House Republican Whip Eric Cantor charged on Thursday that too much of the burden of bankrolling a new health care system would fall on small businesses at a time when job creation is virtually nonexistent.At the same time, the Virginia Republican said he doubts that a version of the plan in the House can win passage before members of Congress leave for their August recess. "If they're going to get this passed next week, it's going to have to be a changed bill," he said.
Rep. Eric Cantor was on c-span this AM touting his and the GOP stance on this. Will it work? Will the Blue Dogs hold up the bill helping the GOP postpone the bill until after the August Recess?
The article goes on to quote David Axelrod:
Senior White House adviser David Axelrod reiterated President Barack Obama's plea for lawmakers to act now.
"The bottom line here is right now health care premiums have doubled over the last decade. Out-of-pocket costs up by a third," he said. "Health care costs are growing three times the rate of wages."
"It's an unsustainable path," Axelrod added, "and the government is being crunched by it, businesses are being crushed by it. We have to respond."
And the moderates (Blue Dogs) are holding up the works:
In the House, Democratic leaders struggled to win over rebellious moderates and conservative rank-and-file party members who are demanding changes to the bill. The dispute has forced Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., to postpone work on the legislation for three straight days while he negotiates.
Waxman's committee is the last of three panels trying to finish the legislation. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Wednesday she has the votes to pass a bill in the House, which is scheduled to break for its monthlong recess at the end of next week. However, the Speaker hasn't scheduled a vote.
So what is the solution? We need to get at least one Bill passed before the break. It would be good if it were the House bill.
FireDogLake is circulating a petition. Here's their email about it and a link to sign the petition:
Great news - in just one day, more than 17,000 people signed our petition to tell the House to not go on vacation until it passes health care reform. Thank you for your support!
Can we make it to 25,000 by tomorrow? Forward this email to your friends and ask them to sign our petition
.Tomorrow we'll deliver your signature to the Representatives who'd rather go on vacation than pass health care reform - and we'll show you what happens afterward.
Thanks for your help,
We have to get moving on this or, as Obama said, we will lose the opportunity "The Stars are aligned".
What are your thoughts?
3 comments:
I was one of the 17 thousand who signed the FDL petition.It doesn't seem like a very good number.
I think setting the deadline was a good thing and Obama did right in saying you need to set one when dealing with Congress, especially this Congress.
If conservative congressmembers fail to meet the deadline and need to go home to "listen to their constituents", Obama should counter by running ads and hosting town halls in their states to ensure those constituents are well informed. he should inform them of congressional delay tactics, provide anecdotes of and listen to people suffering under the current system, and reveal how much their reps have taken from insurance companies fighting BOTH single payer and the public option systems.
Simple math.
FDL now up to 28k and shooting for 30!
Setting a deadline shows leadership. Of course the right will try to turn it into a setback but we expect nothing but negativity from them, right?
I would love to see him take it to them by charging right up the lane to the basket for a two handed slam dunk.
How?
Obama needs to ramp up the education of Americans about their health care, especially those who say they are happy with the status quo.
He needs to ask them some tough questions like John Aravosis posted last week that make people take a real look at their current health care policies.
For example:
1. What's the annual limit on prescription benefits under your plan? Do you have a limit? Are there exculsions?
2. What's the lifetime limit on our major medical plan? What do I mean? Lots of health care plans only cover your major medical up until a certain point, then if you cost them too much, they cut you off. What's your cut off, and would getting cancer push you beyond that cut off?
3. How much does an appendectomy cost? How much does your insurance cover? What would yours require? You don't know? Then how do you know your insurance is so good?
4. Would your insurance pay for an MRI? For radiation and chemotherapy treatments? For a liver transplants? What if your mom or dad has cataracts? Or a detached retina? What about diabetes?
Few people read the fine print on their health care policies and probably never delve into the fine print on those little pamphlets they send you in bulk rate envelopes. If folks really knew what they have in coverage, or better put, what they don't have, they'd be rioting in the streets for a strong public option if not single payer.
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