Wednesday
Mar032010
Obama: Congress Owes America A Vote On Healthcare
Wednesday, March 3, 2010 at 2:40PM
President Barack Obama said Wednesday that he would like to see an up-or-down vote on his healthcare reform plan happen within the next few weeks.
"I believe the United States Congress owes the American people a final vote on healthcare reform...Reform has already passed the House with a majority. It has already passed the Senate with a supermajority...and now it deserves [an] up-or-down vote," said Obama during a short speech cast by many as being his last major push for reform.
During his remarks, the President never once used the "R" word, but essentially gave the Senate the go-ahead to use reconciliation -- a legislative procedure that would allow them to pass a healthcare bill under a simple majority vote -- if no vote takes place.
Drawing on last Thursday's bipartisan healthcare summit, the President said he liked a few ideas Republicans had, including proposals to address medical malpractice issues and limit wasteful spending within the healthcare system. But he criticized members of the GOP for being on the wrong side of certain fundamental disagreements between his party and theirs.
"There are those, including most Republicans in Congress, who believe the answer is to loosen regulations on the insurance industry. I disagree with that approach...If they truly believe that less regulation would lead to higher quality...then they should vote against the proposal I've put forward."
Looking ahead, it is widely believed that the House has already agreed to pass the Senate's bill, with the understanding that both Houses would subsequently be allowed to make "fixes" to the legislation before it goes to the President's desk.
For all the latest news on healthcare reform, follow @politicalbrief on Twitter.
"I believe the United States Congress owes the American people a final vote on healthcare reform...Reform has already passed the House with a majority. It has already passed the Senate with a supermajority...and now it deserves [an] up-or-down vote," said Obama during a short speech cast by many as being his last major push for reform.
During his remarks, the President never once used the "R" word, but essentially gave the Senate the go-ahead to use reconciliation -- a legislative procedure that would allow them to pass a healthcare bill under a simple majority vote -- if no vote takes place.
Drawing on last Thursday's bipartisan healthcare summit, the President said he liked a few ideas Republicans had, including proposals to address medical malpractice issues and limit wasteful spending within the healthcare system. But he criticized members of the GOP for being on the wrong side of certain fundamental disagreements between his party and theirs.
"There are those, including most Republicans in Congress, who believe the answer is to loosen regulations on the insurance industry. I disagree with that approach...If they truly believe that less regulation would lead to higher quality...then they should vote against the proposal I've put forward."
Looking ahead, it is widely believed that the House has already agreed to pass the Senate's bill, with the understanding that both Houses would subsequently be allowed to make "fixes" to the legislation before it goes to the President's desk.
For all the latest news on healthcare reform, follow @politicalbrief on Twitter.