AARP and the AMA Now Support the Health Care Bill

The House health care bill received a major boost today as it received support from the American Medical Association (AMA) and the AARP. They support legislation drafted by House Democrats. So how really significant is the support by these organizations? The AARP happens to be the nation's largest organization for older Americans, is known to be nonpartisan and represents primarily people over the age of 50 years of age. The real shocker here is the support now being received from the ARA who is widely known to be against health care reform. Today, President Obama urged lawmakers to listen the the AARP and AMA and go forward with the passage of health care legislation. As far as President Obama is concerned, he would rather get this bill passed and move on as soon as possible to other issues that he would like to address. So it now appears to that this bill may come to a final vote on Saturday, November 7th, 2009.
Still, the bill continues to receive technical changes , this time a 42-page manager's amendment which was drafted from three different proposals passed by three House committees. So allot of work appears to be going into the latest version which hopefully will be the one that becomes law.
The most recent changes which were made public about 48 hours ago will allow the measure reach the full chamber by Friday, which fulfills their requirement of a 72 hour review before the full vote.
Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House is confident that the bill has the votes to pass. President Obama is taking no chances as he is fully prepared to work with congressional Democrats on Friday to review the legislation.
Republicans on the other hand seem to be totally convinced that the health care reform bill would translate into a full-blown government takeover of the health care system. It does appear that regardless of what may be in the bill, hard nosed conservatives will just never support or pass any health care reform bill. Some are calling it a form of socialism.
The Republicans in good will did come up with their own plan, but House Democrats rejected the conservative $60 billion health care bill, calling the bill inadequate to meet necessary goals.
So what does the bill cover? First, it would extend insurance to approximately 36 million of Americans that do not have any form of health insurance. Only a very small percentage, possibly 4% would then not have coverage. Second, poor Americans will received subsidized insurance, along with the creation of health insurance exchanges. Third, smaller groups and individuals could now purchase health insurance, without all of the red tape that these groups must go through now. Fourth, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi made a direct claim that the bill would cut the federal deficit by $30 billion over the next ten years. Fifth, the bill as it stands today include the public option.
One of the issues still being tossed around by the House Democrats is the language   surrounding abortion. Some are adamant that they want stronger language which would prohibit the use of federal money to pay for such things as abortions.
It appears that there is a very good chance that a bill would be supported by the majority  of  the House and Senate soon.

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Two Gubernatorial races go to Republicans McDonnell and Christie

One year ago today, Senator Barack Obama was elected President of the United States. His election as President feels as if it were held yesterday, but instead today there were several gubernatorial races that took place. Two states, Virginia and New Jersey that voted for Barack Obama just a year ago, elected Republican Governors today. The democratic candidates were supported campaigned by President Obama, but that didn't seem to make a difference.
President Obama needs all the support he can get, especially now as he seems to be struggleing with the overhaul of health care, passage of climate change legislation, and winning political support for handling the war in Afghanistan.
The elections today may be just a peek of what is to come, as 2010 will be the year for midterm elections, when the House of Representatives, most governorships and a third of the U.S. Senate seats are up for grabs. Republicans must be very excited, as this win will help them recruit candidates in preparation for next year's election, along with helping them raise money.
Virginia did not seem to be much of a surprise as Bob McDonnell defeated Democrat R. Creigh Deeds. Even though he happens to be the first GOP (Republican) governor in eight years, a majority of Democrats conceeded even before the race that most likely Bob McDonnell would win. He is a very popular figure in the state of Virginia. Usually the state votes Republican, but last years election of President Obama was the first time since 1964 the state voted for a Democrat.
In the state of New Jersey, the winner was Republican Chris Christie, who was previously a federal prosecutor. He just narrowly defeated the incumbunt Governor, Democrat Jon Corzine, by just 4 percentage points, 49 to 45 percent. he third party in the race was Independent candidate Chris Daggett, and he only took about 6 percent of the vote.
One important point with the elections in these two states, the independent votes overwhelmingly voted for the Republican candidate. It was the same independent voters that helped President Obama gain election as President of the United States just one year ago.
Even before the election, there were indications that lawmakers may not complete legislation on Obama's health care proposal this year. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid gave that revelation, but that most likely would be another obstacle for President Obama, as he was hoping the health care proposal would be law by the end of this year. Now it appears that the soonest the legislation may get voted upon will be in 2010, the midterm elections year.
So it looks like smooth sailing for the Republicans so far. Are they really on the road to recovery? The answer is still up in the air, because Tuesday's election results should be a warning to the Republican base. In the state of New York, the Republican nominee Dierdre Scozzafava left the race after loosing Conservative support. Ex-vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin claimed that Dierdre Scozzafala was too moderate as she supported a third-party candidate Doug Hoffman. But the candidate herself, Dierdre Scozzafava endorsed the Democratic candidate Bill Owens, and all votes from voters that voted for Dierdre Scozzafava went to the Democratic candidate.

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A Readers point of view..... Write your opinion and watch it published RIGHT HERE!!!!

On this blog, I do from time to time become fairly critical about the issues, and do compare the likings of Barack Obama to our ex-President George Bush. For the most part, it is not favorable for George Bush. Of course, you must understand that this is an Obama blog as I truly am not a conservative person, and this is not a Bush blog. However, I have no problem reporting the facts as they happen. I will criticize President Barack Obama on this blog if it is necessary to do so. Anyone has that right to do so, as long as it doesn't express outward harm to the President or his predecessors for that matter.
So I am again asking anyone that has any solid opinions or criticisms about President Obama to send me that opinion or criticism to obamainthewhitehouse.usa@gmail.com and I would consider re-publishing it here on this blog. Just be sure to note that as the editor of this blog, I have the right to rebut anything you might say.

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