Health Care Must be Fixed !

Obama Calls for Reconciliation in Order to Pass Health Care Reform Quickly...

In a health care speech by Barack Obama on Wednesday, the President called for an “up or down vote” that would leave Republicans unable to kill the bill through a filibuster. The current Democratic plan is to have the House vote to approve the already-passed Senate bill, plus fixes, then have the Senate pass these fixes through reconciliation. Under this scenario, only a simple majority in the Senate, rather than a super-majority of 60 votes, would be needed to pass health reform. The President stated that he wants action within a few weeks, echoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) call for an informal deadline of March 18. Despite Republican criticism that a decision to bar the filibuster would be “met with outrage” by the public, Democrats shot back with claims that the same rules had been used five times during George W. Bush’s administration. The Obama White House is still working to include bipartisan measures, and announced that they were exploring GOP proposals that include additional crackdowns on fraudulent medical charges and new rules for medical malpractice suits. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to fix a health care system that is not benefiting millions of Americans, including many seniors.”!