Health Care Summit

Obama At Health Care Summit: 

"I Don't Count My Time Because I'm The President"

Obama listens at health summit, but mostly hears himself

By Joseph Curl POLITICAL THEATER

President Obama pledged to "listen" at the outset of his much-ballyhooed bipartisan health care summit on Thursday. Turns out he meant he'd be listening to his own voice.

By the end of the televised event, Mr. Obama had spoken for 119 minutes - nine minutes more than the 110 minutes consumed by 17 Republicans. The 21 Democratic lawmakers used 114 minutes, giving the president and his supporters a whopping 233 minutes, according to a "talk clock" kept by GOP aides. 

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Obama, GOP fail to reach accord on health bill

By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press Writer Charles Babington, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 20 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Giving no ground, President Barack Obama and Republican leaders fought forcefully for their competing visions of historic health care reform Thursday in an exhausting, often-testy live-on-TV debate. Far from any accord, Obama signaled the Democrats were prepared to push ahead for an all-or-nothing congressional vote.

health_care_overhaul

Kliphnote: The GOP has their own health care plan.

But the Democrats and Obama don't want to hear it.

Just because Obama won by 53%(not 60%) he thinks he

can do what he wants. 

He thinks he can change health care the way he wants.

Health care is 18%(GDP) of the economy.

Reconciliation 

Congress used reconciliation to enact President Bill Clinton's 1993 (fiscal year 1994) budget. (See Pub.L. 103-66, 107 Stat. 312.) Clinton wanted to use reconciliation to pass his 1993 health care plan, but Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) insisted that the health care plan was out of bounds for a process that is theoretically about budgets.

  During the administration of President George W. Bush, Congress used reconciliation to enact three major tax cuts, each of which substantially increased net tax receipts. These tax cuts were set to lapse after 10 years to satisfy the Byrd Rule.  wiki