No surprise here, but on the eve of a crucial Senate vote on health care reform, the White House said Friday evening it "strongly supports" the $848 billion bill.
The Senate is scheduled to vote, starting at 8 p.m. Saturday, on whether to end a Republican-led filibuster and proceed to formal consideration of the health care overhaul.
The White House made it clear it likes the bill, saying it "represents a critical milestone in the effort to reform our health care system." It cites data from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which issued its preliminary analysis of the bill Wednesday.
"This legislation meets the President’s criteria for health insurance reform: it provides stability and security to those with insurance; offers access to quality, affordable health care for those who do not have insurance; cuts costs for families, small businesses and the Government; and does so without adding a dime to the deficit," the Obama administration statement says.
It adds:
"This legislation is the product of unprecedented cooperation and countless hours of hard work by Members of the Senate who share the President’s conviction that the Nation cannot wait another year for health insurance reform. They have forged a strong consensus that represents an historic step forward.
"The Senate legislation includes critical reforms to the insurance industry, so that Americans will no longer have to worry that they will be denied coverage, or that their coverage will be dropped or watered down when they need it most. It covers virtually all Americans and ensures that all Americans with health insurance are protected against high, out-of-pocket spending.
"The Administration is pleased that the bill includes a public health insurance option offered in an Exchange. As the President has said throughout this process, a public option that competes with private insurers is one of the best ways to provide the choice and competition that are so badly needed in today’s market.
"The Senate bill also includes important health care delivery system and insurance reforms and cost-containment initiatives, and it would extend the solvency of Medicare’s hospital insurance trust fund. The Administration is also pleased that the bill creates an Independent Medicare Advisory Board. The bill’s Medicare and Medicaid policies promote integrated care, quality care, and primary care. It invests in research on the most effective treatments, prevention, and the health care workforce. It also makes critical improvements for Medicare beneficiaries including beginning to address the coverage gap in the Medicare drug benefit known as the donut hole. In addition, it provides new options for long-term care. The bill includes important program integrity protections that will safeguard Medicare and Medicaid from fraud, waste, and abuse. Moreover, the Senate bill is not only fully paid for, but also reduces the deficit by $130 billion in the first decade and by more than half a trillion dollars in the next decade. "
The GOP Congress has indeed become the best Congress money can buy! I do not think that many of us are really surprised by this but the question is "what do we do to overcome this long-time problem?"
Saturday night's Senate Vote Just to have a debate on Healthcare, was a small victory for the "agents of change" (democrats) and reflects very poorly on the state of the Party of No & Fear that they would not even allow a debate on this issue to move forward -- thereby belying the title of being the greatest deliberative body on earth!
It is noteworthy, that in the past, the Party of No & Fear, also fought against Social Security Reform and Medicare, and true to form or color, they are fighting against healthcare reform today! Yes, Social Security and Medicare are subject to abuse and fraud, but that is one of the reforms in the healthcare bill to address this problem! Millions depend on Social Security and Medicare and they are glad that it is there. They want it improved upon not done away with.
The naysayers have even tried to Sabotage the reform by introducing a phony abortion debate (we all know Nancy Pelosi will never allow abortions to be done away with) , and another womens' issue (how time appropriate) was introduced (I smell a rat) into the debate -- that of Mammograms and the fear that we are somehow on our way to healthcare rationing, when we all should know that we are already experiencing healtcare rationing every time someone is denied healthcare because of a Preconceived Condition or some other phony condition like they weigh too much, etc. The aforementioned debates are false and designed to produce fear, to immobilize and to paralyze the masses to do nothing. We must come to recognize that "Fear is the dark ones’ most powerful weapon against the light because the energy of fear not only forms a barrier between the consciousness and the soul, it refuels the darkness to keep it thriving." [Matthews Messages].
We must also recognize that "as money has in the past ministered to personal and family need, so in the future it must minister to group and world need. The time has now come when money must be re-valued and its usefulness channelled into new directions. The voice of the people must prevail, but it must be a people educated in the true values, in the significance of a right culture, and in the need for right human relations. It is therefore essentially a question of right education and correct training in world citizenship – a thing that has not yet been undertaken." [Money, The Medium of Loving Distribution, A Compilation from the books of Alice A Bailey ]
Thank God for the Agents of Change who try to make a difference in the lives of ordinary human beings, whose intentions and Duty are to uplift the conditions of the people and to serve the people.... They try to raise the minimum wage, they try to extend unemployment benefits, they try to make sure there is clean water and clean air, but its hard and there is always a fight from the best Congress money can buy, whose mission is to stall and to obstruct and to incite fear! And, at this time in our history, like so much else, Healthcare reform is Crying Out for Change. And, as Science teaches us to do nothing and to be static only leads to decay -- only leads to death.
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Posted by: ed hardy | November 23, 2009 at 05:32 AM