House Democrats seeking executive order on abortion funding

By Lori Montgomery, Paul Kane and Ben Pershing

Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, March 20, 2010; 4:03 PM

House Democrats are working with the White House to craft an executive order that would clarify President Obama's intention to maintain a long-standing ban on federal funding of abortion, congressional Democrats said.
The effort was part of a hurried campaign by House leaders on Saturday to persuade a pivotal bloc of antiabortion Democrats to support far-reaching health insurance reforms.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and others huddled in a suite of offices just off the House floor, trying to come up with language that would satisfy six to 10 lawmakers, mostly Rust Belt Catholics, who voted for an earlier version of the health-care package but have threatened to vote against the $940 billion compromise expected to come before the House on Sunday. Those lawmakers have argued that the measure would open the door to federal funding for elective abortions. Democratic leaders counter that the measure would do no such thing.
"The intent is obviously to express what we said all along: that we believe the language that has been included in both bills seeks to accomplish . . . that there will be no use of public funds for abortion," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said upon emerging from the meeting. Asked whether the document could win over a significant number of the holdouts, Hoyer said: "I'm hopeful."
The talks follow a decision by Pelosi to reject a suggestion that she hold a separate vote Sunday to strengthen abortion provisions in the compromise package. The speaker told reporters that she rejected the proposal from Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), a leader of the antiabortion faction.
Asked if she would permit such a vote, Pelosi said no, adding that she also would reject similar demands from liberals still hoping to advance their favorite causes.
"Not on abortion, not on public option, not on single payer, not on anything," Pelosi said. She later added: "The bill is the bill."
Democrats are close to securing the 216 votes needed to push the two-part legislation to final passage. House leaders said they will vote first on a package of revisions to the Senate health bill that was approved on Christmas Eve, then take up the Senate bill itself. Antiabortion Democrats represent by far the largest bloc of holdouts.
Earlier Saturday, Pelosi confirmed that an executive order on abortion "might be a possibility."
Those close to the talks said it is likely at the very least to restate Obama's commitment to upholding the Hyde Amendment, a 32-year-old provision that bars the use of public funds for abortion except in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the woman. Rep. Dianna DeGette (Colo.), a leader among Democrats who support abortion rights, said she would support that option, so long as Stupak's provision is not given another vote. "That would be fine by me," she told reporters Saturday of the executive order.
Stupak's office issued a statement declaring he would like the talks to continue: "Congressman Stupak remains open to working with Speaker Pelosi and the President to reach an agreement that would maintain current law which prohibits federal funding of abortions and health plans that cover abortion."
Pelosi remained determined to ensure that, by the time the vote is held Sunday, she would prevail. "We'll have the votes when we bring the bill to the floor," she said.

The First Lady Talks "Let's Move" with Newsweek

Posted by Shama Hussain on March 17, 2010 at 7:06 PM EDT

Following her cover story for Newsweek, the First Lady talked with Newsweek’s Editor Jon Meacham about her Let's Move campaign at the Newseum in Washington D.C. today. She discussed the magnitude of the problem of childhood obesity, especially during current times as a busier culture.

We’re also a culture and a society right now that snacks a lot more.  Just some of the statistics I talked about in my speech yesterday was that the average snack amount when I was growing up was one snack a day, if you were lucky.  And now it’s averaging two to three.  They say the average school-age kid is getting six snacks a day.  So we’re taking 200 more calories than we were 40 years ago, 30 years ago just from snacks alone.

She explained the importance of food manufacturing industries providing clear food labels so people can easily make decisions about what foods are healthy. “Parents have to understand what’s in the Twinkie; again, how does it fit into the overall diet.  So we don’t need a warning, we need information.  And we need information that’s easy to understand.”
The First Lady also talked about passing legislation that will set nutritional guidelines for school lunch programs and vending machines. President Obama signed an Executive Order creating the Council on Childhood Obesity that will review every program and policy regarding education and nutrition.
Visit LetsMove.gov to learn more about the initiative to address the growing health epidemic of childhood obesity.

A Sunday health care viewer's guide

What you need to know about the House vote, and the fight ahead

Reps. Chellie Pingree, D-Me., Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., Chair Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., Doris Matusi, D-Calif. and James McGovern, D-Mass., at a meeting of the Democratic members of the House Rules committee who met to discuss the health care legislation prior to the full committee meeting on Capitol Hill on Saturday.

by Carrie Dann

msnbc.com

updated 1 hour, 31 minutes ago

As the NCAA basketball tournament reminds us, there’s nothing quite like a nothing-but-net, buzzer-beating, three-point shot that gives one team a climactic, decisive win as the crowd goes wild.

But although Democrats believe that they’re close to their own net-cutting ceremony — namely, the signing of a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s health insurance system — the precise moment of victory will be a bit less clear than the final moments of a tournament game.

On Sunday afternoon, the House of Representatives is expected to hold a climactic vote on the Senate-passed version of the health care bill. The vote will determine whether or not the president signs into law legislation that overhauls the way that Americans buy and keep their health insurance. If Democrats get the 216 “yes” votes they need to pass the bill — and they appear optimistic that they will — they will trumpet the passage of the legislation as a victory for the ages. 

But the bill that the president will sign contains some unpopular measures, including special benefits for individual states like Nebraska.  Both the House and the Senate must act to scrub those provisions to end up with a final product that most Democrats can tolerate. 

(The Senate’s version of the health overhaul is so unpalatable that House Democratic leaders originally planned to try to approve the bill indirectly, with members voting on a measure to merely “deem” it passed. But the strategy came under heavy GOP criticism, with some even questioning its constitutionality, and the plan was nixed in favor of a direct vote on the Senate bill.)

The House is now expected to hold a series of votes Sunday, with debate starting after the body is gaveled into session at 1 p.m. EST.

The first vote, expected to take place around 3 p.m. EST, will be on a “rule” dictating the parameters of debate on the bill.

Later on Sunday, the House will vote on the “reconciliation” package, a series of “fixes” to correct problems in the bill passed by the Senate on Christmas Eve in 2009. 

Those fixes must be approved by the Senate before they can take effect. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday pledging that his caucus would vote to approve the corrections, which require 51 votes for approval, but Republicans may be able to derail that process. 

The big moment for House Democrats will be Sunday’s final vote to approve the Senate-passed bill.  If there are 216 “yes” votes or more, the bill will go to the president’s desk to be signed and enacted. 

That moment will be as close as Democrats will get to their own version of the NCAA’s “One Shining Moment,” but there will be another tough game in the Senate before a real victory dance can take place. Even if the president signs the overhaul into law, there’s still work to be done in the Senate as that chamber works to approve the “fixes” initiated by the House.

Here’s the key rule of reconciliation that Republicans think they may be able to use to derail the fixes package in the Senate. Under the Senate’s “Byrd Rule,” named after its author Sen. Robert Byrd, D- W.V., any senator can raise an objection (called “a point of order”) to any part of the reconciliation bill that does not address budgetary matters. The extraneous matter would be removed from the bill if the parliamentarian upholds that point of order. Sixty votes would be needed to overturn that decision.

Republicans believe they have identified several key provisions that could be vulnerable to this rule. The result could be legislation that is the policy equivalent of Swiss cheese, with major pieces missing.

If a single word of the reconciliation bill is changed in the Senate, the bill will have to go back to the House and approved again.

And Republicans think that’s a real possibility. “If those people think they’re only going to vote on this once, they’re nuts,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, in an interview with Bloomberg.

Thousands rally to pull troops from 2 war zones

By MATTHEW BARAKAT

Associated Press Writer

updated 13 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Thousands of protesters — many directing their anger squarely at President Barack Obama — marched through the nation's capital Saturday to urge immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.

At least eight people, including activist Cindy Sheehan, were arrested by U.S. Park Police at the end of the march, after laying coffins at a fence outside the White House. Friday marked the seventh anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

"Arrest that war criminal!" Sheehan shouted outside the White House before her arrest, referring to Obama.

At a rally before the march, Sheehan asked whether "the honeymoon was over with that war criminal in the White House" — an apparent reference to Obama — prompting moderate applause.

The protesters defied orders to clear the sidewalk on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House and park police say they face charges of failure to obey a lawful order.

Activist Ralph Nader told thousands who gathered in Lafayette Park across from the White House that Obama has essentially continued the policies of the Bush administration, and it was foolish to have thought otherwise.

"He's kept Guantanamo open, he's continued to use indefinite detention," Nader said. The only real difference, he said is that "Obama's speeches are better."

Others were more conciliatory toward Obama. Shirley Allan of Silver Spring, Md., carried a sign that read, "President Obama We love you but we need to tell you! Your hands are getting bloody!! Stop it now."

Allan thought it was going too far to call Obama a war criminal but said she is deeply disappointed that the conflicts are continuing.

"He has to know it's unacceptable," Allan said. "I am absolutely disappointed."

The protest organized by Act Now to Stop War and Racism or ANSWER drew a smaller crowd than the tens of thousands who marched in 2006 and 2007. Protests in cities around the country also had far fewer participants than in the past.

San Francisco's rally brought out Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the top-secret Pentagon Papers study of the Vietnam War and is the subject of the recent documentary film, "The Most Dangerous Man in America." He likened the protest and others like it around the country Saturday to a day of demonstrations organized against the conflict in Vietnam in 1969.

"They thought it had no effect," he told the crowd in San Francisco, referring to the 1969 protesters. "They were wrong."

Ellsberg said President Richard Nixon was planning to escalate the war around that time, but held off.

Protesters in Washington stopped at the offices of military contractor Halliburton — where they tore apart an effigy of former Vice President and Halliburton Chief Executive Dick Cheney — the Mortgage Bankers Association and The Washington Post offices.

Anna Berlinrut, of South Orange, N.J., was one of a number of protesters who have children who have served in Iraq, and said her son supports her protests.

"If there were a draft, we'd have a million people out here," Berlinrut said when asked about the turnout. The exact number of protesters was unclear, as D.C. authorities do not give out crowd estimates. Organizers estimated the march, which stretched for several blocks, at 10,000.

Despite the arrests, the protest was peaceful. At the outset, police closed a portion of the sidewalk in front of the White House fence after protesters tried to use mud and large stencils to spell out "Iraq veterans against the war."

Once the sidewalk was closed, the protesters stenciled the message on the street using mud they had carried in buckets to the rally.

Sheehan has been a vocal critic of the war since her 21-year-old son Casey was killed in Iraq in April 2004. She staged a prolonged demonstration in 2005 outside former President George W. Bush's ranch near Crawford, Texas.

Fellow anti-war activist and attorney Stephen Pearcy of Sacramento keeps in touch and supports Sheehan in her efforts. Sheehan lived with his family for a year while traveling to peace events.

Pearcy said in an e-mail that in the last decade, the U.S. government has a widespread pattern of violating the constitutional rights of peaceful anti-war protesters, arresting them, then not pressing charges.

"We've essentially become a country of restrictions rather than a country of freedoms," he said.

Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark also spoke at the D.C. rally, calling on the Justice Department to investigate the officials who launched the Iraq war.

In New York City, a few dozen enthusiastic protesters gathered near a military recruiting station in Times Square, though they were far outnumbered by disinterested tourists.

A group of older women calling themselves the Raging Grannies sang, "The country is broke, this war is a joke." Four demonstrators evoked images of the U.S. detention camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by dressing in orange uniforms and wearing black hoods.

Liz Proefriedt, a retired Roman Catholic nun, held up a banner that read, "Bread not bombs."

"It's sad that a lot of people did not come out for this protest," said Kathy Hoang, of Manchester, Conn. "People are getting used to the war, and don't bother even to think about it anymore."

In Los Angeles, hundreds chanted anti-war slogans and carried mock tombstones, and several hundred gathered in San Francisco. The Los Angeles march, which was under a mile, was to culminate with a rally in front of the famed Grauman's Chinese Theater.

"We want to see the troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq," said Corazon Esguerra with ANSWER. "We want all the troops wherever they are to come back."

Ugly build-up to House health care vote

Demonstrators hurl N-word, spit at black members of Congress

 Tea party demonstrators protest against health overhaul legislation outside of the House chamber on Capitol Hill on Saturday.

By ALAN FRAM

Associated Press Writer

updated 1 hour, 39 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - House Democrats heard it all Saturday — words of inspiration from President Barack Obama and raucous chants of protests from demonstrators. And at times it was flat-out ugly, including some racial epithets aimed at black members of Congress.

Most of the day's important work leading up to Sunday's historic vote on health care was being done behind closed doors. Democratic leaders cajoled, bargained and did what they needed to nail down the votes they will need to finally push Obama's health care overhaul bill through the House.

But much else about the day was noisy, emotional and right out in the open. After more than a year debating the capstone of Obama's domestic agenda and just hours to go before the showdown vote, there was little holding back.

The tone was set outside the Capitol. Clogging the sidewalks and streets of Capitol Hill were at least hundreds — no official estimate was yet available — of loud, furious protesters, many of them tea party opponents of the health care overhaul.

Rallies outside the Capitol are typically orderly, with speeches and well-behaved crowds. Saturday's was different, with anger-fueled demonstrators surrounding members of Congress who walked by, yelling at them.

"Kill the bill," the largely middle-aged crowd shouted, surging toward lawmakers who crossed the street between their office buildings and the Capitol.

'N-word' 15 times
The motorcade that carried Obama to Capitol Hill to whip up support for the bill drove past crowds waving signs that read "Stop the spending" and "Get your hands out of my pocketbook and health care." Many booed and thrust their thumbs down as Obama rode by.

As police held demonstrators back to clear areas for lawmakers outside the Capitol Obama's speech, some protesters jeered and chanted at the officers, "You work for us."

Rep. Andre Carson, D-Ind., told a reporter that as he left the Cannon House Office Building with Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., a leader of the civil rights era, some among the crowd chanted "the N-word, the N-word, 15 times." Both Carson and Lewis are black, and Lewis spokeswoman Brenda Jones also said that it occurred.

"It was like going into the time machine with John Lewis," said Carson, a large former police officer who said he wasn't frightened but worried about the 70-year-old Lewis, who is twice his age. "He said it reminded him of another time."

Kristie Greco, spokeswoman for Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., said a protester spit on Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., who is black.

Clyburn, who led fellow black students in integrating South Carolina's public facilities a half century ago, called the behavior "absolutely shocking."

"I heard people saying things today that I have not heard since March 15, 1960, when I was marching to try to get off the back of the bus," Clyburn told reporters.

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who is gay, said protesters shouted "abusive things" to him as he walked from the Longworth building to the Rayburn building. "It's a mob mentality that doesn't work politically," he said.

Step toward communism?
Inside House office buildings, protesters made their views known by visiting lawmakers' offices and chanting at legislators walking by.

Among the demonstrators was Delane Stewart, 65, of Cookeville, Tenn., who had come with her husband, Jesse.

"You know what's coming next if this happens?" she said, referring to the health bill's passage. "They're going to come after gun control."

Retired businessman Randy Simpson, 67, of Seneca, S.C., also said the health bill was just a first step.

"My concerns are about the health care bill, and the direction it takes us is toward communism, quite frankly," he said.

At a daylong meeting of the House Rules Committee, members of both parties squeezed into a tiny hearing room traded accusations in a session that was often a shouting match.

"You all in the minority know what the American people think," Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., said loudly and mockingly at Republicans repeatedly saying the public overwhelmingly opposes Obama's health care bill.

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, said a tricky voting procedure Democrats had been contemplating "corrupts and prostitutes the system" and would "unleash a cultural war in this country."

Emotional peak
Obama's Capitol Hill visit was the day's emotional peak for House Democrats as he sought to energize them to finally approve the legislation.

He conceded that it could be tough for some to vote for the bill, but predicted it would end up being politically smart because once it becomes law people will realize they like its provisions like curbs on insurance companies.

"It is in your hands," the president said in what Clyburn later called the best speech he'd ever heard Obama make. "It is time to pass health care reform for America, and I am confident that you are going to do it tomorrow."

Fired up Obama Makes Final Health Pitch

 President Obama talks at George Mason University about Health Care Reform

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Obama signs Job Bill into Law on March 18, 2010

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Presidents visit to the Capital to talk to Democratic Party of the House

 President Obama visited Capitol Hill to meet with House Democrats. He talked about the state of health care in the United States.

• 
  

  Hoyer, Steny H.

  U.S. Representative [D] Maryland
• 
  

  Obama, Barack

  President [D] United States
• 
  

  Pelosi, Nancy

  U.S. Representative [D] California

Basketball Mania

Presidents Pick for the big 4

President Barack Obama Talks to Bret Baier About Health Care Reform Bill

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

 FNC

This is a rush transcript of "Special Report With Bret Baier" from March 17, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
BRET BAIER, "SPECIAL REPORT" HOST: Welcome to Washington. I'm Bret Baier, and this is a special edition of "Special Report", beginning tonight in the Blue Room in the White House, mid-way through what many people are calling the most pivotal week of his presidency so far. We are interviewing President Barack Obama.
Mr. President, thank you for the time.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Thank you for having me, Bret.
BAIER: You have said at least four times in the past two weeks: "the United States Congress owes the American people a final up or down vote on health care." So do you support the use of this Slaughter rule? The deem and pass rule, so that Democrats avoid a straight up or down vote on the Senate bill?
OBAMA: Here's what I think is going to happen and what should happen. You now have a proposal from me that will be in legislation, that has the toughest insurance reforms in history, makes sure that people are able to get insurance even if they've got preexisting conditions, makes sure that we are reducing costs for families and small businesses, by allowing them to buy into a pool, the same kind of pool that members of Congress have.
We know that this is going to reduce the deficit by over a trillion dollars. So you've got a good package, in terms of substance. I don't spend a lot of time worrying about what the procedural rules are in the House or the Senate.
(CROSS TALK)
OBAMA: What I can tell you is that the vote that's taken in the House will be a vote for health care reform. And if people vote yes, whatever form that takes, that is going to be a vote for health care reform. And I don't think we should pretend otherwise.
(CROSS TALK)
OBAMA: Bret, let me finish. If they don't, if they vote against, then they're going to be voting against health care reform and they're going to be voting in favor of the status quo. So Washington gets very concerned about these procedural issues in Congress. This is always an issue that's — whether Republicans are in charge or Democrats in charge — when Republicans are in charge, Democrats constantly complain that the majority was not giving them an opportunity, et cetera.
What the American people care about is the fact that their premiums are going up 25, 40, 60 percent, and I'm going to do something about it.
BAIER: Let me insert this. We asked our viewers to e-mail in suggested questions. More than 18,000 people took time to e-mail us questions. These are regular people from all over the country. Lee Johnson, from Spring Valley, California: "If the bill is so good for all of us, why all the intimidation, arm twisting, seedy deals, and parliamentary trickery necessary to pass a bill, when you have an overwhelming majority in both houses and the presidency?"
Sandy Moody in Chesterfield, Missouri: "If the health care bill is so wonderful, why do you have to bribe Congress to pass it?"
OBAMA: Bret, I get 40,000 letters or e-mails a day.
BAIER: I know.
OBAMA: I could read the exact same e-mail —
BAIER: These are people. It's not just Washington punditry.
OBAMA: I've got the exact same e-mails, that I could show you, that talk about why haven't we done something to make sure that I, a small business person, am getting as good a deal as members of Congress are getting, and don't have my insurance rates jacked up 40 percent? Why is it that I, a mother with a child with a preexisting condition, still can't get insurance?
So the issue that I'm concerned about is whether not we're fixing a broken system.
BAIER: OK, back to the original question.
OBAMA: The key is to make sure that we vote — we have a vote on whether or not we're going to maintain the status quo, or whether we're going to reform the system.
BAIER: So you support the deem and pass rule?
OBAMA: I am not —
BAIER: You're saying that's that vote.
OBAMA: What I'm saying is whatever they end up voting on — and I hope it's going to be sometime this week — that it is going to be a vote for or against my health care proposal. That's what matters. That's what ultimately people are going to judge this on.
If people don't believe in health care reform — and I think there are definitely a lot of people who are worried about whether or not these changes are, in some fashion, going to affect them adversely. And I think those are legitimate concerns on the substance — then somebody who votes for this bill, they're going to be judged at the polls. And the same is going to be true if they vote against it.
BAIER: Monday in Ohio, you called for courage in the health care debate. At the same time, House Speaker Pelosi was saying this to reporters about the deem and pass rule: "I like it, this scenario, because people don't have to vote on the Senate bill." Is that the kind of courage that you're talking about?
OBAMA: Well, here's what's taking place — we both know what's going on. You've got a Senate bill that was passed, that had provisions that needed to be changed. Right? People were concerned about, for example, the fix that only fixed Nebraska, and didn't fix the rest of the states.
Now, a lot of the members of the House legitimately say, we want to vote on a package, as the president has proposed, that has those fixes embedded in it. Now that may mean they have to sequence the votes. But the ultimate vote they're taking is on whether or not they believe in the proposal that I put forward, to make sure that insurance reform is fixed, to make sure the deficits are reduced, and premiums go down, and small businesses are helped. That's what they're concerned about.
BAIER: Do you know which specific deals are in or out, as of today?
OBAMA: I am certain that we've made sure, for example, that any burdens on states are alleviated, when it comes to what they're going to have to chip in to make sure that we're giving subsidies to small businesses, and subsidies to individuals, for example.
BAIER: So the Connecticut deal is still in?
OBAMA: So that's not — that's not going to be something that is going to be in this final package. I think the same is true on all of these provisions. I'll give you some exceptions though.
Something that was called a special deal was for Louisiana. It was said that there were billions — millions of dollars going to Louisiana, this was a special deal. Well, in fact, that provision, which I think should remain in, said that if a state has been affected by a natural catastrophe, that has created a special health care emergency in that state, they should get help. Louisiana, obviously, went through Katrina, and they're still trying to deal with the enormous challenges that were faced because of that.
(CROSS TALK)
OBAMA: That also — I'm giving you an example of one that I consider important. It also affects Hawaii, which went through an earthquake. So that's not just a Louisiana provision. That is a provision that affects every state that is going through a natural catastrophe.
Now I have said that there are certain provisions, like this Nebraska one, that don't make sense. And they needed to be out. And we have removed those. So, at the end of the day, what people are going to be able to say is that this legislation is going to be providing help to small businesses and individuals, across the board, in an even handed way, and providing people relief from a status quo that's just not working.
BAIER: OK, the Florida deal, in or out?
OBAMA: The Florida deal —
BAIER: Paying for Medicare Advantage, exempting 800,000 Floridians from —
OBAMA: My understanding is that whatever is going to be done on Medicare is going to apply across the board to all states.
BAIER: Connecticut, Montana — there are a lot of deals in here, Mr. President, that people have issues about.
OBAMA: Bret, the core of this bill is going to be affecting every American family. If you have insurance, you're going to be able to keep it. If you don't have insurance, you're going to be able to buy into a pool, like members of Congress have. We're going to make sure that we have delivery system reforms that strengthen Medicare, that are going to make sure that doctors and hospitals are providing better service and better care, and this is going to reduce the deficit.
Now, there are going to be in this, as I just mentioned, on things like making sure that states who have gone through natural catastrophes and medical emergencies are getting help, but those are not going to ones that are driven by politics, they're going to be driven policy.
BAIER: Couple more process things, quickly.
You said a few times as Senator Obama that if a president has to eke out a victory of 50 plus one, that on something as important as health care, "you can't govern." But now you're embracing a 50 plus one reconciliation process in the Senate, so do you feel like you can govern after this?
OBAMA: Well, Bret, the — I think what we've seen during the course of this year is that we have come up with a bill that basically tracks the recommendations of Tom Daschle, former Democratic senator and leader, but also Bob Dole, former Republican leader, Howard Baker, former Republican leader. The ideas embodied in this legislation are not left, they're not right, they are — they are —
BAIER: I understand what you're — I know you don't like to talk about process, but there are a lot of questions in these 18,000 that talk about process.
OBAMA: I understand being —
(CROSSTALK)
BAIER: And there are a lot of people around America that have a problem with this process.
OBAMA: Bret, I —
BAIER: You called it an ugly process just last month.
OBAMA: I've got to tell — I've got to say to you, there are a lot more people who are concerned about the fact that they may be losing their house or going bankrupt because of health care.
BAIER: OK, so we have —
OBAMA: And so — so the — look —
BAIER: Deem and passed, Senate reconciliation and we don't know exactly what's in the fix bill. Do you still think —
OBAMA: No, we will — by the time the vote has taken place, not only I will know what's in it, you'll know what's in it because it's going to be posted and everybody's going to be able to able to evaluate it on the merits.
But here's the thing, Bret, I mean, the reason that I think this conversation ends up being a little frustrating is because the focus entirely is on Washington process. And yes, I have said that is an ugly process. It was ugly when Republicans were in charge, it was ugly were in Democrats were in charge.
BAIER: This is one-sixth of the U.S. economy, though, sir. One-sixth.
OBAMA: And, Bret, let me tell you something, the fact of the matter is that for the vast majority of people, their health care is not going to change because right now they're getting a better deal. The only thing that is going to change for them is is that they're going to have more security under their insurance and they're going to have a better situation when it comes to if they lose their job, heaven forbid, or somebody gets sick with a preexisting condition, they'll have more security. But, so — so —
BAIER: So how can you —
OBAMA: — the notion that —
BAIER: — guarantee that they're not going to —
OBAMA: — so but —
BAIER: — they're going to be able to keep their doctor —
OBAMA: Bret, you've got to let me finish my answers —
BAIER: Sir, I know you don't like to filibuster, but —
OBAMA: Well, I'm trying to answer your question and you keep on interrupting. So let me be clear.
Now, you keep on repeating the notion that it's one-sixth of the economy. Yes, it's one-sixth of the economy, but we're not transforming one-sixth of the economy all in one fell swoop. What we're saying is is that for the vast majority of people who have health care, they're going to be able to keep it. But what we are saying is that we should have some basic protections from insurance company abuses and that in order for us to do that, we are going to have to make some changes in the status quo that we've been debating for a year.
This notion that this has been not transparent, that people don't know what's in the bill, everybody knows what's in the bill. I sat for seven hours with —
BAIER: Mr. President, you couldn't tell me what the special deals are that are in or not today.
OBAMA: I just told you what was in and what was not in.
BAIER: Is Connecticut in?
OBAMA: Connecticut — what are you specifically referring to?
BAIER: The $100 million for the hospital? Is Montana in for the asbestos program? Is — you know, listen, there are people — this is real money, people are worried about this stuff.
OBAMA: And as I said before, this — the final provisions are going to be posted for many days before this thing passes, but —
BAIER: Let me get to some of the specifics on substance not process.
OBAMA: The only thing —
(CROSSTALK)
BAIER: (INAUDIBLE)
OBAMA: — the only thing I want to say, just to close up, is that when you talk about one-sixth of the economy, this is one-sixth of the economy that right now is a huge drag on the economy. Now, we can fix this in a way that is sensible, that is centrist. I have rejected a whole bunch of provisions that the left wanted that are — you know, they were very adamant about because I thought it would be too disruptive to the system. But what we can't do is perpetuate a system in which millions of people day in and day out are having an enormously tough time and small businesses are sending me letters constantly saying that they are seeing their premiums increase 40, 50 percent.
BAIER: Mr. President, you said Monday that you praised the Congressional Budget Office numerous times. You also said this, this proposal makes Medicare stronger — and you just said it to me here —
OBAMA: Right.
BAIER: — it makes coverage better, it makes its finances more secure, and anyone who says otherwise is misinformed or is trying to misinform you.
OBAMA: Right.
BAIER: The CBO has said specifically that the $500 billion that you say that you're going to save from Medicare is not being spent in Medicare. That this bill spends it elsewhere outside of Medicare. So you can't have both.
OBAMA: Right.
BAIER: You either spend it on expenditures or you make Medicare more solvent. So which is it?
OBAMA: Here's what it does. On the one hand what you're doing is you're eliminating insurance subsidies within Medicare that aren't making anybody healthier but are fattening the profits of insurance companies. Everybody agrees that that is not a wise way to spend money. Now, most of those savings go right back into helping seniors, for example, closing the donut hole.
When the previous Congress passed the prescription drug bill, what they did was they left a situation which after seniors had spent a certain amount of money, suddenly they got no help and they were stuck with the bill. Now that's a pretty expensive proposition fixing that. It wasn't paid for at the time that that bill was passed. So that money goes back into Medicare, both to fix the donut hole, lower premiums.
All those things are important, but what's also happening is each year we're spending less on Medicare overall and as consequence, that lengthens the trust fund and it's availability for seniors.
BAIER: Your chief actuary for Medicare said this, that cuts in Medicare: "cannot be simultaneously used to finance other federal outlays and extend the trust fund." That's your guy.
OBAMA: No — and what is absolutely true is that this will not solve our whole Medicare problem. We're still going to have to fix Medicare over the long term.
BAIER: But it's $38 trillion in the hole.
OBAMA: Absolutely, and that's the reason that we're going to have to — that's the reason I put forward a fiscal commission based on Republicans and Democratic proposals, to make sure that we have a long-term fix for the system. The key is that this proposal doesn't weaken Medicare, it makes it stronger for seniors currently who are receiving it. It doesn’t solve that big structural problem, Bret. Nobody's claiming that this piece of legislation is going to solve every problem that's been there for decades. What it does do is make sure that the trust fund is not going to be going bankrupt in seven years, according to their accounting rules —
BAIER: So you don't buy —
OBAMA: — and in the meantime —
BAIER: — the CBO or the actuary that you can't have it both ways?
OBAMA: No —
BAIER: That you can't spend the money twice?
OBAMA: — no, what is absolutely true and what I do agree with is that you can't say that you are saving on Medicare and then spend the money twice. What you can say is that we are going to take these savings, put them back to make sure that seniors are getting help on the prescription drug bill instead of that money going to, for example, insurance reform, and —
BAIER: And you call this deficit neutral, but you also set aside the doctor fix, more than $200 billion. People look at this and say, how can it be deficit neutral?
OBAMA: But the — as you well know, the doctors problem, as you mentioned, the "doctors fix," is one that has been there four years now. That wasn't of our making, and that has nothing to do with my health care bill. If I was not proposing a health care bill, right — let's assume that I had never proposed health care.
BAIER: But you wanted to change Washington, Mr. President. And now you're doing it the same way.
OBAMA: Bret, let me finish my — my answers here. Now, if suddenly, you've got, over the last decade, a problem that's been built up. And the suggestion is somehow that, because that's not fixed within this bill, that that's a reason to vote against the bill, that doesn't make any sense. That's a problem that I inherited. That was a problem that should have been solved a long time ago. It's a problem that needs to be solved, but it's not created by my bill. And I don't think you would dispute that.
BAIER: We're getting the wrap-up sign here.
OBAMA: Yes.
BAIER: Can you be a transformative president if health care does not pass?
OBAMA: Well, I think that — look, I came in at a time when we probably had the toughest economic challenges since the Great Depression. A year later, we can say that, although we're still a long way from where we need to be, that we have made the economy stronger. It's now growing again. We have created a financial situation that is vastly better than it was before.
And so we're now in a situation in which the economy is growing, moving. We're reforming areas like education. We're taking steps on energy. We're doing a whole bunch of things out there that are going to create the foundation for long-term economic growth.
BAIER: So if it doesn't pass, does that diminish your presence?
OBAMA: Well, if it doesn't pass, I'm more concerned about what it does to families out there who right now are getting crushed by rising health care costs and small businesses who were having to make a decision, "Do I hire or do I fix health care?" That's the reason I make these decisions.
BAIER: Mr. President, I'm getting wrapped up, and I don't want to interrupt you, but to finish up, do you think this is going to pass?
OBAMA: I do. I'm confident it will pass. And the reason I'm confident that it's going to pass is because it's the right thing to do. Look, on a whole host of these measures, whether it's health care, whether it was fixing the financial system, whether it's making sure that we passed the Recovery Act, I knew these things might not be popular, but I was absolutely positive that they were the right thing to do and that, over time, we would be vindicated in having made those tough decisions.
I think health care is exactly the same thing. We — I've got a whole bunch of portraits of presidents around here, starting with Teddy Roosevelt, who tried to do this and didn't get it done. The reason that it needs to be done is not its affect on the presidency. It has to do with how it's going to affect ordinary people who right now are desperately in need of help.
BAIER: I apologize for interrupting you, sir. I tried to get the most for our buck here.
(CROSSTALK)
BAIER: Thank you very much for your time.
OBAMA: Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Thank you.

Fox News Exclusive: Surprising Isn't it

Notice how many times Bret interrupts the President of the United States
HOW RUDE!!!!!!



March 17, 2010
Fox News Exclusive: President Obama

Part 1: The president sits down with FNC's Bret Baier to discuss the health care reform bill






March 17, 2010
Fox News Exclusive: President Obama

Part 2: The president talks foreign policy with Fox News

REmember this is from Fox News

Voting against Extending Unemployment SHAME SHAME SHAME

 I personally would love for these 16 senators out on the streets trying to find jobs like the rest of the people are.  I want them to have nothing but what they use to do before being Congresspeople. And we will see how long it takes them to find a job, and they can't fall back on their congressional status.

16 Senators From States With Double-Digit Jobless Rates Vote Against Extending Unemployment Benefits

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

Today, the Senate passed a bill extending jobless benefits for the rest of the year by a 62-36 vote. Extending unemployment benefits following a recession like one the country just experienced should be a no-brainer, but as Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) and his supporters displayed last month, such a step is by no means a slam-dunk. Throughout the course of the recession, the economy shed 8.4 million jobs, and there are currently six workers for every available job opening. The national unemployment rate is at 9.7 percent, and in many states it is much higher. 41.2 percent of the unemployed have been out of work for 27 weeks or more, which is the highest since 1948. Just to make up for the jobs lost during the recession (not accounting for population increases), the economy would have to produce 350,000 jobs per month for two full years.
Still, 36 senators saw fit to vote against extended benefits (as well as extending COBRA, which helps unemployed workers pay for health insurance). Here are the 16 senators from states with double-digit unemployment (according to the latest figures, released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics) who voted against the bill:

SENATORS	STATE	UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
Sens. Jeff Sessions and Richard Shelby	Alabama	11.1%
Sen. George LeMieux	Florida	11.9%
Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson	Georgia	10.4%
Sen. Dick Lugar	Indiana	11.1%
Sens. Jim Bunning and Mitch McConnell	Kentucky	10.7%
Sens. Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker	Mississippi	10.9%
Sen. John Ensign	Nevada	13.0%
Sen. Richard Burr	North Carolina	11.1%
Sens. Jim DeMint and Lindsey Graham	South Carolina	12.6%
Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker	Tennessee	10.7%

This vote is in line with a trend among conservatives in Congress, who have taken to displaying a callous disregard for the plight of the unemployed by continually claiming that unemployment benefits discourage people from looking for work. Rep. Dean Heller (R-NV), for instance, said that extending benefits is creating “hobos,” while Rep. Steve King (R-IA) said “we shouldn’t turn the ’safety net’ into a hammock.” Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), who voted against the bill today, said benefits stunt job-seeking “because people are being paid even though they’re not working.”
Sens. Kit Bond (R-MO), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), George Voinivich (R-OH) and David Vitter (R-LA) joined all of the Democrats except Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) in voting for the measure. Sens. Robert Byrd (D-WV) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) did not vote. The Senate bill now has to be reconciled with a bill passed by the House last year. House Ways and Means Chairman Sandy Levin (D-MI) is reportedly considering pushing for a conference committee to work out the differences.