Medicare Administrator Defends Recess Appointment

Medicare and Medicaid Administrator Donald Berwick defended his decision to accept President Barack Obama’s recess appointment after it was criticized by a Republican Senator.

“The president of the United States asked me serve and help the country. It was a privilege to do it,” Berwick said during a hearing Wednesday with the Senate Finance Committee.

Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) described the appointment as “very, very controversial.”

“[It] clearly wasn’t an open and transparent process,” Bunning said. “The healthcare reform debate was far from open and transparent. Republicans got locked out of any negotiations.”

Bunning added that Republican leadership in the House will ensure that the administration is more transparent in the future.

Geithner Feels The Heat From Both Sides Of The Aisle

By Sofia Sanchez-University of New Mexico/ Talk Radio News Service

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner faced strong, bipartisan criticism Tuesday during a hearing with the Senate Finance Committee over the president's proposed budget for fiscal year 2011.

Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) hit Geithner with questions about the AIG bailout.

"I want to give you a chance to set the record straight. Why did you believe AIG could not afford to fail?" asked Bunning.

Geithner responded "we believe that the failure of AIG would have been catastrophic to the stability of the financial system."

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.VA) expressed his disappointment with the administration's proposed incentives for renewable energy, which Rockefeller said could hurt the coal power industry, a powerful player in his home state.

"Thank goodness this is the president's budget. it's staying power might be a week or two. We write the legislation," quipped Rockefeller.

Geithner responded, "we are very supportive of making significantly larger incentives and subsidies to encourage clean energy including clean coal." However, when asked by Rockefeller whether the support for the coal industry was included in the budget, Geithner conceded that it was not.

Single Payer Advocates Ask Congress To Start Over On Healthcare Reform

Travis Martinez - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Single payer health insurance advocates are calling on Congress to scrap its healthcare reform bills, and start over using a single payer model.

Single Payer Action President Russell Mokhiber, Dr. Margaret Flowers and Dr. Carol Paris of Physicians for a National Health Program, opposed both the Senate and House's reform plans during a press conference on Wednesday.

“It’s unfair to call this health care reform. This is an insurance industry and pharmaceutical industry bailout,” said Mokhiber. Health care is a human right. Everybody in, nobody out. Join with us in this historic movement to defeat the Democratic bill.”

Flowers questioned how favorably Congress's bills would stack up against a single payer system.

“It’s designed to fail. If our goal for this country is to provide health care for every person in a way that is financially sustainable and have it be both universal and cost-efficient, this is not the way to do it,” she said.

The plan advocated for by the panelists would ensure that all Americans obtain health care coverage through one national insurance program. In 2005 Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) introduced H.R. 676, legislation that would have created a single payer system by using existing government revenues to insure people and increasing personal income tax on the top five percent of income earners - including a tax on stock and bond transactions.

Earlier this year, the four panelists from Wednesday's discussion were ordered out of the Senate Finance Committee hearings after the committee rejected a single payer amendment. Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) had all four arrested in the hearing room. They later pleaded not guilty and were ordered to refrain from protesting on Capitol Hill for one year.

Baucus Lukewarm On Kerry-Boxer Bill

By Marianna Levyash - Talk Radio News Service

During a Senate Finance Committee hearing Tuesday, Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) stated that he supports climate change legislation, but holds some qualms over the Kerry-Boxer bill.

“I want our children and grandchildren to be able to enjoy the outdoors the way that we can today. So I’m going to work to pass climate-change legislation that is both meaningful and can muster enough votes to become law,” he said.

While Baucus did make clear that it is important for Congress to to act now on preserving the environment, he noted that the unemployment rate has reached an incredibly high level and therefore lawmakers must also work to create jobs in today’s economy.

Regardless of his reassuring statements, Baucus was the only Democrat to vote against The Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act - otherwise known as the Kerry-Boxer bill - a vote that signaled his discontent with certain parts of the bill.

“While we must always be mindful of the cost of legislation, that’s particularly true in today’s economy. Our unemployment rate remains far too high. And we must be diligent to create jobs, including in the energy sector,” Baucus said.

Reid: Progress Made On Health Care Reform "Historic"

Travis Martinez, University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) referred to the gains made on health care reform by Senate Democrats as "historic" following Tuesday's caucus meeting.

“This is a historic moment, this is really a part of history," said Reid. "It’s fair to say we all feel good about the progress we’ve made."

On Monday, Reid made waves by announcing that he would be backing the inclusion of a public option, saddled with a state opt-out provision, in the final legislation.

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont), who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, was optimistic that health care reform will be passed this year, but also stepped back to acknowledge the hard work that he and others have contributed so far to the effort.

“We’ve been laying the ground work for this for well over a year. To say this is difficult to achieve is an understatement. I've never attempted anything as difficult as this, but I’ve never relished anything as much as this because it’s so important,” said Baucus. “We will fight for the 60 votes to get this passed,” he added.