Posted on 09/09/2009 3:38:34 PM PDT by jessduntno
Obama to urge Congress for action on health care
By DAVID ESPO (AP) – 11 minutes ago
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama summoned Congress to join in a "season for action" on health care Wednesday night, urging lawmakers to set aside partisan gamesmanship in favor of drafting legislation that benefits millions who have insurance and many more without it.
"I am not the first president to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last," Obama said in excerpts released by the White House in advance of a prime-time speech to Congress and a public grown increasingly skeptical of his plans.
Obama's speech came at the end of a summer of setbacks and as the president and his allies in Congress readied an autumn campaign to enact his top domestic priority.
In a fresh sign of urgency, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., announced that his Senate Finance Committee would meet in two weeks to begin drafting legislation, whether or not a handful of Democrats and Republicans have come to an agreement. The panel is the last of five to act in Congress, and while the outcome is uncertain, it is the only one where bipartisanship has been given a chance to flourish.
In the excerpts, Obama said there is widespread agreement on about 80 percent of what must be included in legislation. Any yet, he said, "instead of honest debate, we have seen scare tactics" and ideological warfare that offers no hope for compromise.
"Well, the time for bickering is over. The time for games has passed. Now is the season for action," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
The so-called government option has emerged as one of the most contentious issues in the monthslong debate over health care, with liberal Democrats supporting it and many moderates inside the party opposed. An early draft of Baucus’ plan calls for an alternative consisting of nonprofit co-ops. Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, the Republican who seems most inclined to cross party lines on the issue, favors a different approach, consisting of a standby in which the government could sell insurance if competition fails to emerge in individual states.
I’ll be watching something much more important tonight.
I’ll be watching Ghost Hunters!
“the time for bickering is over”
Chatter and bickering; this is our president’s perception of free speech.
One senior administration official said the president would make the case for including a provision for the government to sell insurance in competition with private industry, but was not expected to insist it be included in any legislation he signs into law.
The so-called government option has emerged as one of the most contentious issues in the monthslong debate over health care, with liberal Democrats supporting it and many moderates inside the party opposed. An early draft of Baucus’ plan calls for an alternative consisting of nonprofit co-ops. Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, the Republican who seems most inclined to cross party lines on the issue, favors a different approach, consisting of a standby in which the government could sell insurance if competition fails to emerge in individual states.
Ghost Hunters is much more believable than Obama’s speeches. At least Jason and Grant try to debunk the ghost sitings before pronouncing a house to be haunted.
Just sit down and shut up.
How arrogant. And it has an ominous air to it as well.
"I am not the first president to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last," Obama said
Even if he gets his way, some future President might need to take up the cause to make some changes. Or is he saying there will be no more presidents after him?
Well, I guess if you go by the Mayan calendar, he will be the last president.
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