Conrad: We Won't Be Held Hostage To Health Care Reform Deadline
On Fox News Sunday, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)--a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee--said the so-called "gang of six" won't "be held hostage to any specific deadline" for unveiling health care reform legislation.
"What we have agreed to is that we are going to be ready when we're ready. And we are working; we hope to be able to reach conclusion by the middle of September. But we have agreed that if we still don't have all of the answers back from [the Congressional Budget Office] that we will not be bound by any deadline - that the most important thing is to get this right," Conrad said.
The report seems to conflict with earlier public statements from Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)--the committee's chairman--who promised a bill by September 15, raising the ire of committee Republicans.
Josh
Matt
Eric
Brian
The CBO is pretty good about getting their work done in a timely manner. They know the parameters of what Finance is proposing, I think it's just a matter of plugging in the numbers Baucus and Co. come up with in their version. If Conrad is trying to stall blaming the CBO isn't a very effective strategy for doing it.
August 17, 2009 11:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
Fix healthcare by throwing self-serving politicians out of office
Why did Barack Obama attack pharmaceutical companies before and now he has teamed up with them to promote his health care plan? Why are all the tort lawyers big democratic supporters and multi-millionaires? Obama’s true intentions are so obvious that even the left is starting to express concerns. For example, on August 10, CBS Evening News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson filed a report stating that “the White House agreed not to seek price controls on drugs for seniors on Medicare and would not support importing cheaper drugs from Canada.” According to Attkisson, “The pharmaceutical industry is now so firmly in the President's camp it's developing plans to spend up to $150 billion promoting it with TV ads.”
According to the acting president of Public Citizen and founder and director of Public Citizen's Health Research Group, Dr. Sidney Wolfe, “An all sort of off the record deal was reached that is very bad for the American public.” Other experts say that for their cooperation, Obama is allowing pharmaceutical companies to charge $50 for a $2 pill and is assuring them that there will be no changes to the laws that make it near impossible for less expensive generic drugs to reach the American market.
Unless tort lawyers, the pharmaceutical lobby and other special interest groups like the AMA, ADA and the AARP are dealt with to preserves the Constitution and the free market system, while also protecting the medical provider and consumer, no healthcare plan can work.
Cybercorrespondent
http://cybercorrespondent.blogspot.com
August 17, 2009 6:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
that's right. conrad and co will be the ones doing the hostage taking when it comes to health care reform.
August 17, 2009 7:26 PM | Reply | Permalink