Tuesday
Sep222009
Hoyer: We’re Not Talking About Dropping The Public Option
Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at 1:18PM
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) stated Tuesday that House Democrats have no intention of striking the public option from the final draft of the health care reform legislation.
“We’re not talking about dropping the public option,” Hoyer said during a pen and pad session with reporters. “One way you bring down costs substantially is to have a public option that provides competition.”
Hoyer’s statement comes after a noticeable divide has opened up between the Majority Leader and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) over how committed Congress should be to a public option, with the latter taking a much more aggressive stance in favor of the provision.
The Majority Leader announced that he will be speaking with congressional Republicans in an attempt to find common ground on health care reform, noting that a few Republicans have stated they are behind 80 percent of the proposed health care bills.
“I want to find out what that 80 percent is. If we have 80 percent, then we ought to work very strongly on the remaining 20 percent. It will be my intention to invite them to do so.”
Hoyer also touched upon Medicare’s sustainable growth rate, a formula that determines the level at which medicare physicians are paid. While there was initially going to be a 21 percent decrease in payments made to physicians, the Senate Finance Committee provided a one-year fix that would instead offer a .5 percent increase in payment. While the Majority Leader backs the committee’s fix, he also expressed his desire to see a more permanent solution.
Hoyer said that he would back Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, in passing regulatory reform. The Majority leader added that existing regulatory measures should be bolstered in addition to creating new oversight methods.
The Majority Leader also responded to calls from congressional Republicans to have General Stanley McChrystal, who commands U.S. forces in Afghanistan, testify before Congress. The Majority Leader said his testimony would be “useful.”
“We’re not talking about dropping the public option,” Hoyer said during a pen and pad session with reporters. “One way you bring down costs substantially is to have a public option that provides competition.”
Hoyer’s statement comes after a noticeable divide has opened up between the Majority Leader and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) over how committed Congress should be to a public option, with the latter taking a much more aggressive stance in favor of the provision.
The Majority Leader announced that he will be speaking with congressional Republicans in an attempt to find common ground on health care reform, noting that a few Republicans have stated they are behind 80 percent of the proposed health care bills.
“I want to find out what that 80 percent is. If we have 80 percent, then we ought to work very strongly on the remaining 20 percent. It will be my intention to invite them to do so.”
Hoyer also touched upon Medicare’s sustainable growth rate, a formula that determines the level at which medicare physicians are paid. While there was initially going to be a 21 percent decrease in payments made to physicians, the Senate Finance Committee provided a one-year fix that would instead offer a .5 percent increase in payment. While the Majority Leader backs the committee’s fix, he also expressed his desire to see a more permanent solution.
Hoyer said that he would back Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, in passing regulatory reform. The Majority leader added that existing regulatory measures should be bolstered in addition to creating new oversight methods.
The Majority Leader also responded to calls from congressional Republicans to have General Stanley McChrystal, who commands U.S. forces in Afghanistan, testify before Congress. The Majority Leader said his testimony would be “useful.”
Geithner Endorses Frank's Proposal On Future Bailouts
During testimony given before the House Financial Services Committee Thursday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner echoed the White House's support for Committee Chairman Rep. Barney Frank’s (D-Mass.) proposal that would grant the Federal government the authority to take control of failing financial firms.
Frank's legislation would create a fund paid for by businesses with over $10 billion in assets in order to bear the costs of big firms that fail. Such costs were incurred by American taxpayers in the 2008 bailouts of banking company Citigroup and General Motors. It would also create a Financial Oversight Council, led by Geithner, to set policy and stricter regulations on the firms, and mediate arguments between federal agencies.
“It’s not about redemption for the firms that make mistakes,” Geithner said. “It’s about unwinding them in a way that doesn’t cause catastrophic damage to the economy.”
The Committee will vote on the legislation as early as next week. The committee's Ranking Republican, Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), opposed the legislation and the speed at which it is being pushed.
“The draft legislation that was supposed to be the subject of this hearing was not received until Tuesday afternoon,” he said. “I doubt that any of today's witnesses, with the possible exception of Secretary Geithner, have had the opportunity to fully comprehend the legislation entirely.”
“Their proposal places taxpayers first in line to bear the losses when the government invokes its resolution authority," added Bachus.
In a statement released before her testimony on Thursday, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chairman Sheila Bair said that the proposed Oversight Council lacks the authority to “effectively address systemic risks.” She recommended that the President appoint an independent chairman, subject to Senate confirmation, to fill the role Geithner would otherwise.
“A Council with regulatory agency participation will provide for an appropriate system of checks and balances to ensure that decisions reflect the various interests of public and private stakeholders,” Blair said.
Geithner said that he believes Frank’s bill will update the federal government’s financial regulatory system to match what he called, “21st century” challenges.
“The Council will have the obligation and the authority to identify any firm whose size in leverage and complexity creates a risk to the system as a whole and needs to be subject to heightened, stronger standards on leverage,” he said. “The rules in place today are inadequate and they are outdated. We’ve all seen what happens when in a crisis, the government is left with inadequate tools to respond.... That is a searing lesson of last Fall.”