President Obama expects Senate to pass health care bill by Christmas

[ProSense]

Obama sees Senate healthcare passage by December 25

By Susan Cornwell

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama said he expects the U.S. Senate to pass by the end of next week legislation to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system, but the top Senate Republican scoffed on Sunday that Obama's Democrats were too divided to do so.

"I think it's going to pass out of the Senate before Christmas (December 25)," Obama, who has made healthcare reform legislation his top domestic priority, said in an interview aired on CBS's "60 Minutes."

The U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of healthcare legislation on November 7. If the Senate passes its bill, lawmakers would have to iron out differences between the two versions. Congress then would have to pass that compromise bill before sending it to Obama to sign into law.

Obama noted that seven previous U.S. presidents had tried and failed to make extensive changes to the U.S. healthcare system, but lawmakers are now close to getting the job done.

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[Unvanguard]

1. I'll believe it when I see it.

And wasn't the plan to pass the whole bill by Christmas? What of the conference report?

[timeforpeace]

10. Then you would think he would have put a little more effort into it himself.

[Cha]

12. You don't know what effort President Obama has

put into this. All you have are cheap shots over the internet.

[msongs]

2. the Lieberman corporate health scare corporation welfare scam? that one? nt

[ProSense]

4. Call it whatever you want to. It's going to pass, and when it does

you can blame Lieberman if it fails and credit him if it works.

[rwheeler31]

3. We will get something and we will have to keep working on it.

[Posteritatis]

5. What little there is of it... (nt)

[GreenArrow]

6. Merry Fuckin' Christmas.

.

[ProSense]

8. Same to you. n/t

[liberal N proud]

7. But will it improve health insurance for Americans?

[ProSense]

9. Alan Grayson said reform will save millions of lives. Howard Dean believes its real reform. n/t

[IndianaGreen]

11. Without a public option or expansion of Medicare, and with Stupak language intact

That's the only bill that will pass.

Lieberman Rules Out Voting for Health Bill

The bill’s supporters had said earlier that they thought they had secured Mr. Lieberman’s agreement to go along with a compromise they worked out to overcome an impasse within the Democratic Party.

But on Sunday, Mr. Lieberman told the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, to scrap the idea of expanding Medicare and abandon any new government insurance plan or lose his vote.

On a separate issue, Mr. Reid tried over the weekend to concoct a compromise on abortion that would induce Senator Ben Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska, to vote for the bill. Mr. Nelson opposes abortion. Any provision that satisfies him risks alienating supporters of abortion rights.

In interviews on the CBS News program “Face the Nation,” Mr. Lieberman and Mr. Nelson said the bill did not have the 60 votes it would need in the Senate.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/14/health/policy/14health.html?_r=2&hp

[defendandprotect]

13. $600 billion for insurance companies -- ????

Is that what it is???

[Mass]

14. Possible. It depends what's in it.

[Kablooie]

15. Oh big, fuckin' whoop. A bill that drains our pockets and fills the insurance company's.

And does NOTHING ELSE!!!