Blue Dog Dem: Health Care Bill is “Months Away”
EmailABC News’ David Chalian reports: One of President Obama’s target audiences at last night’s primetime press conference were the moderate Democrats in Congress he desperately needs to pass his desired version of health care reform. According to one Blue Dog Democrat in the House, the president seems to have done himself some good, but unlike Speaker Pelosi, Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN) doesn’t see the votes quite there yet to pass a bill. “I thought the President was making the right points last night. We do need a deficit neutral bill that bends the cost curve in the right direction. We also need a bill that works and works for every American so the President stressed the right points. I hope that congressional leadership will listen,” said Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN) on ABC News’ “Top Line.” “Well she may be a better counter than I am but I don’t see them,” Cooper said when asked about Speaker Pelosi’s assertion that she has the votes. Rep. Cooper also suggested that the health care reform effort is moving out of the fast lane. “This is the early stage of a debate. It’s early and I’m glad for all the media interest in it, but we are months away from a resolution of this problem,” he said. ABC News’ Jonathan Karl reports that Senate majority leader Harry Reid seems to agree with that sentiment. Sen. Reid announced this afternoon that the only deadline in the Senate is to get a bill out of the Finance Committee before the August recess, kicking the president’s deadline for the full Senate vote until after the August break. In last night’s press conference, President Obama clearly endorsed the idea of a surtax on millionaires to help pay for health care reform. That seems to be a sticking point for Rep. Cooper, but not necessarily a clear red line he refuses to cross. “Well you really, I think, don’t need to have any new taxes in this legislation. There’s so much waste in today’s healthcare system. It’s estimated to be about $700 billion every year. We need to be capturing that waste instead of thinking of taxing new people,” he said. The New Republic’s Jonathan Cohn also joined us to assess the president’s press conference performance and whether or not he advanced the ball in the health care debate. “The way you get a bill like this through Congress is you need a swell of support. You need people calling their members of Congress on the phone saying ‘I want health reform’ and to do that he’s got to reassure the public that it’s not something that will threaten them. But he also has to convince the public that this is something they want and something they need,” Cohn told us.
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Have any of you who are for this healthcare bill they are trying to pass even read any of it? It is nothing but 1,000 plus pages of a shell, there are no specifics. The bill allows 18 months after its passage for the specifics of the plan to be generated. There is nothing which details the amount of coverage, do-pay, deductable, premiums, etc which one would expect to find in anything dealing with a healthcare proposal. There is nothing which details what payments will be allowed to healthcare providers or what providers would be participating in the plan. The only thing in there is fines if you don’t participate and additional taxes to hopefully fund this empty bill. Congress and Obama are trying to sell us the taxpayer a blank piece of paper which contains no details so that we can make an informed decision as to whether this is good or bad legislation. For something this expensive and important to the American people they should not pass any legislation until all of the details are known. Would you buy a house in a city you had never been to just because someone you didn’t know said it was a good house?, a car? Like normal Congress has the cart before the horse and without the details the taxpayers could be sold a bill of goods that will not do what many think it will do.
Posted by: Sandcrab1612 | July 23, 2009, 2:17 pm 2:17 pm
Oh Reid grow a spine already you weak man stop letting the Republicans and the blue dog known as fake Democrats bully you its time for this spineless man to go!
Posted by: Angie in Pa | July 23, 2009, 2:18 pm 2:18 pm
Spineless democrats just shot themselves again and is weakening our president.
95% of the people losing their jobs daily are also losing their healthcare……continues.
Stay strong Obama we are behind you & will be giving congressman an earfull while they are “vacationing”
Posted by: watching | July 23, 2009, 2:40 pm 2:40 pm
Sandcrab1612 and Angie in PA and any other lib who would like to reply:
Could you please give me 10 bullet points (with references to where it appears in the bill) where this legislation will expand coverage, lower costs, improve care, and be deficit neutral?
The bill is over 1000 pages, so 10 bullet points with references shouldn’t be hard.
If you can’t provide this information, I would suggest you slow down until you (or at least Congress) has had a chance to read and deliberate this bill.
We’ve already made almost $2 Trillion worth of “shooting from the hip” mistakes over the past year (TARP, stimulus, cap and trade, etc…).
What’s the rush?
Posted by: Paul Thiel | July 23, 2009, 2:54 pm 2:54 pm
Obama should face up to it. The American people simply do not like his non healhcare(insurancr reform plan.
This is his Waterloo.
Those who don’t think so should read about Waterloo
Posted by: judith Edens | July 23, 2009, 2:58 pm 2:58 pm
Didn’t Our President spend most of 2007 and 2008 yammering about his great health care plan? Where is it?
Posted by: mesquito | July 23, 2009, 3:05 pm 3:05 pm
“But he also has to convince the public that this is something they want and something they need.” — If it is something that people want and/or need, they won’t need convincing of it. The idea that he can even say that the public needs convincing belies the urgency of passing this version of health care reform.
If they are truly interested in dealing with that estimated $700 billion in waste, how about they actually deal with some serious torte reform and limit lawyer fees which will reduce the amount of medically unnecessary CYA (cover your ___) tests and procedures that doctors are ordering to avoid lawsuits? Nothing in this “reform” actually reforms anything. It simply expands the current system while slowly pushing private insurers out of business.
Posted by: Matt | July 23, 2009, 3:22 pm 3:22 pm
political figures in the pockets of huge pharmaceuticals and insurers are going to have reservations with a fair & just heathcare delivery plan for the country.
getting real, and getting a little less megawealth is tough for some.
Posted by: gus amaral | July 23, 2009, 4:23 pm 4:23 pm
I have been giving my Congressman and Senator an earful for months now: NO SOCIALIST HEALTHCARE…Anyone who cares about their health and doesn’t want the government stepping in between them and their doctor and rationing care should be letting their Represenatives know that Obamacare is a NO GO!!!
Posted by: bobbyd12 | July 23, 2009, 4:31 pm 4:31 pm
the panic striken, misinformed are still yelling “socialism”. The healthcare reform plan is not socialized medicine, nor has anyone involved claimed it to be.
a little less hype and fear, and a little more education [other than conservative screamers as the only source]
If you can read, there’s no excuse.
BTW, the military and federal employees have a federal insurance plan.
Hard one to argue against.
Posted by: maryQ. | July 23, 2009, 5:04 pm 5:04 pm
The president did nothing to help himself or his health care plan at his press conf. He wasted everyone’s time while personally attacking a police officer in ignorance and argued that doctors routinely look to do unnecessary procedures in order to make more money. I’ve never heard a doctor removing tonsils for a simple sore throat. This implication reveals how hateful the president is of the whole health care industry, doctors included!
Bottom line: By far, Most Americans have health insurances and like their insurance. Convincing people that adding 47M uninsured into the current health care system will not change the quality of care or the deficit will be a very hard task. If people believe the president’s rhetoric, they are either delusional or ignorant of government.
Posted by: Malcom Z | July 23, 2009, 5:08 pm 5:08 pm
MaryQ…Federal employees have a Federal Insurance Plan??? I am a Federal employee and have a choice of PRIVATE companies, one not run by the government…Blue Cross, UnitedHealth and a host of other PRIVATE companies. One needs to know ones facts before spurting out misinformation. The fact is when it is run by the government, it is a “Socialistic Plan”, read a couple of the thousand pages of this terrible bill put out by Pelosi and the gang of liberals and you will see that is EXACTLY what the bill does, socialize healthcare…I know your saviour Obama says NO but the writing in the bill says YES!!!
Posted by: bobbyd12 | July 23, 2009, 5:16 pm 5:16 pm
The president needs to explain why his numbers are so different from the CBO’s. And, if he’s going to refer to evidence-based medicine or getting rid of the “fraud, waste, and abuse” that we all know are in the system (and that politicians have been promising to remove since the Reagan era), he needs to tell us specifically how he’ll pull the rabbit out of the hat. Until he does, every Blue Dog will continue to have his day, and this initiative will remain in deep trouble.
Posted by: Fred Croft | July 23, 2009, 5:35 pm 5:35 pm
Unemployment Rate when Obama was elected: 6.3%
Unemployment Rate Today: 9.5%
Obama Job Approval: 51%
Watching Obama Fail America: Costly
Posted by: Angelo | July 23, 2009, 8:54 pm 8:54 pm
The market has soared lately largely because the prospects for capitalism actually continuing are becoming greater as Obama’s poll numbers fall and his ability to enact his radical liberal agenda decreases. Just wait until the 2010 elections. Say goodbye to control of Congress libs!
Posted by: randy | July 23, 2009, 10:43 pm 10:43 pm
I am a federal employee. We have a choice of private providers just like everyone else. I am on Bluecross. Military has a private company called Tri-care (for dependants)the servicemember uses military doctors which is mediocre.
Posted by: wendell | July 24, 2009, 1:36 am 1:36 am
It’s clear Obama does not want what is best for the American People or America. He wants what is going to aid his socialist agenda. He wants Americans to depend on the govermment for everything. He is dangerous for America.
Posted by: Ben | July 24, 2009, 2:50 am 2:50 am
We thought my father had good insurance and was in a great hospital ( as per their ads on billboards, commercials and infomercials ) His care was rationed. He died. Sadly in TN & VA profit care is more important than patient care.
The status quo could learn a few things on efficiency and concerned, compassionate health care from Remote Area Medical ( RAM ), a non profit health care system that works. They are in Wise County, Virginia this weekend helping families who can’t afford the luxury of seeing a doctor.
A friend of mine took his nephew and got in line at 2 in the morning, they give you a ticket with a number on it, they were patient 1440. We must have health care reform now.
Posted by: tmullins | July 25, 2009, 6:15 pm 6:15 pm
Finally somebody stands up for COMMON SENSE! Only government belives you can create something out of nothing and pay for it by theft at the barrell of a gun…
Posted by: hmn | July 25, 2009, 6:39 pm 6:39 pm
Obama thought he was going to sneak this on through like he did cap and trade. Sorry folks – people are wising up to our Racist in Chief.
Posted by: Jaye | July 25, 2009, 7:37 pm 7:37 pm
Honestly people, this has less to do with healthcare than to opening the door to the govt expanding control over people’s lives. It is a means to implementing reparation type policies as Obama believe or not has said that he doesn’t like reparations because “THEY DON”T GO FAR ENOUGH,” and explained that the way to bring about reparations is through universal healthcare, universal college, etc. Once the govt controls the healthcare system, the rest of the private sector becomes much much more easy to gain control over as well.
Obama is trying to force this down our throats as fast as possible before the American people fully have a debate and consider this bill, because it is a no win situation for the people and a HUGE win for Obama’s radical socialist agenda.
Posted by: Jason | July 25, 2009, 8:45 pm 8:45 pm
Instead of ‘months away’ it’s another 30 years away. Let’s health care is dead then Obama’s presidency is finished. We can thank the broadcast media for helping the Blue Dog Republicrats to shoot this down. We can thank this spineless, president for not standing up to them. It’s animal house: “thank you sir, may I have another?” Another twist of the knife and down we go the merry-go-round, down the toilet, round and round and it comes out here. The Democrats have no spine to stand up for what they profess. Harry Reid is spineless indeed.” And we’ll get a new Republican president within a couple of years. Why have elections? Why does Nancy Pelosi have bigger ####### than Harry Reid does. Waiting will be the death knell of the whole thing. We’ll lose healthcare and keep paying higher premiums with no coverage and keep paying for Afghanistan and Iraq. They’re more important anyway, obviously. The rest of the country is following right on California’s heels. Grab your ankles and kiss you #### goodbye.
Posted by: JL | July 25, 2009, 8:58 pm 8:58 pm
I am sick of people blaming the president and NAFTA for jobs losses. You are the ones not boycotting companies that ship their factories to China and elsewhere. You continue to buy their goods even when there is an american company making the same item.
American citizens are failing America.
Istead of bitching on sites like this bitch with your state representive when it comes to healthcare and stimulus funds.
Posted by: Dot | July 25, 2009, 9:13 pm 9:13 pm
we the people need to start making headway with the formation of alternative parties to represent us. if this healthcare reform does not get passed and the dems and repubs both end up with the deaths of the uninsured on their hands we the people need to revolutionize ourselves into forming a new breed of representation.
Posted by: for the people | July 26, 2009, 3:04 pm 3:04 pm
Ben, Jul 24, 2009 2:50:58 AM posted:
We thought my father had good insurance and was in a great hospital ( as per their ads on billboards, commercials and infomercials ) His care was rationed. He died. Sadly in TN & VA profit care is more important than patient care.
The status quo could learn a few things on efficiency and concerned, compassionate health care from Remote Area Medical ( RAM ), a non profit health care system that works. They are in Wise County, Virginia this weekend helping families who can’t afford the luxury of seeing a doctor.
A friend of mine took his nephew and got in line at 2 in the morning, they give you a ticket with a number on it, they were patient 1440. We must have health care reform now.
Ben thank you for giving us a personal view of what Obama’s health care plan would be like for everyone if this socialist succeeds!
Ask an elderly, handicapped, chronically ill or indigent Canadian, European or Eastern block nation. Hint…you’ll find them in our hospitals getting cared for!
Posted by: Sonny De | July 28, 2009, 11:20 am 11:20 am