No sooner had state lawmakers around the country gone home after spending
months plugging ...
"Governor Jindal has seen enough, as a health-care policy expert, he
strongly believes that the House Democrat[ic] plan would be a disaster for the
long-term health of the American people, and the long-term health of the
economy." - Curt Anderson for Governor Bobby Jindal (R-LA)
The Heritage Foundation reported on Facebook on July 20, 2009: Governors Balk at Obama Health Plan
President Obama just got turned down by America’s governors. Obama wanted governors to endorse his proposed overhaul of health care, but ran into opposition over the runaway costs, as reported by The New York Times. Instead he got this:
Gov. Phil Bredesen of Tennessee, a Democrat, said he feared Congress was about to bestow
“the mother of all unfunded mandates.”
“Medicaid is a poor vehicle for
expanding coverage,’ added Mr. Bredesen, a former health care executive. “It’s a
45-year-old system originally designed for poor women and their children. It’s
not health care reform to dump more money into Medicaid.”
Mr. Bredesen was
far from alone in his concern. “As a governor, my concern is that if we try to
cost-shift to the states we’re not going to be in a position to pick up the
tab,” said Gov. Christine Gregoire of Washington, also a Democrat.
“I’m
personally very concerned about the cost issue, particularly the $1 trillion
figures being batted around,” said Gov. Bill Richardson, the New Mexico Democrat
who served in the Clinton cabinet and ran for president against Mr. Obama.
Governors worry that Obama’s plan for a major expansion of Medicaid not only will break the bank in Washington, but also in the states—since they would be required to kick in part of the costs. That would worsen the multi-billion dollar shortfalls they already must address. Problems with the governors could be enormous for the White House. As The Heritage Foundation’s Dennis Smith wrote:
Congress and the Obama Administration are banking on using Medicaid to provideNational Write Your Congressman web site reports ...
coverage to millions of uninsured Americans. As many as one-third of those who
are uninsured could end up on Medicaid if it is expanded to 150 percent of the
federal poverty level. . . . State opposition could be a tremendous blow to
health care reform. Governors can be game-changers if they mobilize before
momentum is built behind specific legislation that expands Medicaid.
Blue Dogs Stand Firm on Health Care
The fiscally-conservative Blue Dog coalition of lawmakers in the House is not happy about the way health care legislation is moving through Congress. Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR), Chairman of the Blue Dogs’ health care force, said on Monday that “the leadership has misread this…one” when they ignored Blue Dog requests to be included in drafting measures for health care reform.
“I think between the financial crisis, the auto bailout, the omnibus ... the
stimulus bill, the energy bill, I think it’s reached a point where not only the
Blue Dogs are saying, ‘Let’s slow down here.’ The people back home want us to
stop the spending, they want us to have time to read these bills, they want us
to have time to debate and understand these bills, and they don’t see that
happening.” - Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR)
But, the leadership doesn’t get it, said Ross.
“I think they underestimated the Blue Dogs on this … We’re more united than
we’ve ever been, and so it’s not as easy as inviting one member in after the
next and finding out what their pet project is and helping them with their pet
project for their vote. This is much bigger than that.” - Rep. Ross
Ross said the legislation in its current form will not have the support of Blue Dogs. His tough stance against the overhaul bill drew praise from fellow Blue Dogs and other supporters in Congress.
“He’s doing a good job, and he’s right. When you’re right, you get a lot of
support. Mike has told the Speaker he wants health care reform, but there
need to be changes. So far the message isn’t getting through, for whatever
reason. I don’t know where they’re coming from on this.” - Rep. Collin
Peterson (D-MN)
"He’s expressing a huge sentiment shared by many in our Caucus. We’re trying
to save the bill and do what the president says we need, which is to control
costs.” - Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA)
Table of Contents from the nwyc.com:
Blue Dogs Stand Firm on Health Care
Senators Ask House Members for Advice
Exploring an Overhaul of REAL ID
Health Measures Could Weaken Economy
Consumer Financial Protection Authority
peace
"President Reagan helped as much as any president to restore a sense of
optimism in our country, a spirit that transcended politics - that transcended
even the most heated arguments of the day," - President Barack Obama
"I think that over the last 40 years, as government has
become ever more dominant in American society, as government has created
programs to meet our every need, to indemnify our every mistake, our social
safety net has become a hammock, Government programs, with all the good
intentions in the world, were established to help people and have changed the
way people behave. They have corrupted our values, and we have looked more and
more to government to take care of us, we have become what Margaret Thatcher
called a “nanny state.” And as we have turned to government to be our keeper, to
be our indemnifier, we have turned away from our family and our faith. As we
have rendered unto Caesar, we have stopped rendering unto God." - Sen.
Gramm
The following calls for service were removed from the total count as they were self-initiated or initiated by the officer. These calls included:Bar Checks; Business Checks; Traffic Stops; Accidents; School Checks; Motel Checks; Foot Patrols; Cops Projects; Selective Enforcement Projects; Transport Prisoners; Meet Officer; Investigation; Street Storage.
peace
"We are going to ban all earmarks, the process by which individual members
insert pet projects without review," - President-elect Barack Obama
WSJ Wall Street Journal reports Obama Taps Killefer for New Post http://tinyurl.com/8tgszd
nytimes New York Times headline: $1.2 Trillion Deficit Forecast as Obama Weighs Options http://tinyurl.com/9crg97
usnews Story from US News & World Report titled Obama's Trillion Dollar Deficits and Taxes http://tinyurl.com/7fon29The April 21, 2008, edition of U.S. News & World Report featured a cover
story titled, "Big Government: It’s back — no matter who wins. Americans want
Uncle Sam to solve their problems…" The Monday, May 19, 2008, edition of USA
Today featured a headline, "Bill for taxpayers swells by trillions: Deficit far
bigger than government estimate."
Happy New Year... the 111Th Congress is getting ready to rock and roll in Washington DC.
peace
“I think Michael Steele is a great, great talent. He certainly would offer the
kind of vivid, strong voice that we could use, and I think that the party would
do very well if he ends up being chairman.” - Newt Gingrich
