Obama And Liberal Democrats Provoking Real Bipartisanship

Obama opened his news conference yesterday with a brief speech on his support for government-run health care; he stated:

I have urged Congress to act, and the health care reform bills making their way through the respective committees in the House and the Senate reflect a hard-earned consensus about how to move forward.  So let me just lay out the substantial common ground in the current bills.

Indeed, the health care bills do reflect a hard-earned consensus. Unfortunately for the President, the consensus is bipartisan and opposed to his vision for socialized medicine.

 

First off, Representative Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) declared recently that:

“As of this point, we don’t know of any [Republicans supporting government-run healthcare]. I just talked to a senior member this morning about that issue.”

Unlike the Waxman-Markey Energy Tax Bill that passed the House of Representatives with 8 supportive Republicans, any bill with government-run health care will almost certainly attract not one Republican supporter.

 

Many Democrats also are opposed to such a bill, including quite a few who have spoken out vehemently. Below are quotes from several of these Democrats. These quotes were taken from this list of names of and quotes from Congressional Democrats, which was gathered by the Office of the Republican Whip, expressing opposition to or concern about the House Democrats’ health care bill.

 

On “Your World With Neil Cavuto”, Rep. Jason Altmire (D-PA) said:

“Oh, I can`t support the bill as it`s currently written. The tax increases is going to put a burden on small businesses, who can`t afford to offer health care right now.”

According to an article in Tulsa World, Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK) said that:

 

“The House bill that’s out there, I can’t support.”

 

The Dothan Eagle reported in “Bright: No To Current Healthcare Bill” on July 17, 2009 that Bright (D-AL):

“said he opposes a ‘public option’ for healthcare reform….Bright said the public option placed too many healthcare decisions in the hands of government officials and could put private plans at a competitive disadvantage. ‘I have said this from the beginning, that I would support a healthcare plan that is market driven,’ Bright said.”

According to the New York Times’ article entitled “Democrats Wary As Health Bill Advances” Rep. Pomeroy (D-ND) said:

 

I have a serious problem with the public plan in this bill because it’s based on medicare rates.

Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR) said according to the Associated Press that:

“No one knows what the public option will or will not be able to achieve…frankly, it’s an experiment.”

The Associated Press also reports that Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) asserted that:

“I don’t think we have significant cost-containment mechanisms in the proposal yet,’…he said he favors provisions aimed at preventing overtreatment of patients and overpayments to doctors, hospitals and other providers.”

 This past June 15th, President Obama asserted about health care reform:

 “I know there has been much discussion about what reform would cost, and rightly so. This is a test of whether we – Democrats and Republicans alike – are serious about holding the line on new spending and restoring fiscal discipline.” 

Sadly for Obama, Obama was right. And it is a test that every Congressional Republican and many Democrats are passing by opposing him.

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