http://www.gop.com/index.php/comms/ en Copyright 2010 2010-03-15T19:59:14+00:00 http://www.gop.com/index.php/comms/comments/truth_on_premiums/ http://www.gop.com/index.php/comms/comments/truth_on_premiums/#When:19:59:14Z Shot:   PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: “My proposal would bring down the cost of health care for families, businesses, and for the federal government.  So, Americans buying comparable coverage to what they have today, I already said this, would see premiums fall by 14 to 20 percent. That’s aren’t my numbers, that’s what the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says.  For Americans who get their insurance through the workplace, how many people get insurance through your jobs right now, raise your hands.  Well a lot of those folks, its your employer, it estimated, would see costs could fall by as much as 3,000 percent. That means they could give you a raise.”  (President Barack Obama, Remarks of President Barack Obama, Strongesville, OH, 3/15/10)   Chaser: SENATOR DICK DURBIN (D-IL): “Anyone Who Would Stand Before You And Say Well, If You Pass Health Care Reform, Next Year's Health Care Premiums Are Going Down, I Don't Think Is Telling The Truth. I Think It Is Likely They Would Go Up, But What We're Trying To Do Is Slow The Rate Of Increase.” (Sen. Durbin, Floor Remarks, 3/10/10) And More Chaser: Obama Endorsed Senate Dems’ Bill That Would Raise Premiums For Americans Purchasing Insurance Individually. “CBO and JCT estimate that the average premium per person covered (including dependents) for new nongroup policies would be about 10 percent to 13 percent higher in 2016 than the average premium for nongroup coverage in that same year under current law.” (Douglas W. Elmendorf, Letter To Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN), 11/30/09         2010-03-15T19:59:14+00:00 http://www.gop.com/index.php/comms/comments/passage/ http://www.gop.com/index.php/comms/comments/passage/#When:19:18:32Z Speaker Pelosi seems to have found some new confidence that President Obama’s health care plan will pass the House.  Just a bit ago she said, I’m delighted that the president will be here for the passage of the bill. Yet, it seems that other members of the Democrat caucus aren’t so sure that this so called  “passage” will happen.  Interestingly , even Nancy Pelosi has expressed concerns about finding votes.  The AP states, “Even with initial votes possible next week, few were claiming that Democrats had the votes in hand to prevail — especially in the House, where the roll call is expected to be a cliffhanger. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., conceded that even once details of the package are complete, leaders will need time to sell it to lawmakers.” Kim Strassel points out regarding health care, “The polls are dismal, the Democratic caucus is in disarray…”  With such great momentum going into this historic moment it’s no wonder Nancy Pelosi is so confident. Nancy Pelosi can talk about passing the bill all she wants but the fact that all they have is talk and missed deadlines shows they don't have a lock on the votes they need. 2010-03-12T19:18:32+00:00 http://www.gop.com/index.php/comms/comments/problems_in_the_house/ http://www.gop.com/index.php/comms/comments/problems_in_the_house/#When:20:57:26Z Nancy Pelosi is the one person the President is depending on to deliver the needed House votes for his health reform proposal.  However, Speaker Pelosi is balking at the White House’s latest deadline on health care. “March 18th is a very interesting date,” Pelosi said, referring to the White House’s preferred deadline -- the date President Obama leaves for a foreign trip. “We will take up the bill when we are ready to take up the bill.” Sounds like yet another arbitrary health care deadline will be missed.  Maybe the president and Congressional Democrats should stop trying to impose their health care experiment on the American people and focus on doing what the American people want, more jobs.  That is one deadline the American public would support them meeting.  2010-03-11T20:57:26+00:00 http://www.gop.com/index.php/comms/comments/sleight_of_hand/ http://www.gop.com/index.php/comms/comments/sleight_of_hand/#When:18:39:59Z Today, while discussing his proposal for health care reform, President Obama said, “Our proposal is paid for. … Our cost-cutting measures mirror many proposals which produce most people's premiums and brings down our deficit by up to $1 trillion because we are spending our health care dollars more wisely.” (President Obama, “President Obama Speaks on Health Insurance Reform,” 3/8/10) President Obama may need to do some research because a lot of folks seem to disagree with his assessment of the plan.  David Broder, Dean of the Washington Press Corps, said “While the CBO said that both the House-passed bill and the one Reid has drafted meet Obama’s test by being budget-neutral, every expert I have talked to says that the public has it right. These bills, as they stand, are budget-busters.” That’s right, the bills are budget-busters. (David S. Broder, Op-Ed, “A Budget-Buster In The Making,” The Washington Post, 11/22/09) Also, The Washington Post Editorial Board drew attention to the fact that the only President Obama is using “a fiscal sleight of hand” to pretend that reform bills are budget neutral.  “First off, $247 billion -- the 10-year cost of the fix -- is one whopper of a ‘discrepancy.’ … President Obama has vowed that health reform will not add a single dime to the deficit -- but he is seemingly unfazed about adding more than a quarter-trillion dollars to the deficit by changing the Medicare reimbursement formula without finding a way to pay for it. … This latest maneuver only heightens the fiscal irresponsibility of what already was a fiscal sleight of hand.” (Editorial, “2.47 Trillion Dimes,” The Washington Post, 10/19/09) Maybe President Obama should take a break from campaigning for his proposal and spend some time doing some research on the real impact of his plan on our debt. 2010-03-08T18:39:59+00:00 http://www.gop.com/index.php/comms/comments/are_you_listening/ http://www.gop.com/index.php/comms/comments/are_you_listening/#When:21:07:26Z Last week, President Obama spent 7 hours at his “bi-partisan” health care summit “listening” to ideas about health care reform.  Today, President Obama  even said, “Every idea has been put on the table. Every argument has been made. Everything there is to say about health care has been said and just about everybody has said it.” Yet, even with so much being said and so many arguments made, President Obama does not seem to have been listening during his so called “bi-partisan” summit or more importantly to the American people.  Today the president said,  “For us to start over now could simply lead to delay that could last for another decade or even more.” Poll after poll has shown that Americans want the president and Congress to start over on health care.  Republicans repeatedly asked the president to hit the restart button during their “bi-partisan” meeting.  Yet, the President has decided to ignore what the American people want and impose his will on the American public through a parliamentary trick.  President Obama should take a moment and examine some of the ideas “on the table” before trying to pass his health care bill with reconciliation.  2010-03-03T21:07:26+00:00 http://www.gop.com/index.php/comms/comments/whats_to_like/ http://www.gop.com/index.php/comms/comments/whats_to_like/#When:21:04:39Z Retiring Dem Evan Bayh says the Democrats are counting on a rebound in the popularity of their government-run health care plan to see them through the elections. But what in the Democrats’ health care plan could possibly be popular at this point or any other? The Democrats’ health care plan would raise premiums, proposes drastic cuts in Medicare and raises taxes on individuals and small businesses. The President’s version, built upon the Senate Democrats’ plan, piles on more in taxes, proposes more cuts to Medicare and institutes price controls. It is a plan, as described by the WSJ, which “manages to take the worst of both the House and Senate bills and combine them into something more destructive.” Recent polls have indicated that the American public prefers Congress to start over on health care and pursue an incremental approach. If the Democratic Party needs more proof of the public’s discontent, the recent elections should be warning enough that voters know all they need to know about government-run health care and have rejected it.  2010-03-02T21:04:39+00:00 http://www.gop.com/index.php/comms/comments/questionable_priorities/ http://www.gop.com/index.php/comms/comments/questionable_priorities/#When:17:44:57Z The U.S. economy is suffering and American families need help.  The U.S. unemployment rate is at 9.7% with real unemployment at 16.5%.  Last month 136,000 workers became discouraged from seeking work, bringing the number of discouraged job seekers to 1.1 million from 734,000 one year ago. It should probably not come as a surprise then that when asked what their top priority would be if they were president,  52% of voters said it would be "creating a robust economy.”  So why is the White House and Democratic majority still trying to ram through a government takeover of health care already rejected by the American public?  It’s time for the President and Congress to listen to the American people and start focusing on policy that will create jobs and opportunity for American families. 2010-03-01T17:44:57+00:00 http://www.gop.com/index.php/comms/comments/democrats_ready_to_disregard_american_people/ http://www.gop.com/index.php/comms/comments/democrats_ready_to_disregard_american_people/#When:15:03:28Z Henry Waxman may have been present at the “bipartisan” White House summit, but it is clear he wasn’t paying attention.  “I think one of the results of today’s meeting is that the American people fully understand that this bill needs to go forward with a majority,” Waxman said.  “I don’t think too many people are going to quibble if it involves reconciliation,” The Hill quotes Henry Waxman saying. Poll after poll  after poll shows the American public rejects both the Democrats’ plan in substance as well as the process of reconciliation.  Still, Democrats are making it clear they intend to go down that path.  How many more polls and elections will it take for the Democrats to accept that Americans do not want a government takeover of health care? 2010-02-26T15:03:28+00:00 http://www.gop.com/index.php/comms/comments/stupak_provides_his_own_whip_count1/ http://www.gop.com/index.php/comms/comments/stupak_provides_his_own_whip_count1/#When:17:01:32Z The President might have made a miscalculation when he assumed that his plan represents a consensus among Democrats. Just this morning Dem Rep. Bart Stupak (MI) provided his own assessment of the plan’s popularity: “There's other problems with this bill. The president has tried  to bridge the house and senate bill, but at least to the house members I’ve talked to, probably 15 or 20 of them in the last 24 hours, they've said there are other problems with this bill. Remember, the house rejected the idea of taxing health insurance plans, we just totally rejected that idea. But yet, that's part of the bill. Parts of this  bill doesn't kick in until 2018. We are saying why are  we passing a bill now that's not going to kick in for another eight, nine years? I mean, we have some real legislative and procedural concerns [about] what the leadership is trying to do with this legislation.” (Bart Stupak, Fox and Friends, 2/24/10) 2010-02-24T17:01:32+00:00 http://www.gop.com/index.php/comms/comments/a_few_questions_for_mr._gibbs/ http://www.gop.com/index.php/comms/comments/a_few_questions_for_mr._gibbs/#When:21:33:28Z President Obama’s Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has spent a lot of time avoiding tough questions on health care in his daily briefings.  With Thursday’s Health Care Summit looming, there are a few points that deserve some follow-up; perhaps the White House would be more responsive if the American people asked, too. Follow the RNC on Twitter and retweet these questions to Gibbs: @PressSec Polls show Americans want a fresh start on health care, so why is Obama ignoring them? #askgibbsTweet this @PressSec Threatening reconciliation doesn’t reflect Obama’s call for a “good faith” exchange of ideas, does it? #hcr #tcot #askgibbsTweet this @PressSec Don’t price controls indicate the WH’s admission that the Senate’s bill will not keep premiums in check? #hcr #tcot #askgibbsTweet this @PressSec How will raising taxes on businesses and individuals promote economic growth? #hcr #tcot #askgibbsTweet this @PressSec Are the Democrats capable of overcoming their internal divisions to pass this bill? #hcr #tcot #askgibbsTweet this Health care 2010-02-23T21:33:28+00:00