Health Care Reform Delayed: Congress Unlikely To Meet Obama's August Deadline

WASHINGTON — Top members of Congress say it's unlikely they will meet President Barack Obama's August deadline for a sweeping health care overhaul.

Lawmakers on Sunday said they will not rush on a health care overhaul that isn't even in final form yet.

The North Dakota senator in charge of the budget committee, Democrat Kent Conrad, says there's plenty of time for the overhaul while Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee says there's no rush.

Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan says Obama would be pleased with the progress toward overhaul, while budget committee ranking Republican Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire says it's "highly unlikely" that legislation would reach Obama's desk before recess because bills are still being drafted.

The lawmakers appeared on CNN's "State of the Union."

Comments

[Saysaysay]

Question: What"s the difference between an Iraq terror-ist and a liberal?
Answer: The Iraq terror---ist makes fewer demands.

[twogunmojo]

hahahahahaha....

[caseyasmith]

What a toad.

[urweatherman]

All toads are liberals...didn't you know that?

[cbates]

These folks, the Congress, needs to be kept in session until the following is accomplished. 1. We have a health care bill/plan; 2. Until the torture stuff is resolved; 3. Our economy is revitalized; 4. the appropriate climate bill is enacted; 5. we have an energy bill or plan in place; and 6. We have an education bill/plan in place to build this nation into the future. Please explain to me, Congress, how you can even think about a break when all these gaps exist in the process of moving this country forward.

I think what members of both parties are preparing to do is tell the American people you elected the wrong person to be President which would be a travesty. The solution is to have another election and maybe one day you American people will have enough insight to elect the correct person to better serve you as President. What a bunch of crock.

Mr. President, if you can, keep congress in session to resolve this country's opportunities regardless of the time If not I don't see how we will have a plan to move forward or measure any progress. This is really a critical time.

[hopeforchangenow]

I concur and would add. . . If you want our continued support now is the time to start to push. You do as cbates outlines (don't forget about "don't ask, don't tell) and start pushing the agenda you will get a more favorable rating. This I can promise. Stay home and fight.

[twogunmojo]

might as well throw in doma and the new assault weapons ban.....i just hope you like being out of office by the end of next year....

[urweatherman]

Sorry cbates, but we did elect the wrong man. He never ran anything and it shows. All he has proven is that he sounds good and can read....thats about it. All decisions so far have been costly! You can keep the change!

[GalapagosTortoise]

Agreed. Perhaps all members of Congress can step forward and sign off on their generous taxpayer supported healthcare until they resolve, at the very least, healthcare, and in a proper fashion.

It would be a show of good faith, that they really intend to deliver, and deliver well, and deliver soon.

[tel8034]

The congress needs to be reminded about the government of the PEOPLE, by the PEOPLE, for the PEOPLE.

We need to take a page from the Iranian people who are fighting for free and fair elections.................. Take to the streets and DEMAND from the Congress healthcare for ALL THE PEOPLE ................. DEMAND that the healthcare bill be signed on schedule.

This DELIBERATE AND PLANNED PROCRASTINATION is nothing but a tactic to kill the bill.

The government of the PEOPLE, by the PEOPLE, for the PEOPLE, must make their voices heard.

[IowaKid]

If they kick this can down the road can we PLEASE put congress's health insurance on hold also. These people are unbelievable.

[GalapagosTortoise]

Exactly my thoughts. Then let them talk about how "there's no rush."

[dianhow]

agreed

[enoughalready13]

Um, not just Congress .... the entire White House Administration and the Supreme Court too!
In fact, they should also DROP retired government officials as well - Bush, Cheney, Clinton, Rice, Rumsfeld, Kissinger, Panetta - ALL OF THEM - and see if then we won't get some reform.

[Level7]

Democrats have control of both houses yet they are STILL doing whatever republicans dictate!
Get a clue democrats -- power isn't given to you, power is something you take. I am disappointed in the lot of them.

[Weirdwriter]

Define "control." It's not given that with a majority you have complete agreement.

[GalapagosTortoise]

They're all bought out by the lobbyists. Democrats and Republicans, there's little difference between the two.

[dianhow]

17 TELL HIM not us
WWW.WHITEHOUSE.GOV
www.senate.gov
www.congress.gov

use the power of the vote- DO NOT GIVE UP EASILY

[JeffyBoy]

Well everything rises and falls on leadership. Other than lip service our Pres has done nothing to make sure this issue gets resolved guickly. The Gov also knows the vast majority of Americans don't want to spend more trillions in a major resession. Funny how people will pay a couple hundred $$$ a mounth for cable T.V., $400 a mounth for a car, $200 for cell phone service, but refuse to allow for healthcare. And then say how important it is. Down size on those three things and get health insurance. Oh I forgot you Libs want a welfare state. You just don't want to pay for it.

[twogunmojo]

thats heresy....how dare you tell people to stop spending money on things they don't need...don't you know that saving money is bad.....

[urweatherman]

Right On JB!

[GalapagosTortoise]

Oh i forgot you investors want people to spend all their money on your investments.

[dianhow]

tell them not us

www.congress.gov
www.senate.gov
www.whitehouse.gov
DO IT NOW please

[Tulka2]

Suspect the Dems say things like this to roil up the base so as to prove to the Republicans they are doomed. Resistance is futile. On the other hand....? If both parties can drag their feet long enough, Obama's numbers are bound to drop and then politician has to do a damn thing. Not doing a damn thing is what politicians like best.

[LetsGetToWork]

OMG. The audicity of hope has become the spinelessness of intention.

[Softnsweet]

Don't blame Obama for it! Take your space alien self over and tell Congress to get to work!

[americanistheonlyparty1]

Or do what the left does on every issue... Blame Bush.

[dianhow]

HUMBUG

[ldjnews]

How sad. Perhaps Congress is waiting for the people to quiet down, so it can come up with a "sensible" plan that meets the needs of all parties involved--you know, so it can satisfy the needs of the insurance companies as much as possible over our needs. It does need time to figure this one out. It's a tough one. Our votes are outside their windows.

How about if Washington constructs news of a worsening economy, so it can distract us away from health care until the end of the year? That might create adequate distance to get us off their phones, emails, blogs, etc. Next it can send out little and big messages on how the economy is in worse shape for us then they iniitally thought. Then it can emerge with I'm sorry but this is the best we could come up with in these dire times.

People, it’s our time. We need a peaceful mass rally now, today, next week, every week until we get our heath plan met. Congress is leading us toward another dead-end. We need to step up our ads, our blogs, our letters. We need to make a lot of noice. Meanwhile, I don't feel well, and I'm feeling worse every day. While waiting for the new plan, I may go to Urgent Care everyday until I feel better. It’s significantly cheaper for me to go to Urgent Care than to the doctor’s office under my current plan.

[dianhow]

news Yes rallies- protest - whatever . Call- write- e- mail-all the time. THE GOP AGENDA IS TO GET POWER BACK ANY WAY THEY CAN. Their greedy unethical GOP policies led us to meltdown. Does anyone really think it will be over soon- employment will take years to get back to normal.
We have been crushed almost in depression- by 25 yrs of greed- deregulation- giving trillions to fat cats-that we could NOT afford- being lied into Iraq and borrowing from China.
If we vote Repub again - we will get -more of the same .and I used to vote GOP till they
screwed us and sold us down the river . Can any one doubt that. Obama's heart is in the right place- not like Bush - Cheney Born again Christian NOT OMG

[Middleclassvotingbloc]

The Republicans have done a good job to stall the bill and slow it down. In the end, however, the bill will come out of the commitees in better form, in spite of their obstruction.

[dianhow]

Hope so

[LemonMeringue]

Perhaps because of Republican obstruction.

If the other side won't even meet a quarter of the way, it becomes necessary to just ignore them altogether and that is what the Democrats should do.

They need to work on the uncooperative Dems and just ignore the Republicans who want your kids to stay sick.

[WakeUpAmerica08]

Billy Moyers' interview with Wendell Potter; a MUST see and SPREAD IT TO OUR REPUBLICAN FRIENDS...

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/07102009/watch2.html

[GalapagosTortoise]

Just terrific, thank you!

Spread to Democrats, too. After all, Maxie boy is one, and so are a lot of other Senators and House Representatives being "kept" by the health insurance industry.

What a brothel, in the true sense of the term, at the Capitol.

[stylenease]

It seems that Mr. Obama might use a couple of his upcoming date nights to strong arm a few fence straddling Congressional Democrats to finally get their act together and get a piece of legislation passed, and try to do it within the next decade.

[reggieb]

Or maybe he could skip speaking to his children or showering.

[Weirdwriter]

Faned. Exactly.

Gee, think Obama could get by on 4 hours of sleep a night?

Hey, how about WE the PEOPLE make our voices heard to our own particular congressional reps and senators? You know, send emails, make calls, write letters, get our friends and families to do same.

Nawwwwww.

[Icantbelieveher]

Believe it or not, insurance companies want reform!

"Private health insurance faces a bleak future if the proposal they champion most vigorously -- a requirement that everyone buy medical coverage -- is not adopted."

" The customer base for private insurance has slipped since 2000, when soaring premiums began driving people out. The recession has accelerated the problem. But even after the economy recovers, the downward spiral is expected to continue for years as baby boomers become eligible for Medicare -- and stop buying private insurance.

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jun/07/business/fi-healthcare7?pg=1

[Icantbelieveher]

Recession job losses are adding to the toll. Some economists estimate that every percentage-point increase in the jobless rate adds 1 million people to the ranks of the uninsured.

The industry's real trouble begins in 2011, when 79 million baby boomers begin turning 65. Health insurers stand to lose a huge slice of their commercially insured enrollment (estimated at 162 million to 172 million people) over the next two decades to Medicare, the government-funded health insurance program for seniors.

"The rate of aging far and away exceeds the birth rate," said Sheryl Skolnick, a CRT Capital Group healthcare investment analyst. "That's got to be very scary. . . . This is the biggest fight for survival managed care has ever faced, at least since they went bankrupt in the late '80s."

With Democrats in power and public sentiment strongly in favor of change, the industry can't afford to just say, "No; we're against this," said Julius Hobson, a Washington, D.C., lobbyist for hospitals and insurers with law firm Bryan Cave.

"This time, you get the sense something is going to happen," he said. "So to stand up and just say no is probably not wise, because politically you could get run over."

For insurers, getting "run over" would be the adoption of a so-called single-payer plan, where the government pays all medical bills. Such a plan would wreak havoc on the private insurance market, and is widely viewed as politically unfeasible this year.

[twogunmojo]

one more time...we paid out almost 500,000,000,000 dollars in 2002 for social security...with no return on that investment...without a private option most of us will not live to see one check from the government....
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/001583.html...
if you guys will support a private social security option like they have in chile...i will support a public option on healthcare....

[Softnsweet]

Give me a break! This is bull! Stop listen to economists, they don't even know how to fix the recession we are in let alone know anything about healthcare.

[unity08]

Icantbelieveher, please watch this Bill Moyers interview about insurance companies:


http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/07102009/watch2.html

[Icantbelieveher]

So the best way for the industry to preserve the private insurance market -- and derail the campaign for a single-payer system -- may be to go along with more palatable proposals on the table now, said Jeffrey Miles, a healthcare analyst and president of the Miles Organization, a Los Angeles insurance brokerage firm.

"If healthcare goes down this year, you are going to end up with single-payer care much sooner than anyone expected," he said.

But there is a limit to how much change the industry will abide. It draws the line at proposals, supported by President Obama and others, to offer consumers a public insurance alternative to private coverage.

[twogunmojo]

we paid out almost 500,000,000,000 dollars in 2002 for social security...with no return on that investment...without a private option most of us will not live to see one check from the government....
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/001583.html...

[reggieb]

Well some of us who are in our 50's figured we'd never see social security and planned accordingly. But what are you gonna do? Put your granny out on an ice floe rather than give her social security?

[twogunmojo]

my granny has already passed....but your argument in no way refutes that a private opiton for social security is a bad idea....just as a public option for healthcare is not a bad idea....

[sueinmn]

http://change-congress.org/?partner=cramdown_kos

Change congress is calling a donor strike. Register and make your voice count!

[Chernynkaya]

Thanks- just did it.

[mikerobjohn]

Typical political wife. She did not marry her husband because she LOVED him. She married him because of political potential. I'm glad that we found out about this phony couple before they had a chance to become the First Family.

The man has a soul-mate that's not her. The man was begging her to see that soul-mate. The man lied to a whole state to go see that soul-mate.

[judiNJ]

I think this may be in the wrong thread. It only makes sense if we are talking about Gov. Sanford, the Southern Soul-mate.

[dianhow]

Jud Yep some here are way out there. Go OBAMA !!!!