BET ON IT:

OBAMA WILL DEFEND RECONCILIATION AS METHOD TO PUSH THROUGH HEALTH CARE BILL

The Hill: "White House Hints Obama Will Offer Defense Of Reconciliation Strategy." (Sam Youngman, "White House Hints Obama Will Offer Defense Of Reconciliation Strategy," The Hill, 3/1/10)

White House Has Been "Focused" On Reconciliation To Pass Government-Run Health Care Ever Since Election Of Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA). "Senior Congressional aides said that lawmakers and the White House were increasingly focused on a plan by which the House would adopt the health care bill approved by the Senate on Dec. 24, with any changes made in a separate bill using the budget reconciliation maneuver. But Democratic leaders are no longer confident that rank-and-file House Democrats would be willing to go along. The victory by the Republican, Scott Brown, in Massachusetts last Tuesday not only denied Democrats their 60th vote, but raised a specter of fear for Democrats over the midterm elections." (David Herszenhorn & Robert Pear, "Decision Looms On Advancing Health Care Bill," The New York Times, 1/25/10)

And Obama's Congressional Dem Lieutenants Confirm Intent "To Press Ahead" With Reconciliation. "Hoyer affirmed that Democratic leaders intend to press ahead with their plan for the House to take up the Senate bill and for both chambers to consider a package based on Obama's proposal via budget reconciliation rules that would allow the smaller bill to pass the Senate on a simple majority vote. Both bills would then go to the White House for Obama's signature." (Jeffrey Young, "Hoyer: There Is No Scaled-Back Health Bill," The Hill, 3/2/10)

BET ON IT:
OBAMA'S BILL WILL STILL HAVE OVER $500 BILLION IN TAX INCREASES

Obama's Bill Used Senate Dems' Legislation As Foundation, With $518.5 Billion In Tax Increases On Health Insurance, Small Businesses, And Medical Innovation. (Senate Finance Committee Minority Staff Review Of JCT And CBO Cost Estimates, 12/19/09)

And Obama's New Plan Will Add Even More Job-Killing Taxes On Investments. "Obama's plan adds a 2.9 percent assessment on 'income from interest, dividends, annuities, royalties and rents, other than such income which is derived in the ordinary course of a trade or business which is not a passive activity (e.g., income from active participation in S corporations) on taxpayers with respect to income above $200,000 for singles and $250,000 for married couples filing jointly,' state the White House summary of the proposal released today. Senate lawmakers declined to add a similar provision to their reform bill... The measure was not added to the bill, in part because of concerns over how the provision would affect investments." (Jay Heflin, "Broadened Medicare Tax Likely To Spur Backlash," The Hill, 2/22/10)

BET ON IT:
OBAMA'S BILL WILL STILL HAVE NEARLY $500 BILLION IN MEDICARE CUTS

Senate Dems' Original Bill Had $470.7 Billion In Total Cuts To Medicare And Medicaid To Pay For Two New Unsustainable Entitlements. (Table 5, Douglas W. Elmendorf, Letter To Senator Harry Reid, 12/19/09)

And Obama's New Proposal Cuts Even More. "To pay for the increased spending, the proposal would make deeper cuts to Medicare Advantage, a program under which some seniors get their Medicare benefit through private insurers." (Laura Meckler, "Obama's Health Plan Adds $75 Billion To Senate Bill," The Wall Street Journal, 2/23/10)

BET ON IT:
OBAMA'S BILL WILL STILL HAVE A $2.5 TRILLION PRICE TAG, OR EVEN MORE

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) Admits Senate Dems' Bill's 10 Year Cost Was $2.5 Trillion. Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT): "Just for a second -- health care reform, whether you use a ten-year number or when you start in 2010 or start in 2014, wherever you start at, so it is still either $1 trillion or it's $2.5 trillion, depending on where you start..." (Sen. Max Baucus, Floor Remarks, 12/2/09)

Which Obama's Bill Made Bigger. "President Barack Obama's health plan adds about $75 billion to the 10-year cost of the Senate health-overhaul bill, and includes new taxes to offset revenue lost by slimming down a tax on high-value insurance plans." (Laura Meckler, "Obama's Health Plan Adds $75 Billion To Senate Bill," The Wall Street Journal, 2/23/10)

BET ON IT:
INSTEAD OF LISTENING TO AMERICANS AND STARTING OVER, OBAMA WILL ONLY ACCEPT GOP IDEAS IF THEY ARE A PART OF HIS GOVERNMENT TAKEOVER OF HEALTH CARE

Republicans Are Urging Obama To Pass Bill With Only Bipartisan Points Of Agreement. "Mr. President, what we have been saying for a long time is let's scrap the bill. Let's start with a clean sheet of paper on those things that we can agree on. Let's take a step-by-step approach that will bring down the cost of health insurance in America. If we bring down the cost of health insurance we can expand access ... I have been patient. I have listened to the debate that's gone on here, but why can't we agree on those insurance reforms that we have talked about? Why can't we come to agreement on purchasing across state lines? Why can't we do something about the biggest cost driver which is medical malpractice in the defense of medicine that doctors practice. Let's start with a clean sheet of paper, and get it into law in the next several months." (Rep. John Boehner, White House Bipartisan Health Ca re Summit, 2/25/10)

Because 57 Percent Of Americans Want Obama To Start Over On Health Care, Scrap His Government-Run Health Care Bill Entirely. "In a brutal assessment of the Democratically authored healthcare reform bills pending in Congress and the party's approach to healthcare, more than half of the respondents to a new Zogby International-University of Texas Health Science Center poll said that lawmakers should start from scratch. Of the more than 2,500 people surveyed from Jan. 29 to Feb. 1, 57 percent agreed with a statement that Congress should start over -- which is exactly what Republicans are demanding and what President Barack Obama insists he will not do." (Jeffrey Young, "Poll: Most Americans Think Congress Should Start Over On Healthcare," The Hill's "Briefing Room" Blog, 2/16/10)

But Obama Will Only Accept "GOP Ideas" As Long As It's Part Of His Government-Run Health Care Experiment. "In a letter to the Democratic and Republican leaders of Congress delivered to Capitol Hill Tuesday afternoon, President Obama signaled that his mind is open to several provisions raised by GOP lawmakers during last week's bipartisan health care reform summit, including medical malpractice reform, combating fraud, and killing off the special deal for Florida seniors secured by Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida ... In his letter, President Obama criticizes the Republican advice of a more "incremental" approach to health care reform, saying he believes 'piecemeal reform is not the best way to effectively reduce premiums ...'" (Jake Tapper, "President Obama Tells Congressiona l Leaders Of GOP Ideas He's Willing To Add To Health Care Reform Legislation," ABC News' "Political Punch" Blog, 3/2/10)