FixHealthCarePolicy

With Reid Bill, Obama Would Again Break “No Tax” Pledge

With the event horizon of the vote on the Reid Health Care Bill approaching, it appears that passage of the legislation would, yet again, amount to President Barack Obama breaking his “no new middle class tax” pledge.

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Tags: Barack Obama, Harry Reid, health care, no tax pledge, ObamaCare, pelosi, taxes

U.S. House Votes in Favor of Obamacare

The health care bill passed by the House tonight took another step towards transferring power over personal health care decisions from individuals to bureaucrats in Washington. The Republican alternative was a good strong first step of targeted reforms that are necessary to improve health care financing and delivery.

If it were to become law, the House bill would put the government in control of over half of all health care spending and would dramatically shift America’s health care system from one that is largely private to one that is subordinated to government control.

The bill engineers a massive expansion of the Medicaid, a welfare program that provides substandard care to lower-income and poor Americans and threatens state budgets. The addition of the public plan, a new federal health care entitlement, would add to the crushing tax burden Americans already face from exiting entitlements. Even worse, millions of Americans would be pushed out of their existing health care coverage, notwithstanding the promises of the President. (more…)

Tags: alternative, congress, democrat, health care reform, hoyer, Medicaid, Medicare, Obama Health Care Plan, pelosi, republican, vote

Behind Closed Doors: The Obamacare Arm Twisting Begins

The heat is happening behind closed doors as the U.S. House prepares for a Saturday showdown vote on health care. Access is everything. By keeping Members of Congress in Washington, D.C., this weekend, Democratic leaders keep them away from angry constituents back in their home states, where the Members normally would depart from Friday to Monday. (Note: The tactics aren’t different from what Republicans sometimes used when they held the majority.)

The first step is to keep Congress in town. The second is to keep them monitored and available for whenever leaders want to summons them for backroom meetings—sometimes to discuss and sometimes to pressure and browbeat and offer deals. A “buddy system” is sometimes assigned so a fellow Congressman from the party’s whip team keeps tab on each undecided member’s whereabouts, their cell and other private phone numbers, the places they tend to hangout between votes, and similar information.

Members don’t like to be found and pressured. As one speaker noted at Thursday’s “House Call” tea party event at the U.S. Capitol: “There may be some members hiding right now. They may be in the basement. They may be in the cafeteria, pretending they’re not a Congressman.” (more…)

Tags: arm-twisting, congress, health care reform, hoyer, Members of Congress, Obama Health Care Plan, ObamaCare, pelosi

How Pro-life Dems Will Justify Voting for Taxpayer-funded Abortions

Earlier today, The Foundry wrote about Rep. Bart Stupak’s (D-Mich) claim that he and like-minded, pro-life Democrats will work with Republicans to “torpedo healthcare reform unless he gets a vote to strip abortion-related provisions out of the House bill,” as reported by The Hill.

That sounded like good news, but in an exclusive Foundry video of a town hall held in Cheboygan, Mich., on Saturday, it appears that Stupak intends to vote for the Democrats’ healthcare reform, even if it includes public funding for abortion.

If everything I want [is] in the final bill, I like everything in the bill except you have public funding for abortion, and we had a chance to run our amendment and we lost. OK, I voted my conscience, stayed true to my principles, stayed true to the beliefs of this district, could I vote for healthcare? Yes I still could.

However, in an interview on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal on Monday, Stupak said he and about 40 like-minded Democrats oppose public funding for abortion in health care:

We believe, and the majority of the American people believe, that we should not be using public funds to pay for abortion coverage in health care.

It’s worth noting that Stupak’s remarks came just after he announced a policy banning constituents from videotaping his public meetings.

Tags: abortion, Bart Stupak, ObamaCare, pelosi

Pelosi Perturbed by Pro-Life Dem

It looks like Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) isn’t happy with Democrat Rep. Bart Stupak’s efforts to make sure that taxpayer dollars do not pay for abortions in any new health care plan and, according to The Hill, “he may work with Republicans to torpedo healthcare reform unless he gets a vote to strip abortion-related provisions out of the House bill.” (more…)

Tags: abortion, Bart Stupak, ObamaCare, pelosi