create a new entitlement, they should go to reduce the out-year already contingent unfunded liability that we have in Medicare,” stated Gregg.
The Senate is expected to vote on the bill this coming Saturday.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expresses her approval of abortion language in Sen. Harry Reid’s health care reform bill. The Senate bill grants the secretary of Health and Human Services to decide if federal funds will be allocated for those under the public plan. It would also require that private insurers split premiums from subsidies used to pay for abortion coverage. (1:05)
Travis Martinez – University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service
During her weekly press conference, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) lauded abortion language in the Senate’s health care bill on Thursday.
The Senate bill, which was posted online Wednesday night, grants the secretary of Health and Human Services to decide if federal funds will be allocated for those who obtain insurance from the public plan. It would also require that private insurers split premiums from subsidies used to pay for abortion coverage.
“We have all agreed on all sides of this issue that we would maintain the status quo. There will be no federal funds for abortion,” said Pelosi. “I think the Stupak Amendment goes beyond maintaining the status quo. I’m pleased with the language in the Senate bill. I think it’s pretty clear that no federal funds will be spent on abortion,” she added.
The “Stupak Amendment” in the House bill would ban elective abortions for those covered by the public health insurance plan and would prohibit private insurers to offer abortion coverage to those who receive federal subsidies for health care premiums.
“I believe there is plenty of common ground to be found to do that [maintain status quo]… Conversations continue, and we will find common ground,” said Pelosi.
The Senate is expected to bring its bill to the floor for debate this Saturday.
By Marianna Levyash – Talk Radio News Service
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) along with Democratic leaders on Thursday unveiled their health care bill, complete with a state opt-out government-administered public option.
During the press conference, Reid invoked former President Harry Truman, who wrote to Congress 64 years ago today that “we should resolve now that the health of this nation is a national concern, that financial barriers in the way of attaining health shall be removed.”
The 2,074 page “The Patient Protection and Affordable Act,” ensures that over ten years, the $849 billion bill will produce a net deficit of over $130 billion, cut future Medicare spending and ban insurance companies that decline coverage to anyone with a “pre-existing [medical] condition.”
Coverage will be extended to 94% of eligible Americans, close to the 96% of Americans covered in the House Affordable Health Care For America Act.
When asked about the abortion amendment in the bill, Reid answered “This is a health care bill, not an abortion bill.”
Reid and his fellow Democrats now need 60 votes in order to pass the bill. When asked about the chances of that happening, Reid responded by saying, “We’ll find out when the votes are taken.” He added that he will not use reconciliation as a means of passing the bill.
By Julianne LaJeunesse – University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service
Hopefully, no one told U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner that pitching the Obama administration’s financial reform plan to Congress was going to be painless. During a heated Joint Economic Committee hearing on Thursday, U.S. Republican Reps. Michael Burgess (Texas) and Kevin Brady (Texas) called on Geithner to step down, telling him that his work is not adequately serving Americans.
“Conservatives agree that as point person, you failed,” Brady argued. “Liberals are growing in that consensus as well. Poll after poll shows the public has lost confidence in this President’s ability to handle this economy… for the sake of our jobs, will you step down from your post?”
Geithner responded to Brady by saying he’s privileged to serve in his position, but did not give the Congressman an answer. Responding to Brady’s concerns over unemployment and the types of jobs lost, Geithner remarked, “Almost nothing in what you said represents a fair and accurate perception of where this economy is today.”
The purpose of Geithner’s visit to the Hill, his second in as many days, was to encourage lawmakers to include four elements that he argued, “are critical to a strong package of [regulatory reform] legislation.”
Among them: Forcing non-banks who act as banks to be subjected to the same safeguards as recognized monetary institutions; accountability that includes a proposed council that will ensure that banks, regardless of size, work on a level playing field; a more capable financial system that will better absorb shocks and failures and adoption of a “no institution should be considered too big to fail” motto, which Geithner explained would be enforced by the government under “resolution authority.”
“This emergency authority, what we call resolution authority, has to be designed to facilitate the orderly demise of a failing firm…not ensure its survival,” he said. “Any risk of loss, must be recouped from the largest institutions, in proportion to their size. The financial industry, not the taxpayers, need to be on the hook.”
At a Joint Economic Committee hearing Thursday, U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) calls for the resignation of the witness, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. (0:21)
