Obama budget seeks $634B over 10 years for health care

[Thrill]

This is the down payment he was talking about

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hxNsSwJHL9EJObAjj4qPX_ER166gD96IR5R81

[clear eye]

1. That's a joke. He knows we don't have it since he blew it on the banks.

He just wants Congress to take the hit for his malfeasance.

[uponit7771]

2. 63 billion a year for 10 years doesnt seem like a lot relative to what they;ve already spent

[blueclown]

4. Um, it most certainly is a ton of money.

Especially when you are talking about health care.

[uponit7771]

5. We spend 600 billion a YEAR on defense, again...relative to that...it's not a lot of money

[crimsonblue]

3. Actually, he may have the money

He said in his speech last night that his team found $2 trillion over ten years in waste money in the budget. How about we just cut the Defense budget by $70 billion for ten years? Health care would then be paid for.

[uponit7771]

6. Great minds :-)...We spend 600 billion a year, WITHOUT cost of Iraq war, on defense.

[vaberella]

7. He found 2 Trillion SO FAR....

They are still sifting through programs...I get the feeling he'll found probably close to 10 Trillion and then there's the reorganizing thats going on not to mention reinvestment plans. All of this will give him the money.

[crimsonblue]

9. This is one thing I am most excited about.

We need a top to bottom audit and reexamination of all Federal agencies. We need to coalesce agencies with similar agendas, and reduce the ridiculous amount of pointless redundancy in the system. In short, we need to make government more efficient, not smaller. However, more efficient and effective government will be smaller, because we will not need as many agencies and departments to deal with a given issue.

[vaberella]

10. Exactly...plus it cuts down enourmously on the red tape and

bureaucracy. We won't have people running in circles leading to lost information in the mix and nothing eventually gets done.

[vaberella]

8. Actually this show you were not paying attention to his speech

you're not considering the fact it's 10 years and I get the feeling you may not have read the stimulus bill which gave healthcare quite a few billions, not to mention there's revamping/restructing and finding ways to make things less costly. So yes, I figure he'll have the money at the same time bringing down the deficient and getting the economy moving. There are a lot of things to consider.

[Life Long Dem]

13. The joke is on the dead...

and family or loved ones who lost someone because of no insurance.

$643 billion / 10 years is a mere $63 billion a year and is a drop in the bucket to the trillions being spent.

[RepublicanElephant]

11. how much of that goes to the for-profit insurance companies? nt

[biopowertoday]

12. Health Care Industry in [SECRET] Talks to Shape Policy............

We will know soon


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/us/politics/20health.html?_r=1&ref=health&pagewanted=print


February 20, 2009
Health Care Industry in Talks to Shape Policy
By ROBERT PEAR

WASHINGTON — Since last fall, many of the leading figures in the nation’s long-running health care debate have been meeting secretly in a Senate hearing room. Now, with the blessing of the Senate’s leading proponent of universal health insurance, Edward M. Kennedy, they appear to be inching toward a consensus that could reshape the debate.

Many of the parties, from big insurance companies to lobbyists for consumers, doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies, are embracing the idea that comprehensive health care legislation should include a requirement that every American carry insurance.

.........
The talks, which are taking place behind closed doors, are unusual. Lobbyists for a wide range of interest groups — some of which were involved in defeating national health legislation in 1993-4 — are meeting with the staff of Mr. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, in a search for common ground.

.................

While President Obama is not directly represented in the talks, the White House has been kept informed and is encouraging the Senate effort as a way to get the ball rolling on health legislation.

...............

“While there was some diversity of views,” it said, “the sense of the room is that an individual obligation to purchase insurance should be part of reform if that obligation is coupled with effective mechanisms to make coverage meaningful and affordable.”

The ideas discussed include a proposal to penalize people who fail to comply with the “individual obligation” to have insurance.

......................................

The 20 people who regularly attend the meetings on Capitol Hill include lobbyists for AARP, Aetna, the A.F.L.-C.I.O., the American Cancer Society, the American Medical Association, America’s Health Insurance Plans, the Business Roundtable, Easter Seals, the National Federation of Independent Business, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, and the United States Chamber of Commerce.