FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has raised serious doubts about the future of health care reform by saying he can't promise a health care bill will pass this year: "We're not going to be bound by any timelines."
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/11/04/art.reid.jpg caption="Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) spoke at a news conference on Capitol Hill yesterday in DC. Reid discussed efforts to pass health care reform legislation."]
The words were barely out of Reid's mouth before his office issued a statement saying their goals remain unchanged and they want to get health reform done this year - and send a bill to President Obama by Christmas.
You suppose the White House wasn't happy with Reid's initial assessment? Delay on health care is probably just about the last thing the president wants. First, it brings back memories of President Clinton's failed attempt at reform. And it means other legislative priorities - the energy bill, immigration, regulation of Wall Street, etc. - will remain on the back burner.
Plus - and this is a big one - once 2010 rolls around, all 435 members of the House along with one-third of the Senate will be up for re-election. Good luck getting these lawmakers to commit to a controversial health care bill ahead of the midterms.
Meanwhile – the Associated Press reports that the House health care bill, which is headed for a vote soon, would cost $1.2 trillion or more over a decade. See, the Democrats have added on billions in additional spending.
After saying $900 billion was the limit on what he wanted to spend for health care reform - I wonder if President Obama would sign one that costs $1.2 trillion... just so he could claim victory.
Here’s my question to you: What happens to the chances of health care reform if it doesn't pass this year?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Jay from Flemingsburg, Kentucky writes:
If health care is delayed into next year, it is dead in my opinion. I am a life-long Democrat and I want to add that if the Democrats do not get it done with a public option, they are dead.
David from Newport, Oregon writes:
Reid and Pelosi are the reason nothing is getting accomplished. They will be the reason the Democrats lose in the next election. Both need to be replaced by their party. It isn't that the Democrats have poor ideas, they simply have poor leadership.
Judy from Tempe, Arizona writes:
I sincerely doubt health care reform will ever pass. The Republicans are sticking to their "Don't get sick and if you do, die quickly" health care plan and the Democrats couldn't work with each other to put out a fire.
Zack writes:
Health care reform is doomed and the insurance companies will be the big winners. Soon no one will have any health care unless they are rich.
Loren from Chicago writes:
If we're lucky, dead in the water. President Obama committed a fatal error in not putting his name on any of the proposals in Congress, leaving it up to the special interest groups to float their own bills and to Congress to sort through the mess.
Morris from New Jersey writes:
Not very likely. While many Democrats insist yesterday’s vote was on local issues, their heads are in the sand. People like me voted Republican because we don’t trust the Democratic leadership. A health care plan with 2,000 pages and not a soul knows what's inside? Who in their right mind would vote for a politician who votes for something he or she has not even read.
Ben from New Mexico writes:
They played this one off so well! I thought for a while they were serious about health care reform. Now I'm laughing with them.
Tommy writes:
A delay would be President Obama's second worst nightmare. His first is the health care bill itself. See ya in November 2010.