President Obama to Senate Democrats: Finish the Job
EmailSources tell ABC News that in his closed door meeting with Senate Democrats, President Obama praised them for their historic effort and urged them to keep going.
"You need to finish the job," the president urged them. "The most costly outcome for everyone would be from a failure to finish."
The president said that despite everything the legislation and the Democrats have been through — the town halls in August, the "dishonest Republican attacks," and more, the four key components of the bill remain: help for small businesses, getting millions of uninsured Americans covered, bringing health care costs down, and reducing the deficit.
The president also said the bill would reduce the deficit more than anything Congress has done since Bill Clinton signed the Balanced Budget agreement.
Mr. Obama called the health care reform bill the "most important piece of domestic legislation since Social Security," which was signed into law in 1935. He said the legislation would be something talked about decades from now.
– jpt
Obama: 'Now Is the Time For Common Sense Action' 
Romney Takes Aim at Conservatives
This health care bill will reduce the deficit?? Now there is a lie you can believe in.
Posted by: Denbo | December 7, 2009, 8:02 am 8:02 am
This is all about politics and nothing
about healthcare. If that does not scare
you, I don’t know what will.
Posted by: wis134 | December 7, 2009, 8:11 am 8:11 am
The most important bill to destroy Social Security, most voted for this administration to prevent the privitization of Social Security and now they are the ones who want to destroy it, sad sad sad, watch the vote out in 2010.
Posted by: earl | December 7, 2009, 8:13 am 8:13 am
“He said the legislation would be something talked about decades from now.”
Yes, it will be. It will mark when the U.S., already of the precipice of a financial disaster due to ~$60 trillion in unfunded liabilities (social security, Medicare, Medicaid in particular), officially went into a decline from economic and military superpower to a European-style socialist “also-ran”.
Posted by: tjp612 | December 7, 2009, 8:45 am 8:45 am
President Obama to Senate Democrats: “Finish the job of government take-over of 17% of the econoomy and crippling of the U.S. economy for generations to come.”
Posted by: tjp612 | December 7, 2009, 8:47 am 8:47 am
I do not understand the hurry. In this administration, some things are important to deliberate over and “get right,” while others are rushed through, just so a claim that “it’s done,” can be made. The observing American citizen has no choice but to realize that it’s all politics. How sad.
Posted by: Elle | December 7, 2009, 11:43 am 11:43 am
“I do not understand the hurry.”
This is lousy legislation that is unpopular with the majority of Americans. The longer it takes for passage, the more Americans will find out the details of this bill (resulting in further disapproval of the bill).
Obama and his cronies are rushing to pass this bill in order to “slip one past” the public. It’s not slated to be enacted until 2014. It’s all pretty obvious what Obama and his cronies are up to.
Posted by: tjp612 | December 7, 2009, 12:01 pm 12:01 pm
Posted by: Jemma | Dec 7, 2009 12:19:37 PM
Always good to hear insights from Enron advisor Paul Krugman…
Posted by: tjp612 | December 7, 2009, 1:22 pm 1:22 pm
Obama has enough Democrats to pass this bill, that Repbublicans are against it should not be a big issue, in others words JEMMA, it isn’t the Republcans prohibiting anything from passing-they don’t have the manpower to stop it. Period.
Has anyone seen any of the healthcare debates on CSpan? Didn’t Obama state that all important issues would be aired and that his administration would be the most transparent ever?
This President sure can spread “fertilizer”.
Posted by: david | December 7, 2009, 1:57 pm 1:57 pm
Hey, Jemma, your caps key is stuck:
IF YOU BELIEVE IN CUTTING THE DEFICIT, YOU HAVE TO SUPPORT BILLS THAT CUT THE DEFICIT…
You do not have to support a bill that guts our health care system no matter what it does to the deficit. C’mon, what about portability, crossing state lines, eliminating current waste and tort reform? All of these things can be enacted without ruining our current health care system.
Posted by: Terra Firma | December 7, 2009, 3:35 pm 3:35 pm
The “GREAT OBAMA” HAS SPOKEN (Sounds like the con in the wizard of oz) and said to the suckers who are soon to be voted out of office, “FINISH THE JOB!”
Posted by: Walsh | December 7, 2009, 3:37 pm 3:37 pm
$200 billion coming back from Tarp. Obama wants to use it for job creation. Why not use the $600 billion in unspent stimulus dollars for job creation and put the $200 billion towards health care reform? Another scam on top of a scam. Public option is supposed to create competition and thus lower costs. Ask your senator why congress gave insurance industry exemptions from anti-trust which is why there is little or no competition in many states! reform? what a joke.
Posted by: Ed E | December 7, 2009, 3:50 pm 3:50 pm
Public to Obama……forget about it!
Posted by: Rick McDaniel | December 7, 2009, 4:25 pm 4:25 pm
Always good to hear insights from Enron advisor Paul Krugman…
Posted by: tjp612 | Dec 7, 2009 1:22:57 PM
_____________________________________
Always going for the cheap smear rather than relevant facts . ..
“Enron advisor is a bit of stretch and you forgot to say “former” as it was over a decade ago and lasted well under a year.”
Thank you Jemma, for putting the facts in perspective – you sure can’t trust a right winger to do that.
Posted by: tierra | December 7, 2009, 4:35 pm 4:35 pm
This President believes his own press – too bad, he had potential but he simply let this job get to his head.
His arrogance is out of control and will be what ultimately gets us out of this nightmare.
Posted by: Lone Star Rules | December 7, 2009, 11:12 pm 11:12 pm