Congress completes overhaul of health care
WASHINGTON
The president spoke in Iowa as the Senate voted 56-43 for
legislation making changes, including better benefits for seniors
and low-income and middle-class families, to the bill he signed
into law with a flourish at the White House on Tuesday.
The House added its approval a few hours later, 220-207,
clearing the way for Obama's signature on the second of two bills
that marked the culmination of what the president called "a year
of debate and a century of trying" to ensure coverage for nearly
all in a nation where millions lack it.
Taken together, the two bills also aim to crack down on
insurance industry abuses, and to reduce federal deficits by an
estimated $143 billion over a decade. Most Americans would be
required to buy insurance for the first time, and face penalties if
they refused.
The second of the two bills also presented Obama with another
victory, stripping banks and other private lenders of their ability
to originate student loans in favor of a system of direct
government lending.
After a months-long battle in Congress, the political struggle
was morphing into a new phase, where public debate was tinged with
violence -- and politicians accused one another of seeking to
exploit it for their own advantage.
Apart from their impact on nearly every American and an
estimated one-sixth of the American economy, the week's events
marked Obama's biggest political triumphs since he took office more
than a year ago. A pending arms control agreement with Russia,
announced on Wednesday, added to his resume, and White House
officials said they hoped the momentum would translate into further
political successes in the run-up to the midterm elections.
More than 10 lawmakers in the House said they had received
threats or worse as a consequence of the health care debate, most
of them Democrats who voted in favor of the legislation. There were
reports of bricks through windows, a cut propane line to a grill
and numerous obscene and threatening phone calls and faxes. An
undisclosed number of lawmakers were under increased police
protection.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and the GOP leader, Rep. John
Boehner of Ohio, both denounced the threats and incidents of
violence. But Democrats said Republicans had been too slow to
respond, drawing an outraged response in return.
"By ratcheting up the rhetoric, some will only inflame these
situations to dangerous levels," said Republican Whip Eric Cantor
of Virginia. "Enough is enough. It has to stop."
An aide to Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, head of the
Democratic 2010 campaign effort, responded: "This is straight out
of the Republicans' political playbook of deflecting responsibility
and distracting attention away from a serious issue."
"Repeal and Replace" was the new slogan for Republicans as
they pivoted away from earlier attempts to kill the health care
legislation. Officials said it was meant to appeal to tea party
activists -- who staged an occasionally unruly demonstration outside
the Capitol over the weekend -- as well as to independent voters
eager for changes in the health care system but fearful the
Democrats went too far.
"Republicans fought on behalf of the American people this week
and will continue to fight until this bill is repealed and replaced
with commonsense ideas that solve our problems without dismantling
the health care system we have and without burying the American
dream under a mountain of debt," said Senate Republican leader
Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
Repeal was far-fetched in the extreme, since Republicans are now
deep in the minority in both houses and would need a two-thirds
majority to overcome a certain veto by Obama.
But Republicans circulated polls showing public backing for the
overhaul at no better than 40 percent, despite months of Democratic
efforts to rally support. Attacking the bill as a government
takeover of health care paid for in higher taxes and Medicare cuts,
they taunted House Democrats who voted for it, saying those
lawmakers had cleared the way for their own defeat this fall.
Democrats said any unease was the result of months of Republican
distractions -- as far back as last summer's debunked charges of
"death panels" -- and predicted the public would warm to the new
law once its first benefits take effect.
That was Obama's pitch in Iowa, where he touted a "set of
reforms" that will take effect before the elections.
He said small businesses would be eligible for tax credits to
help them cover the cost of insurance for employees, including a
$250 rebate from the government for seniors with high prescription
drug costs.
"This year, insurance companies will no longer be able to drop
people's coverage when they get sick, or place lifetime limits or
restrictive annual limits on the amount of care they can receive,"
he said.
"This is the reform that some folks in Washington are still
hollering about. And now that it's passed, they're already
promising to repeal it. ... Well, I say go for it," he said.
Senate passage of the follow-up measure was nearly along party
lines. Democratic Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor of Arkansas
and Ben Nelson of Nebraska joined 39 Republicans in opposing the
legislation. Republican Johnny Isakson of Georgia, who is
hospitalized, did not vote.
The House vote followed the same pattern, with 32 Democrats
joining 175 Republicans in opposition.
Democrats had hoped the Senate's vote would end their year-long
campaign to overhaul the health care system. But Republicans forced
the deletion of two minor student loan-related provisions, and that
required a revote in the House.
The day's events marked the final stages of a rescue mission
that Obama and Democratic leaders mounted more than two months ago,
after Republicans unexpectedly won a Massachusetts Senate seat, and
with it, the ability to slow final action on health care
legislation.
Under a revised strategy, the House agreed to approve a
Senate-passed bill despite numerous objections, on the condition
that both houses would follow quickly with a fix-it measure. The
one finally brought to a vote on Thursday added more than $20
billion to subsidies for lower- and middle-income individuals and
families who will be required to purchase insurance, and about $8
billion over a decade for states that already provide more generous
than average Medicaid benefits.
The Senate vote took place with Vice President Joe Biden
presiding, a symbolic gesture since his vote was not needed.
Moments before approving the legislation, the Senate paused for
a moment of silence in memory of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of
Massachusetts, who died last year after a career of more than 45
years in which he relentlessly pursued legislation to enact
national health care.