For the first time in a weekly address, the President is joined by the First Lady as they celebrate Christmas. They both honor those serving overseas, those who have sacrificed for their country, and the families that stand by them.
You can find ways to lend our troops and their families a home through DOD’s Military Homefront, OurMilitary.mil, and of course the USO.
Shortly after the Senate vote this morning, President Obama sent out the following email to supporters:
Although it's Christmas Eve, I wanted to share some exciting news: The Senate just passed a historic health reform bill. In all the back and forth, it's easy to lose sight of what this incredible breakthrough really means. But consider this: This Christmas, there are millions of Americans without health insurance who risk losing everything if they get sick. There are mothers and fathers who wonder how they'll provide for their children because an illness has wiped out their savings. There are small business owners who worry that they'll have to lay off a long-time employee because the cost of insurance is rapidly rising. If we finish the job, all this can change. We will have beaten back the special interests who have for so long perpetuated the status quo. We will have enacted the most important piece of social policy since the Social Security Act in the 1930s, and the most important health reform since Medicare in the 1960s. In Decembers to come, millions more will have access to affordable coverage. Parents will have the security and stability of knowing their insurance can't be revoked at a moment's notice. And the skyrocketing costs plaguing our small businesses will be brought under control. When you make calls, write letters, organize, this is the change you're making -- a better life for your family and for men and women in every state. There is still more to do before I can sign reform into law -- a last round of negotiations and final votes in the Senate and the House -- and I'm counting on your help every step of the way. But for now, I hope that as you celebrate this holiday season, you remember that the work you are doing is making our union more perfect, one step at a time. For that, I am grateful to you. Merry Christmas and happy holidays, President Barack Obama P.S. -- Organizing for America supporters are signing a note of appreciation to all the senators who have worked so hard to make this possible. I hope you'll join them.
Washington Post, “Senate approves landmark health-care bill”:
The Senate passed a landmark health-care bill Thursday morning that would provide coverage to more 30 million people and begin a far-reaching overhaul of Medicare and the private insurance market. Vice President Biden presided over the 60-39, party line vote. Thursday's vote -- which came on the first Senate session on Dec. 24 in more than five decades -- brings Democrats closer than ever to realizing their 70-year-old goal of universal health coverage. For the first time, most Americans would be required to obtain health insurance, either through their employer or via new, government-regulated exchanges. Those who can't afford insurance plans would receive federal subsidies. And Medicaid would be vastly expanded to reach millions of low-income children and adults.
AP, “Senate OKs health care measure, reaching milestone”:
Senate Democrats passed a landmark health care bill in a climactic Christmas Eve vote that could define President Barack Obama's legacy and usher in near-universal medical coverage for the first time in the country's history. The 60-39 vote on a cold winter morning capped months of arduous negotiations and 24 days of floor debate. It also followed a succession of failures by past congresses to get to this point. Vice President Joe Biden presided as 58 Democrats and two independents voted "yes." Republicans unanimously voted "no." The tally far exceeded the simple majority required for passage.
Los Angeles Times, “Senate OKs sweeping healthcare bill”:
Senate Democrats this morning passed a sweeping healthcare overhaul bill, setting the stage for reconciliation early next year with similarly historic legislation passed by the House last month… The bill, which is President Obama's top domestic priority, would extend insurance to about 30 million people who now lack it, expand the reach of Medicaid for the poor, and impose new rules on health insurance companies. It would cost about $871 billion over 10 years, but raise more than that in new taxes and fees and cuts in Medicare… The Senate bill would lead to the largest transformation of the country's healthcare system since the creation of Medicare in 1965. It would require all Americans to have health insurance, either through their jobs, through the government or through the private market, and it would penalize those who do not comply.
Wall Street Journal, “Senate Passes Sweeping Health-Care Bill; 60-39 Vote Is Landmark in Effort to Expand Insurance Coverage”:
The Senate approved sweeping health-overhaul legislation on Thursday, a landmark moment for White House-led efforts to expand insurance coverage to more than 30 million Americans. The bill, approved by a 60-39 vote, would deliver on a long-promised Democratic goal of extending coverage to nearly every American, and would represent the biggest expansion of the federal safety net since the 1965 creation of Medicare, the health-insurance program for the elderly and disabled. Thursday's vote was a victory for President Barack Obama, who made the issue his top domestic priority despite lingering divisions among Democrats and the fierce opposition of Republicans.
PBS, “Senate Passes Historic Health Care Reform Legislation”:
The Senate passed historic health care reform legislation in an early-morning vote Thursday, just making Democratic leaders' self-imposed Christmas deadline after a marathon 25 straight days in session. ‘This morning isn't the end of the process, it's merely the beginning,’ Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said on the Senate floor before the vote. ‘But that process cannot begin unless we start today.
Talking Points Memo, “DONE DEAL Senate Passes Health Care 60-39”:
Presiding over the Senate, in a rare appearance, was Vice President Joe Biden. As Senate chair, the Vice President can serve as the tie-breaking vote in the event of a 50-50 deadlock. But tonight's victory for Democrats was never in doubt. Over the course of this week, Democrats have passed several test votes--set at a 60-member, supermajority threshold. The only question this morning was, would they keep all of their members united for the final vote. In the end they did.
Ron Brownstein, Atlantic Media, “Historic achievement...Largest Democratic legislative achievement since Medicare”:
Well I think there are two big points about it. First, this is - whatever you think about the underlying bill - an historic achievement. Up until this year no universal coverage bill had ever even reached the floor of the House or the Senate, much less passed it. It has defeated every other President who has tried it. Truman, Nixon, Clinton, FDR. This will be, as it now seems inevitable to reach the President's desk, this will be the largest Democratic legislative achievement since Medicare in 1965 and it will be achieved in an atmosphere that is very difficult to operate in simply because you now need 60 votes to do almost everything. There have been more cloture votes in the Senate this year than there were in the entire decade of the 1960s.
Ezra Klein, Washington Post, “No previous health-care reform bill has come anywhere near this far”:
On December 24th, in an early morning vote, the United States Senate voted to pass health-care reform. It was the first time the body had been in session on the 24th since 1963. That's fitting, as it's arguably the most important piece of legislation the body has passed since 1963. It's become difficult to write these milestone posts. Health-care reform, by this point, has had a lot of milestones. It has cleared five committees. It has come through the House of Representatives. It has been merged into a single bill in the Senate. It has passed through the Senate. No previous health-care reform bill has come anywhere near this far. But there are more milestones left to achieve: The House and Senate need to agree on a bill. That bill has to pass both chambers again. And then the president has to sign the legislation.
Politico, “HISTORIC VOTE”:
Before the sun comes up on Christmas Eve, Senate Democrats will gather to pass a sweeping health reform bill, then scatter to long-delayed holiday vacations with a victory for the party and President Barack Obama in hand.
Shortly after 7:00 A.M. this morning, the Senate passed its version of the health reform bill by a vote of 60-39, with all Republican senators voting against. We'll have more details shortly.
UPDATED 7:48 A.M. President Obama is scheduled to deliver remarks on this morning's vote at 8:45 A.M. You can watch live onine at WhiteHouse.gov/live.
UPDATED 8:12 A.M. The Associated Press reports:
Senate Democrats passed a landmark health care bill Thursday that could define President Barack Obama's legacy and usher in near-universal medical coverage for the first time in the country's history.The 60-39 vote on a cold Christmas Eve morning capped months of arduous negotiations and 24 days of floor debate. It also followed a succession of failures by past congresses to get to this point. Vice President Joe Biden presided as 58 Democrats and two independents voted "yes." Republicans unanimously voted "no."The tally far exceeded the simple majority required for passage.
With a vote of 60-39 (with all Republicans against), the Senate cleared the final procedural hurdle this afternoon to set up an up or down vote on health reform tomorrow morning. Tomorrow's vote will be the first vote held on Christmas Eve since Dec. 24, 1895.
Jubilant Democrats are ready to push President Barack Obama's health care overhaul past one last 60-vote hurdle to final Christmas Eve passage, and Republicans concede they're powerless to stop it…At the White House, press secretary Robert Gibbs declared, "Health care reform is not a matter of if, health care reform now is a matter of when."Obama himself said the Senate legislation accomplishes 95 percent of what he wanted. "Every single criteria for reform I put forward is in this bill," the president told The Washington Post.The third procedural vote comes Wednesday afternoon, when Democrats will have to put up 60 votes for the last time to cut off debate on the legislation. Democrats are also expected to turn back points of order raised against the bill by Republicans, including one questioning the constitutionality of requiring most every American to buy health insurance. Final passage on the sweeping bill, which will extend health coverage to 30 million uninsured Americans, is set for 8 a.m. Thursday, Christmas Eve….
President Obama outlined Tuesday a first-year legislative record that he said rescued the economy and placed it on a path of long-term growth, even as he acknowledged that some unfinished items would probably be more difficult to achieve heading into a midterm election year.In an Oval Office interview with The Washington Post, Obama rejected criticism that he has compromised too much to secure health-care reform or turned over too much authority to congressional leaders in pursuing his broad legislative agenda…"Overall, if you had a checklist of promises made, a lot of those promises have been kept," Obama said. "When those things are complete, and I think they will be, we will have achieved a fundamental shift in health care, energy, education and our financial regulatory system that will put this economy on a firmer footing to grow over the long term…"Although Obama noted in the interview that "the most important thing we did this year was to ensure that the financial system did not collapse," health-care reform dominated his agenda and will stand as at least one pillar of the legacy he leaves behind…In the interview, Obama vigorously defended the legislation, saying he is "not just grudgingly supporting the bill. I am very enthusiastic about what we have achieved.""Nowhere has there been a bigger gap between the perceptions of compromise and the realities of compromise than in the health-care bill," Obama said. "Every single criteria for reform I put forward is in this bill."In listing those priorities, he cited the 30 million uninsured Americans projected to receive coverage, estimated savings of more than $1 trillion over the next two decades, a "patients' bill of rights on steroids," and tax breaks to help small businesses pay for employee coverage...
...The assistant majority leader, Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, said Democrats would clear every procedural hurdle thrown at them by Republicans and complete work on the legislation.“Thirty million Americans who currently don’t have health insurance have the peace of mind of knowing that they have health insurance,” Mr. Durbin said. He added, “This is a real debate over whether or not health care is going to be a right or a privilege in America.”With that, the clerk called the roll.The votes were all along party lines, with Senator James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma absent, leaving the Republicans with 39 votes in opposition…Party leaders announced an agreement on Tuesday afternoon to hold the final health care vote beginning at 8 a.m. Thursday, allowing lawmakers to race to the airport to get home for Christmas.Lawmakers were growing increasingly anxious about their holiday travel plans and family obligations.“I have a 4-year-old and an 8-year-old who are convinced that Santa Claus can be in both Washington and Connecticut,” said Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut. “That’s our latest challenge. I sent an e-mail to Santa.”At the news conference after the votes, Democratic advocacy groups cheered and applauded as Mr. Reid, Mr. Dodd, Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, and Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa, entered the ornate Mansfield Room.Mr. Reid, visibly relieved after securing the votes needed to complete the bill by Christmas, unfolded an elaborate baseball metaphor. He described Mr. Baucus as the speedy lead-off hitter, compared Mr. Dodd to Joe Morgan as the versatile No. 2 in the lineup, likened Mr. Harkin to Lou Gehrig batting third, and, in a rare moment of boastfulness, put himself in Babe Ruth’s cleanup spot.But Mr. Reid quickly returned to modesty. “For me, for once in my life, I’m batting cleanup,” Mr. Reid said. “Because when I played baseball, I couldn’t bat cleanup. But by the time it got to me through Baucus, Dodd and Harkin, it was pretty easy.”
From David Plouffe:
Any day now, health insurance reform will come up for a vote in the Senate. We're hearing a lot about what's at stake with this vote for President Obama, the Democrats who are fighting alongside him, and the Republicans who have lined up in opposition.But let's talk about what's really at stake for America. The Senate health reform bill will: -- Extend coverage to 31 million Americans, the largest expansion of coverage since the creation of Medicare. -- Ensure that you can choose your own doctor. -- Finally stop insurance companies from denying coverage due to a pre-existing condition. -- Make sure you will never be charged exorbitant premiums on the basis of your age, health, or gender. -- Guarantee you will never lose your coverage just because you get sick or injured. -- Protect you from outrageous out-of-pocket expenditures by establishing lifetime and annual limits. -- Allow young people to stay on their parents' coverage until they're 26 years old. -- Create health insurance exchanges, or "one-stop shops" for individuals purchasing insurance, where insurance companies are forced to compete for new customers. -- Lower premiums for families, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office -- especially for struggling folks who will receive subsidies. -- Help small businesses provide health care coverage to their employees with tax credits and by allowing them to purchase coverage through the exchanges. -- Improve and strengthen Medicare by eliminating waste and fraud (without cutting basic benefits), beginning to close the Medicare Part D donut hole, and extending the life of the Medicare trust fund. -- Create jobs by reining in costs -- fostering competition, reducing waste and inefficiency, and starting to reward doctors and hospitals for quality, not quantity, of care. -- Cut the deficit by over $130 billion in the next 10 years.It's a long list. But that's only because this bill represents the most significant health reform our nation has seen since the creation of Medicare. And it's important that every American knows what's really at stake this holiday season.So please pass this email along to friends, family, and neighbors today -- or click below to share this list on Facebook and Twitter, or print out a copy to share with others:http://my.barackobama.com/SenateReformBill We wouldn't be this close to enacting these powerful reforms without all your hard work. Now, we're in the final stretch -- let's keep it up. Thank you, David Plouffe
Any day now, health insurance reform will come up for a vote in the Senate. We're hearing a lot about what's at stake with this vote for President Obama, the Democrats who are fighting alongside him, and the Republicans who have lined up in opposition.But let's talk about what's really at stake for America. The Senate health reform bill will:
-- Extend coverage to 31 million Americans, the largest expansion of coverage since the creation of Medicare. -- Ensure that you can choose your own doctor. -- Finally stop insurance companies from denying coverage due to a pre-existing condition. -- Make sure you will never be charged exorbitant premiums on the basis of your age, health, or gender. -- Guarantee you will never lose your coverage just because you get sick or injured. -- Protect you from outrageous out-of-pocket expenditures by establishing lifetime and annual limits. -- Allow young people to stay on their parents' coverage until they're 26 years old. -- Create health insurance exchanges, or "one-stop shops" for individuals purchasing insurance, where insurance companies are forced to compete for new customers. -- Lower premiums for families, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office -- especially for struggling folks who will receive subsidies. -- Help small businesses provide health care coverage to their employees with tax credits and by allowing them to purchase coverage through the exchanges. -- Improve and strengthen Medicare by eliminating waste and fraud (without cutting basic benefits), beginning to close the Medicare Part D donut hole, and extending the life of the Medicare trust fund. -- Create jobs by reining in costs -- fostering competition, reducing waste and inefficiency, and starting to reward doctors and hospitals for quality, not quantity, of care. -- Cut the deficit by over $130 billion in the next 10 years.
It's a long list. But that's only because this bill represents the most significant health reform our nation has seen since the creation of Medicare. And it's important that every American knows what's really at stake this holiday season.So please pass this email along to friends, family, and neighbors today -- or click below to share this list on Facebook and Twitter, or print out a copy to share with others:http://my.barackobama.com/SenateReformBill We wouldn't be this close to enacting these powerful reforms without all your hard work. Now, we're in the final stretch -- let's keep it up. Thank you, David Plouffe
With the Senate poised to vote on health reform any day now, OFA National Political Director Addisu Demissie sat down to give an update on where we’re at and what’s next.
“We have a long way to go, but as you’ve seen, we’ve made it really far. Now we need you to stay active, so as you go home with your families this holiday season, tell them a little more about what this bill’s actually going to do for them. And then come back in the new year, we’re going to have to talk to our members of Congress, both on the House and the Senate side, and let them know that we’re behind them and we thank them for getting us this far, and we need them to get us across the finish line. So that’s where we are, and that’s where we’re going. I want you all to have a happy holidays, and hopefully we’re going to be delivering the gift of health insurance reform to this country this holiday season.”
New York Times Editorial:
The health care reform bill that Senate Democratic leaders have cobbled together to win support from all 60 members of their fractious caucus — the filibuster-proof majority needed to ensure passage — has drawn scornful attacks from a united Republican opposition. It is causing anguish among liberals who fear too much has been given away to a handful of conservatives.The bill, which is moving toward a climactic vote this week, has some imperfections but is worthy of support from lawmakers who care about health care reform.There is a lot to like in the bill. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that it would cover more than 30 million of the uninsured and would, by 2019, result in 94 percent of all citizens and legal residents below Medicare age having health insurance. That is a big improvement from the current 83 percent.It also estimates that the bill would reduce deficits over the next decade by $132 billion and even more in the following decade. Despite all the exaggerated Republican rhetoric that the bill will lead to fiscal disaster, it has been carefully and responsibly drafted so that it is fully paid for without busting future budgets.
The health care reform bill that Senate Democratic leaders have cobbled together to win support from all 60 members of their fractious caucus — the filibuster-proof majority needed to ensure passage — has drawn scornful attacks from a united Republican opposition. It is causing anguish among liberals who fear too much has been given away to a handful of conservatives.
The bill, which is moving toward a climactic vote this week, has some imperfections but is worthy of support from lawmakers who care about health care reform.
There is a lot to like in the bill. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that it would cover more than 30 million of the uninsured and would, by 2019, result in 94 percent of all citizens and legal residents below Medicare age having health insurance. That is a big improvement from the current 83 percent.
It also estimates that the bill would reduce deficits over the next decade by $132 billion and even more in the following decade. Despite all the exaggerated Republican rhetoric that the bill will lead to fiscal disaster, it has been carefully and responsibly drafted so that it is fully paid for without busting future budgets.
Bloomberg:
Democrats moved closer to passing the most sweeping health-care legislation in four decades, clearing their second major hurdle in the Senate and winning the endorsement of the American Medical Association.Democrats today won another procedural vote, keeping the measure on the path to final Senate approval later this week. Party lawmakers united with the two independents who caucus with them on the 60-39 vote, with the Republicans opposed. The last procedural vote is planned for tomorrow, with a final vote on passage due at the latest on Dec. 24. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said he was trying to work out a way with Majority Leader Harry Reid to wrap up the session in a way that was acceptable to both parties.“This is a real debate over whether or not health care is going to be a right or privilege in America,” Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois, a member of the Democratic leadership, said before the vote. “If you believe it’s a privilege for the rich, then you’ll vote against this. If you believe it’s a right, then I hope you’ll vote with us.”The Chicago-based AMA, the doctors’ lobby, yesterday said the Senate measure would make it easier for Americans to buy affordable health insurance, prevent insurers from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions, and provide doctors and patients with information about which treatments work best.“This bill advances many of our priority issues for achieving the vision of a health system that works for patients and physicians,” AMA President-Elect Cecil Wilson said.
Democrats moved closer to passing the most sweeping health-care legislation in four decades, clearing their second major hurdle in the Senate and winning the endorsement of the American Medical Association.
Democrats today won another procedural vote, keeping the measure on the path to final Senate approval later this week. Party lawmakers united with the two independents who caucus with them on the 60-39 vote, with the Republicans opposed. The last procedural vote is planned for tomorrow, with a final vote on passage due at the latest on Dec. 24. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said he was trying to work out a way with Majority Leader Harry Reid to wrap up the session in a way that was acceptable to both parties.
“This is a real debate over whether or not health care is going to be a right or privilege in America,” Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois, a member of the Democratic leadership, said before the vote. “If you believe it’s a privilege for the rich, then you’ll vote against this. If you believe it’s a right, then I hope you’ll vote with us.”
The Chicago-based AMA, the doctors’ lobby, yesterday said the Senate measure would make it easier for Americans to buy affordable health insurance, prevent insurers from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions, and provide doctors and patients with information about which treatments work best.
“This bill advances many of our priority issues for achieving the vision of a health system that works for patients and physicians,” AMA President-Elect Cecil Wilson said.
Washington Post Oped by Eugene Robinson:
When all is said and done -- and, yes, there is a bit more saying and doing to endure, which means that anything can happen -- the health-care reform legislation that President Obama now seems likely to sign into law, while an unlovely mess, will be remembered as a landmark accomplishment.The bill making its way through the Senate by the slimmest of margins is imperfect, to say the least. But before listing its many flaws, let's consider the measure's one great virtue: For the first time, we will enshrine the principle that all Americans deserve access to medical care regardless of their ability to pay. No longer will it be the policy and practice of our nation to ration health according to wealth.When you blow away all the smoke, that's what this fight is about. The Senate bill lacks a public health insurance option, the House bill is burdened by gratuitous abortion restrictions and the final product of a House-Senate conference will probably have both those failings. But once the idea of universal health care is signed into law, it will be all but impossible to erase. Over time, that idea will be made into reality.The loose ends are so many and varied, in fact, that it will probably be necessary to revisit the health-care issue sooner rather than later. Even if it takes years to get it right, eventually is better than never. History suggests that major new social initiatives have to be perfected over time -- and that basic entitlements, once established, are rarely taken away…So this isn't the end of a process that leads to a rational, sustainable, more efficient health-care system. It's the beginning. But when a reform bill passes, as now seems likely, Obama and congressional leaders will have achieved a goal that progressives have sought for decades. They will have established that quality health care should be for all, not just for those who can afford it.
When all is said and done -- and, yes, there is a bit more saying and doing to endure, which means that anything can happen -- the health-care reform legislation that President Obama now seems likely to sign into law, while an unlovely mess, will be remembered as a landmark accomplishment.
The bill making its way through the Senate by the slimmest of margins is imperfect, to say the least. But before listing its many flaws, let's consider the measure's one great virtue: For the first time, we will enshrine the principle that all Americans deserve access to medical care regardless of their ability to pay. No longer will it be the policy and practice of our nation to ration health according to wealth.
When you blow away all the smoke, that's what this fight is about. The Senate bill lacks a public health insurance option, the House bill is burdened by gratuitous abortion restrictions and the final product of a House-Senate conference will probably have both those failings. But once the idea of universal health care is signed into law, it will be all but impossible to erase. Over time, that idea will be made into reality.
The loose ends are so many and varied, in fact, that it will probably be necessary to revisit the health-care issue sooner rather than later. Even if it takes years to get it right, eventually is better than never. History suggests that major new social initiatives have to be perfected over time -- and that basic entitlements, once established, are rarely taken away…
So this isn't the end of a process that leads to a rational, sustainable, more efficient health-care system. It's the beginning. But when a reform bill passes, as now seems likely, Obama and congressional leaders will have achieved a goal that progressives have sought for decades. They will have established that quality health care should be for all, not just for those who can afford it.
Earlier tonight, President Obama sent out the following email to supporters:
Early this morning, the Senate made history and health reform cleared its most important hurdle yet -- garnering the 60 votes needed to move toward a final vote in that chamber later this week. This marks the first time in our nation's history that comprehensive health reform has come to this point. And it appears that the American people will soon realize the genuine reform that offers security to those who have health insurance and affordable options to those who do not. I'm grateful to Senator Harry Reid and every senator who's been working around the clock to make this happen. And I'm grateful to you, and every member of the Organizing for America community, for all the work you have done to make this progress possible. After a nearly century-long struggle, we are now on the cusp of making health insurance reform a reality in the United States of America. As with any legislation, compromise is part of the process. But I'm pleased that recently added provisions have made this landmark bill even stronger. Between the time when the bill passes and the time when the insurance exchanges get up and running, insurance companies that try to jack up their rates do so at their own peril. Those who hike their prices may be barred from selling plans on the exchanges. And while insurance companies will be prevented from denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing conditions once the exchanges are open, in the meantime there will be a high-risk pool where people with pre-existing conditions can purchase affordable coverage. A recent amendment has made these protections even stronger. Insurance companies will now be prohibited from denying coverage to children immediately after this bill passes. There's also explicit language in this bill that will protect a patient's choice of doctor. And small businesses will get additional assistance as well. These protections are in addition to the ones we've been talking about for some time. No longer will insurance companies be able to drop your coverage if you become sick and no longer will you have to pay unlimited amounts out of your own pocket for treatments that you need. Under this bill families will save on their premiums; businesses that would see their costs rise if we don't act will save money now and in the future. This bill will strengthen Medicare and extend the life of the program. Because it's paid for and gets rid of waste and inefficiency in our health care system, this will be the largest deficit reduction plan in over a decade. Finally, this reform will extend coverage to more than 30 million Americans who don't have it. These are not small changes. These are big changes. They're fundamental reforms. They will save money. They will save lives. And your passion, your work, your organizing helped make all of this possible. Now it's time to finish the job. Thank you, President Barack Obama
“I want to thank you for what you’ve done on health care. What you’ve done is really remarkable, and it’s a big reason we’re on the precipice of a big victory for the American people. It’s in many ways harder than what you did on the campaign – the metrics aren’t as accessible, sometimes the tangibility of it isn’t as clear – but what you’re doing out there is answering questions for people, building support, and fighting back against some of these mistruths.” – David Plouffe to OFA Volunteers
On Friday afternoon, former Obama for America campaign manager David Plouffe joined an Organizing for America conference call with volunteers to discuss the current state of the health reform bills, and the accomplishments they represent. Here are a few highlights from the call:
On the need to continue moving the current health reform bill forward:
“We have to solve this problem. It’s a moral issue, it’s obviously a health issue, and I believe it’s the chief economic issue that we’re confronting right now in the long term…I know there’s a lot of arguments out there, the insurance companies are spending a lot of money, there’s even some well-principled people in our party who’ve got some concerns. But we have to stay focused on the wonderful impact this legislation is going to have on the future of this country.”
In response to a question from a volunteer named Anita, about how to talk with and re-engage folks who were active during the campaign but have since become upset over compromises that have been made to the health reform bills:
“First of all, let’s take them back. The President was very clear in his campaign about what he wanted to do on health care – it’s contained in what we’re on the precipice of passing. I think we need to remind them that we want to cut costs for families, middle class, businesses, small businesses, the government – well, that’s what’s in this bill.“When Barack Obama spent 2007 and 2008 talking to the American people about hope and change, remind those people who are upset that this is what he was talking about. He was talking about after 100 years, taking on the insurance countries, doing something nobody thought was possible.“This is something we can all be proud of…remind people exactly what’s in this bill, exactly what the President promised, and remind them of the stakes.”
“First of all, let’s take them back. The President was very clear in his campaign about what he wanted to do on health care – it’s contained in what we’re on the precipice of passing. I think we need to remind them that we want to cut costs for families, middle class, businesses, small businesses, the government – well, that’s what’s in this bill.“When Barack Obama spent 2007 and 2008 talking to the American people about hope and change, remind those people who are upset that this is what he was talking about. He was talking about after 100 years, taking on the insurance countries, doing something nobody thought was possible.
“This is something we can all be proud of…remind people exactly what’s in this bill, exactly what the President promised, and remind them of the stakes.”
You can isten to the full call here.
From Politico:
The Democratic Party’s decades-long push to remake the U.S. health care system cleared a major hurdle early Monday morning, with the Senate voting to advance a massive $871 billion bill to extend coverage to nearly all Americans and tighten regulations on private insurers.Less than two days after releasing a bill with 383 pages of changes, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) corralled his politically diverse caucus and delivered the 60 votes necessary for the most crucial test vote in the legislative process so far — effectively assuring the reform package will clear the Senate later this week.The final tally was a straight party-line vote, 60-40. All Democrats and two independents voted yes and all Republicans voted no – and each side bitterly accused the other of trying to thwart true reform through petty gamesmanship.The senators voted just after 1 a.m. while seated at their desks, a rarely used practice implemented only for historic votes.Adding to the sense of history: the late Sen. Ted Kennedy’s widow, Victoria Kennedy, watched the vote from the Senate gallery, then accepted hugs from a parade of Democratic senators who had just cast votes to move the nation toward Kennedy’s dream of universal health care. "I feel fantastic," Kennedy told a small group of reporters. "This is an enormous victory."Alongside Kennedy, White House health reform czar Nancy-Ann DeParle and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius also watched the Senate vote, a victory for President Barack Obama on his top legislative priority."We're excited and moving on to the next vote," DeParle told POLITICO.
The Democratic Party’s decades-long push to remake the U.S. health care system cleared a major hurdle early Monday morning, with the Senate voting to advance a massive $871 billion bill to extend coverage to nearly all Americans and tighten regulations on private insurers.
Less than two days after releasing a bill with 383 pages of changes, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) corralled his politically diverse caucus and delivered the 60 votes necessary for the most crucial test vote in the legislative process so far — effectively assuring the reform package will clear the Senate later this week.
The final tally was a straight party-line vote, 60-40. All Democrats and two independents voted yes and all Republicans voted no – and each side bitterly accused the other of trying to thwart true reform through petty gamesmanship.
The senators voted just after 1 a.m. while seated at their desks, a rarely used practice implemented only for historic votes.
Adding to the sense of history: the late Sen. Ted Kennedy’s widow, Victoria Kennedy, watched the vote from the Senate gallery, then accepted hugs from a parade of Democratic senators who had just cast votes to move the nation toward Kennedy’s dream of universal health care.
"I feel fantastic," Kennedy told a small group of reporters. "This is an enormous victory."
Alongside Kennedy, White House health reform czar Nancy-Ann DeParle and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius also watched the Senate vote, a victory for President Barack Obama on his top legislative priority."We're excited and moving on to the next vote," DeParle told POLITICO.
Editorial from The New Republic:
…Since the first campaign for publicly guaranteed health insurance in the early twentieth century, opportunities for serious health reform have come only rarely and fleetingly. If this opportunity passes, it will be very long before the chance arrives again. Many Americans will be gravely hurt by the delay. The most progressive president of my generation--the generation that came of age in the anti-government shadow of Ronald Reagan--will be handed a crippling loss. The party he leads will be branded as unable to govern.The public option was always a means to an end: real competition for insurers, an alternative for consumers to existing private plans that does not deny needed care or shift risks onto the vulnerable, the ability to provide affordable coverage over time. I thought it was the best means within our political grasp. It lay just beyond that grasp. Yet its demise--in this round--does not diminish the immediate necessity of those larger aims. And even without the public option, the bill that Congress passes and the President signs could move us substantially toward those goals.As weak as it is in numerous areas, the Senate bill contains three vital reforms. First, it creates a new framework, the “exchange,” through which people who lack secure workplace coverage can obtain the same kind of group health insurance that workers in large companies take for granted. Second, it makes available hundreds of billions in federal help to allow people to buy coverage through the exchanges and through an expanded Medicaid program. Third, it places new regulations on private insurers that, if properly enforced, will reduce insurers’ ability to discriminate against the sick and to undermine the health security of Americans.These are signal achievements, and they all would have been politically unthinkable just a few years ago…
…Since the first campaign for publicly guaranteed health insurance in the early twentieth century, opportunities for serious health reform have come only rarely and fleetingly. If this opportunity passes, it will be very long before the chance arrives again. Many Americans will be gravely hurt by the delay. The most progressive president of my generation--the generation that came of age in the anti-government shadow of Ronald Reagan--will be handed a crippling loss. The party he leads will be branded as unable to govern.
The public option was always a means to an end: real competition for insurers, an alternative for consumers to existing private plans that does not deny needed care or shift risks onto the vulnerable, the ability to provide affordable coverage over time. I thought it was the best means within our political grasp. It lay just beyond that grasp. Yet its demise--in this round--does not diminish the immediate necessity of those larger aims. And even without the public option, the bill that Congress passes and the President signs could move us substantially toward those goals.
As weak as it is in numerous areas, the Senate bill contains three vital reforms. First, it creates a new framework, the “exchange,” through which people who lack secure workplace coverage can obtain the same kind of group health insurance that workers in large companies take for granted. Second, it makes available hundreds of billions in federal help to allow people to buy coverage through the exchanges and through an expanded Medicaid program. Third, it places new regulations on private insurers that, if properly enforced, will reduce insurers’ ability to discriminate against the sick and to undermine the health security of Americans.
These are signal achievements, and they all would have been politically unthinkable just a few years ago…
From The Hill:
Healthcare reform entered the inevitability stage in the Senate during the wee hours of Monday morning as Democrats came together on a party-line vote to all but lock in passage of the legislation on Christmas Eve.Though only a procedural vote, the 60-40 tally represents the first opportunity for Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to demonstrate the he united his entire caucus of 58 Democrats and two independents in advancing President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policy initiative.Reid sought to place the moment in a human and historical context. “With this vote, we are rejecting a system in which one class of people can afford to stay healthy while another cannot. It demands for the first time in American history that good health will not depend on great wealth,” he said. “It acknowledges, finally, that healthcare is a fundamental right -- a human right -- and not just a privilege for the most fortunate.”Amid a solemn atmosphere on the Senate floor, senators cast their votes from their desks, a custom traditionally reserved for only the weightiest matters…The legislation would spend $871 billion over 10 years to extend health insurance coverage to 31 million people while cutting Medicare and other program spending by $483 billion, raising $614 billion in new tax revenue and cut the federal budget deficit by $132 billion. The measure would create health insurance exchanges with subsidies for low- and middle-income people, expand Medicaid eligibility, enact strict new regulations on health insurers and put in place measures to reform the way healthcare services are delivered…Looking down from the gallery was Victoria Reggie Kennedy, the widow of Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), the “Lion of the Senate” and lifelong champion of healthcare reform who died this year.After the vote, Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Chris Dodd, (D-Conn.) and others greeted her with embraces. “He’s smiling,” she said to Dodd. “You made history tonight…”
Healthcare reform entered the inevitability stage in the Senate during the wee hours of Monday morning as Democrats came together on a party-line vote to all but lock in passage of the legislation on Christmas Eve.
Though only a procedural vote, the 60-40 tally represents the first opportunity for Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to demonstrate the he united his entire caucus of 58 Democrats and two independents in advancing President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policy initiative.
Reid sought to place the moment in a human and historical context. “With this vote, we are rejecting a system in which one class of people can afford to stay healthy while another cannot. It demands for the first time in American history that good health will not depend on great wealth,” he said. “It acknowledges, finally, that healthcare is a fundamental right -- a human right -- and not just a privilege for the most fortunate.”
Amid a solemn atmosphere on the Senate floor, senators cast their votes from their desks, a custom traditionally reserved for only the weightiest matters…
The legislation would spend $871 billion over 10 years to extend health insurance coverage to 31 million people while cutting Medicare and other program spending by $483 billion, raising $614 billion in new tax revenue and cut the federal budget deficit by $132 billion. The measure would create health insurance exchanges with subsidies for low- and middle-income people, expand Medicaid eligibility, enact strict new regulations on health insurers and put in place measures to reform the way healthcare services are delivered…
Looking down from the gallery was Victoria Reggie Kennedy, the widow of Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), the “Lion of the Senate” and lifelong champion of healthcare reform who died this year.
After the vote, Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Chris Dodd, (D-Conn.) and others greeted her with embraces. “He’s smiling,” she said to Dodd. “You made history tonight…”
Shortly after 1:00 A.M. this morning, the Senate voted 60-40 to invoke cloture on the manager’s amendment to the health reform bill offered by Majority Leader Harry Reid on Saturday. The vote was 60-40, with no Republicans voting in favor.
This was the first of several votes that will take place over the next few days, but it represents a crucial step towards passing a health reform bill out of the Senate. The next vote to move the bill forward will likely take place Tuesday night.
With all of the developments on health reform in the Senate this weekend, it can be challenging to keep track of what is and what isn’t in the latest version of the bill. Senator Harry Reid’s “manager’s amendment,” released Saturday morning, combined a number of key changes into a single amendment, many of which made strong improvements to the initial Senate bill. Taken together, this amendment and the underlying Senate bill it affects represent the most significant health reforms since the introduction of Medicare in the mid-1960s.
Though it does not contain every measure that OFA supporters have pushed for, the bill would make many sweeping changes that would save lives and finally bring about fundamental reforms that advocates have spent nearly a century fighting for. In an op-ed in this morning’s New York Times, Vice President Joe Biden wrote:
“While it does not contain every measure President Obama and I wanted, I would vote yes for this bill certain that it includes the fundamental, essential change that opponents of reform have resisted for generations.”
We thought it would be useful to put together a rundown of where things stand, and what’s changed over the course of negotiations this week. Here are a few of the key details:
• The state “opt-out” version of the public option was replaced with a series of national, privately run plans. These plans would be under the supervision of the Office of Personnel Management, the same entity that oversees health plans for members of Congress. At least one of these plans must be a non-profit plan.
• Health insurers would be required to spend more of their revenue on providing you health care (between 80% and 85%) rather than on administrative costs and salaries. Currently, the amount spent on patient claims is sometimes as low as 66%.
• Insurance companies that jack up their premiums before the health care exchanges begin would be excluded from participating – creating a strong incentive to keep premiums affordable.
• Starting immediately, insurers would not be able to deny children coverage due to pre-existing conditions. Discrimination on the basis of pre-existing conditions for everyone would be banned once the exchanges are open in 2014 – in the meantime, the bill creates a high-risk pool where adults with pre-existing conditions can buy affordable coverage.
• Patients will have the opportunity to appeal denials of health care coverage, with states ensuring the availability of an external, independent process that holds insurance companies accountable.
• Lifetime limits on health care would be banned – and starting in 2014, annual limits for care would be banned as well.
The limited Medicare buy-in, for those between ages 55 and 64, that had been discussed earlier in the month was not included in the amendment. Additionally, unlike the current House bill, the manager's amendment to the Senate bill does not ban plans in the exchange from offering abortion services – instead, it allows states to choose whether to prohibit abortion in their exchanges and requires segregation of private and public funds. If the Senate is able to pass its version of the bill, this and other discrepancies between the two bills (including the public option, which is included in the House bill) would still have to be worked out in conference committee.
The first cloture vote on the manager’s amendment is scheduled for 1:00 A.M. tonight.
In an op-ed in the New York Times today, Vice President Joe Biden explains why, if he were still a senator today, he would vote "yes" on the current health reform bill:
While it does not contain every measure President Obama and I wanted, I would vote yes for this bill certain that it includes the fundamental, essential change that opponents of reform have resisted for generations.We have been here before. In the past, as the moment of decision drew nearer, criticism from both the left and the right grew louder. Compromises were derided. The perfect became the enemy of the good.Most recently, in 1993, Democrats had a chance to forge a compromise with Senator John Chafee, Republican of Rhode Island, on a health care reform bill. Congress’s failure to pass health care reform that year led to 16 years of inaction — and 16 years of exploding health care costs and rising numbers of uninsured Americans.We can’t let that happen again. While it is not perfect, the bill pending in the Senate today is not just good enough — it is very good. Insurance companies will no longer be able to deny coverage to those with pre-existing conditions or drop coverage when people get sick. Charging exorbitant premiums based on sex, age or health status will be outlawed. Annual and lifetime caps on benefits will be history. Those who already have insurance will be able to keep it, and will gain peace of mind knowing they won’t be priced out of the market by skyrocketing premiums. And more than 30 million uninsured Americans will gain access to affordable health care coverage.
The Vice President also addressed the disappointment that many feel over the removal of a public option from the Senate bill, but warned that there would be no second chance to vote yes for reform:
I share the frustration of other progressives that the Senate bill does not include a public option. But I’ve been around a long time, and I know that in Washington big changes never emerge in perfect form.Those in our own party who would scuttle this bill because of what it doesn’t do seem not to appreciate the magnitude of what it has the potential to accomplish. ...Is America better off today because a chance at a compromise health bill was missed in 1993? For my friends on the left, the rising toll of the uninsured provides an emphatic no. For my friends on the right, the soaring share of federal spending on health care likewise provides a no. Let’s not make the same mistake again.If the bill passes the Senate this week, there will be more chances to make changes to it before it becomes law. But if the bill dies this week, there is no second chance to vote yes. What those who care about health insurance reform need to realize is that unless we get 60 votes now, there will be no health care reform at all. Not this year, not in this Congress — and maybe not for another generation.
Read the full op-ed . . .
At approximately 4:00 P.M. this afternoon, Majority Leader Harry Reid filed for cloture on his manager's amendment to the Senate health reform bill. Folks, we are nearing the finish line.
Today's events mark a crucial first step towards having an up-or-down vote in the Senate on health insurance reform. After months of back and forth in committee and weeks of debate on the floor, this morning Senator Reid filed a motion to end debate and vote on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
The Senate version of health insurance reform would achieve the goals President Obama set out at the beginning of this debate. It would provide more stability and security to people who have insurance by ending some of the insurance companies worst practices like denying someone coverage because of a pre-existing condition or canceling someone's coverage when they get sick. It will extend coverage to 31 million more Americans, providing coverage options for the uninsured through a new health insurance exchange, while making that coverage affordable through generous subsidies. And it would lower costs for families and businesses by increasing choice and competition. This legislation will reduce the deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars in the next 10 years, and it will bend the cost curve downward.
What happens now? Sixty senators must vote to end debate, and then 51 Senators must vote to pass this historic bill. The exact timeline is anyone's guess, but Senate Democrats are working around the clock to pass the bill before Christmas.
Once the bill passes, the action moves to conference committee. Members of the House and Senate conference committee will create a final piece of legislation (blending elements of House and Senate bills) that will be voted on one more time by both chambers. Upon final passage, Congress will send that final bill to President Obama's desk for his signature.
While we have a few steps left to take and some twists and turns to go, here's what we can be sure of: President Obama will sign into law the most significant piece of social and economic legislation since Social Security, and the largest expansion of health care coverage since the creation of Medicare in 1965.
The work OFA volunteers and supporters have done and continue to do to ensure President Obama has the opportunity to sign this historic legislation into law is nothing short of amazing. Millions have taken action as part of OFA health insurance reform campaign since we kicked-off our effort on June 6th. And since August, Organizing for America has generated over 1,000,000 calls to members of Congress to demonstrate support for reform.
You've written, you called, you've visited, you haven't given up. Thank you. This holiday season, we're going to give America the gift of health insurance reform. We are going to get this done.
Addisu Demissie is the national political director for Organizing for America.
President Obama spoke to reporters in the Diplomatic Reception Room this afternoon about the historic activities happening around health insurance reform and climate change. Here’s an excerpt from the President's remarks:
…On health care, with today’s developments it now appears that the American people will have the vote they deserve on genuine reform that offers security to those who have health insurance and affordable options to those for do not. And so I want to thank Senator Harry Reid and every senator who’s been working around the clock to make this happen.There’s still much work left to be done, but not a lot of time left to do it. But today is a major step forward for the American people. After a nearly century long struggle we are on the cusp of making health care reform a reality in the United States of America.As with any legislation, compromise is part of the process. But I'm pleased that recently added amendments have made this landmark bill even stronger. Between the time the bill passes and the time when the insurance exchange gets up and running there will now be penalties for insurance companies that arbitrarily jack up rates on consumers. And while insurance companies will be prevented from denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing conditions once the exchange is open, in the meantime there will be a high risk pool where people with pre-existing conditions can purchase affordable coverage.And a recent amendment has made these protections even stronger. Insurance companies will now be prohibited from denying coverage to children immediately after this bill passes. There’s also explicit language in this bill that will protect a patient’s choice of doctor. And small businesses will get additional assistance as well.These protections are in addition to the ones we’ve been talking about for some time. No longer will insurance companies be able to drop your coverage if you become sick and no longer will you have to pay unlimited amounts out of your own pocket for treatments that you need.Under this bill families will save on their premiums; businesses that will see their costs rise if we don’t act will save money now and in the future. This bill with strengthen Medicare and extend the life of the program. Because it’s paid for and gets rid of waste and inefficiency in our health care system this will be the largest deficit reduction plan in over a decade. In fact, we just learned from the Congressional Budget Office that this bill will reduce our deficit by $132 billion over the first decade of the program, and more than one trillion dollars in the decade after that.Finally, this reform will make coverage affordable for over 30 million Americans who don’t have it -- over 30 million Americans.As I said before, these are not small changes. These are big changes. They’re fundamental reforms. They will save money. They will save lives. And I look forward to working with the Senate and the House to finish the work that remains so that we can make this reform a reality for the American people…
Copenhagen has been the epicenter of intense negotiations for the past two weeks about the necessity for global action to address the threat of climate change. President Obama arrived in Denmark on Friday. After remarks at the morning plenary session and several bilateral meetings, the President helped forge a last-minute agreement with China, India, South Africa and Brazil that now forms the basis of the Copenhagen Accord.
During a press conference Friday night (Copenhagen time), President Obama called the Accord “a meaningful and unprecedented breakthrough” because “for the first time in history all major economies have come together to accept their responsibility to take action to confront the threat of climate change.” That fact was echoed by the United Nations' top climate official, Yvo de Boer, who told the Washington Post the Accord was "politically incredibly significant," because so many world leaders personally participated in drafting it. The Accord is not a binding agreement – and in the President’s own words, “we know that this progress alone is not enough” – but it does represent a significant step forward.
The talks hinged on three major issues – transparency (clear goals, monitoring and reporting), mitigation (a commitment to limit a rise in the Earth’s temperature) and financing (to help poorer nations adapt to climate change). From the New York Times:
The accord provides a system for monitoring and reporting progress toward those national pollution-reduction goals, a compromise on an issue over which China bargained hard. It calls for hundreds of billions of dollars to flow from wealthy nations to those countries most vulnerable to a changing climate. And it sets a goal of limiting the global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2050, implying deep cuts in climate-altering emissions over the next four decades.
Grist has a round up of the provisions included in the Accord:
1. A commitment by developed nations to invest $30 billion over the next three years to help developing nations adapt to climate change and pursue clean energy development.2. A provisional commitment by developed nations to develop a long-term $100 billion global fund by 2020 to assist developing nations in responding to climate change and become part of the clean energy economic transition.3. A goal to pursue emissions reductions that are sufficient to keep the rise in global temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius.4. Pledges by nations to commit to concrete emissions reductions, though the specific levels of reduction were not set.5. A general goal to subject participating countries to international review of their progress under the accord. 6. Diplomatic space for the United States and China to work together to solve climate change. 7. A commitment to complete an assessment of the effectiveness of the accord in reducing emissions by the end of 2015.
According to the New York Times, Senator John Kerry (MA), the lead author of clean energy and climate legislation in the Senate, said the Accord would drive Congress to pass climate change legislation early next year. “This can be a catalyzing moment,” he said Friday. “President Obama’s hands-on engagement broke through the bickering and sets the stage for a final deal and for Senate passage this spring of major legislation at home.”
Read President Obama's full remarks . . .
Vicki Kennedy, the widow of the late Senator Ted Kennedy, wrote a passionate op-ed piece for this Sunday's Washington Post, in which she talks about how she believes her husband would have stood on the current health reform bill being debated in the Senate:
My late husband, Ted Kennedy, was passionate about health-care reform. It was the cause of his life. He believed that health care for all our citizens was a fundamental right, not a privilege, and that this year the stars -- and competing interests -- were finally aligned to allow our nation to move forward with fundamental reform. He believed that health-care reform was essential to the financial stability of our nation's working families and of our economy as a whole. Still, Ted knew that accomplishing reform would be difficult. If it were easy, he told me, it would have been done a long time ago. He predicted that as the Senate got closer to a vote, compromises would be necessary, coalitions would falter and many ardent supporters of reform would want to walk away. He hoped that they wouldn't do so. He knew from experience, he told me, that this kind of opportunity to enact health-care reform wouldn't arise again for a generation. ...The bill before the Senate, while imperfect, would achieve many of the goals Ted fought for during the 40 years he championed access to quality, affordable health care for all Americans. If this bill passes: -- Insurance protections like the ones Ted fought for his entire life would become law.-- Thirty million Americans who do not have coverage would finally be able to afford it. Ninety-four percent of Americans would be insured. Americans would finally be able to live without fear that a single illness could send them into financial ruin.-- Insurance companies would no longer be able to deny people the coverage they need because of a preexisting illness or condition. They would not be able to drop coverage when people get sick. And there would be a limit on how much they can force Americans to pay out of their own pockets when they do get sick.-- Small-business owners would no longer have to fear being forced to lay off workers or shut their doors because of exorbitant insurance rates. Medicare would be strengthened for the millions of seniors who count on it.-- And by eliminating waste and inefficiency in our health-care system, this bill would bring down the deficit over time.Health care would finally be a right, and not a privilege, for the citizens of this country. While my husband believed in a robust public option as an effective way to lower costs and increase competition, he also believed in not losing sight of the forest for the trees. As long as he wasn't compromising his principles or values, he looked for a way forward. ...The bill before Congress will finally deliver on the urgent needs of all Americans. It would make their lives better and do so much good for this country. That, in the end, must be the test of reform. That was always the test for Ted Kennedy. He's not here to urge us not to let this chance slip through our fingers. So I humbly ask his colleagues to finish the work of his life, the work of generations, to allow the vote to go forward and to pass health-care reform now.
Read the full op-ed from Victoria Kennedy . . .
