Pelosi: Reducing Health Care Surcharge For Wealthy A Possibility

The 1-5.4% surcharge proposed by Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) for those making over $280,000 to help cover the costs of health care reform could be reduced, said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) during a press conference Wednesday.

The current version of health care reform that passed through the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Tuesday is expected to draw half of it’s funding from revenue streams, notably the proposed surcharge, and the rest from surplus funds taken from other programs, such as $500 billion in savings from the Medicare program.

“I believe that all the costs of the health reform bill can come from squeezing more savings out of the system,” the Speaker said.

If successful in acquiring enough savings, Pelosi noted that reducing the surcharge was one possibility. Another would be maintaining the surcharge at the current cost and reallocating it towards paying off the U.S. deficit.

Pelosi Says House Will Vote On Health Care Before August

By Learned Foote- Talk Radio News Service

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) emphasized that “we will be on schedule...to vote for [health care] legislation before we leave for the August recess” in a press conference on Monday.

“It is our plan to introduce our legislation tomorrow,” she continued. “It won’t be the finished product, it is...to be marked up in committee to go to the next step.”

Pelosi discussed the moderate Blue Dog Democrats who have expressed some concern about certain aspects of the health care legislation. She said that such give-and-take is commonplace during the legislative process.

“We’ve made a great deal of progress, I think we’re on schedule, and the conversations have been very productive. As you get toward the end, when you’re ready to introduce and then you go to the markup and the amendment process, is when you get some of the differentiation beyond the consensus that we have built to date. But from those conversations, I feel very confident that we will have strong health care reform,” Pelosi said.

Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) acknowledged that there have been “extensive and spirited discussions,” but emphasized that “to a person, the Blue Dogs believe we need to pass and they want to support health care reform... There is nobody with whom I’ve talked to in the caucus who doesn’t believe that health care reform is essential to do and do this year.”

Pelosi also emphasized the benefits of quick action on health care reform and several private citizens called for speedy action during the press conference. Pelosi said that reform will lower costs, improve the quality of health care and provide more choices to consumers and businesses.

“You’ll hear some of our opponents of reforming health care saying that this is putting government between you and your doctor,” she said. “That’s what they say, that is just the opposite. What we are doing is removing the health insurance company from between patients and their doctors. And in doing so, we’ll provide stability and peace of mind,” said Pelosi.

Boehner: GOP Could Have Saved Twice As Many Jobs

By Justin Duckham-Talk Radio News Service

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) claimed during a press conference Thursday that if the economic recovery efforts were placed in the hands of Congressional Republicans, at least twice as many jobs would have been created.

“Our projections...would be that we would have created twice as many jobs, at half the cost. Given the fact that unemployment continues to rise, we probably could have created ten times as many jobs as [Congressional Democrats] have.”

Boehner claimed that he had based the conclusion off the same method the White House is currently using to compose their statistics.

The House Minority Leader warned that the upcoming health care reform will contribute to further job loss.

“This isn’t hard to figure out. When you raise the cost of employment...you get less employees. There’s no question that their proposal raises the costs of employers to have employees, because it requires all employers to have health care,” Boehner explained.

The Department of Labor recently released a report showing that 9.5% of Americans are currently unemployed.

Boehner also attacked Congressional Democrats’ management of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

“16 million of the stimulus money was appropriated to take care of the salt marsh harvest mouse,” said Boehner, who appeared alongside a picture of the endangered rodent based in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) district. “People a hundred miles away have farms that are drying up because they wouldn’t use any stimulus money to turn on the pumps.”

GOP Leaders Warn Against Pelosi Backed Energy Bill

By Michael Combier-Talk Radio News

In a press conference Friday, House Republican members said they were making their best efforts to profit off the Democrats’ apparent lack of unity on the American Clean Energy and Security Act in hopes of defeating the legislation.

GOP leaders described the bill, which stands to regulate carbon emissions as “a bureaucratic nightmare. "This is a tax on anyone who drives a car, buys an American-made product. [It] will affect every American,” said House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio).

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) added that the bill is “wrong for America, it is the wrong bill at the wrong time."

As an alternative to the act, Rep. Cantor proposed reducing the cost of alternative fuels.

Pelosi: New Bill Will Transfer GI Benefits Of Fallen Soldiers To Children

By Annie Berman- Talk Radio News Service

A supplement to the Post 9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act, also known as The New Post 9/11 GI Bill, will transfer educational benefits to the children of fallen soldiers, has recently been approved by Congress.

“The bill includes more than 10% over last year in funding veteran’s medical care claims processors and facility improvements. In addition, the bill includes more than $48 billion in advance appropriations for 2011. This ensures timely and predictable funding for veteran’s health care initiatives,” said Pelosi Wednesday during a press conference with members of numerous veteran groups.

Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Texas), who helped lead a round table discussion with members of veterans services organizations, also introduced The Marine Gunnery Sgt. John David Fry Scholarship, which will give the children of fallen soldiers on active-duty the same Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits as those who served three years of active-duty.

“We hope that this scholarship program will honor those who were lost in combat and serviced the country [and] be a sign of respect to every service man and woman and to every military family,” Edwards said.