The Centrist is reading how President Obama says ‘the country will be "worse off" without a dramatic overhaul of the nation’s system.’ I try to reconcile this vision with a comment by the esteemed Sen. Conrad who stated ‘At the end of the day, you’ve got to have an alternative that gets votes’. (end quote)
The Centrist says, Well America, just think your health and well being is in the hands of not what the best solution for the nation is in terms of health care reform but ”At the end of the day, you’ve got to have an alternative that gets votes’ . The country will be worse off if the solution is driven by the politics of Congress. Please remember that Health Care should not be like the Stimulus Package that was approved by the Democrats in which ‘Everybody Guessed Wrong’.
Via Foxnews.com
June 24, 2009
President Obama said Wednesday he "absolutely" believes health care reform will be passed by the end of the year, arguing the country will be "worse off" without a dramatic overhaul of the nation’s system.
"We’re going to get it done," Obama said in an interview aired Wednesday on ABC’s "Good Morning America."
But the president did not say whether he would sign a bill that taxes healthcare benefits — a proposal backed by some members of Congress.
"I’m going to wait and see what ideas they come up with. I suspect that when they start seeing what the options are, they might end up concluding that the options we’re presenting are the best ones," he said, adding that he would prefer to reduce tax deductions for the wealthiest to pay for the overhaul.
Obama also said he’s changed his mind on the issue of whether individuals can purchase health care — an idea he was resistant to during his presidential campaign.
This is an area where people have made compelling arguments to me, that if we want to have system that drives down cost for everyone, we have to have healthy people not opt out of the system," Obama told ABC.
Even as Obama and the insurance industry move toward open confrontation over the role of government in health care, his administration is telling lawmakers to keep pushing for a bipartisan deal.
Obama on Tuesday dismissed as "not logical" the insurance lobby’s assertion that a new government health plan he backs would dismantle the employer-sponsored coverage most Americans now have. Despite harsh words from the president, senators attending an evening meeting in the Capitol with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said the administration was not ready to abandon the search for compromise.
That puts the spotlight on a small group of senators who are trying to find common ground on the issue of giving the middle class the option of joining a government health plan. Republicans are almost unanimously opposed, while Democrats insist it must be part of any final deal.
Dubbed "the coalition of the willing," the Senate group is focusing on nonprofit co-operatives as an alternative both to private insurance and full-blown government intervention.
"The co-op proposal is alive and well, and negotiations are ongoing," said Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota, who proposed the idea, adding that it’s the only version of a public plan that stands a chance of getting Republican support.
"At the end of the day, you’ve got to have an alternative that gets votes," Conrad said.
Co-ops are "an idea that continues to be explored," Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, a member of the group, said after a meeting Tuesday with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus.
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