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| Obama health care reform put on hold for now |
| Lalit K Jha/ PTI / Washington Jan 22, 2010, 13:31 IST |
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US President Barack Obama's ambitious health care reform now appears to have been put on hold for the time being after the shocking Democratic party defeat in the Massachusetts Senate polls this week, which has denied the ruling party of a filibuster majority in the Senate.
As a result of which the opposition Republican party are in a position to block the sweeping health care reform bill in the US Senate; the echoes of which were felt both at the White House and the Capitol Hill today.
"Obviously Tuesday (Senate election in Massachusetts) resulted in new political circumstances. The President believes that the Speaker and the Majority Leader are doing the right thing in giving this some time and figuring out the best way forward," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters.
Gibbs remarks came within a few hours after the House of Representative Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that she does not have the majority to get the health bill through the House.
"I don't see the votes for it at this time," Pelosi told reporters during her weekly press conference.
"The members have been very clear."
Though denying that the health care is on "back burner" Gibbs said: "The President believes it is the exact right thing to do by giving this some time, by letting the dust settle, if you will, and looking for the best path forward.
Families dealing with, small businesses dealing with skyrocketing health care costs; insurance companies that won't cover people because of preexisting conditions; as a result of economic conditions people losing their health care -- that problem existed two years ago, it existed a year ago, it existed yesterday.
"If we don't do anything, it will only get worse in the days to come," Gibbs said.
After the shocking defeat in Massachusetts, the Democrats who hold the majority in both Chambers of the US Congress have been forced to confront how they could proceed with healthcare reform legislation, giving that the Republicans now have enough votes to filibuster a bill in the Senate.
One option under discussion has been passing the Senate bill, which would send the bill directly to President Barack Obama for a signature.
"We have to get a bill passed. We know that," Pelosi said, adding "unease would be a gentle word" to describe House members' attitude toward the Senate legislation at the moment.
"So one way or another, those areas of agreement that we have will have to be advanced, whether it is by passing the Senate bill with any changes that can be made or just taking pieces of the bill," Pelosi said.
"But everything is on the table. In other words, what we are doing now is very calm, we have to get a bill passed. We know that, that is a predicate that we all subscribe to. We have to pass legislation," she said.
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