quarta-feira, 31 de março de 2010
terça-feira, 30 de março de 2010
segunda-feira, 29 de março de 2010
domingo, 28 de março de 2010
sábado, 27 de março de 2010
sexta-feira, 26 de março de 2010
quinta-feira, 25 de março de 2010
Republicanos encontram duas irregularidades e obrigam à repetição da Reforma da Saúde na Câmara dos Representantes
Duas questões de pormenor forçarão a nova contagem de espingardas da lei já assinada por Obama:
«Senate Republicans have suceeded in forcing Democrats to send the health reform reconciliation bill back to the House for another vote, after Senate parliamentarian Alan Frumin ruled early Thursday morning that two minor provisions violated the chamber's rules and couldn’t be included in the final bill.
Democrats believe the provisions — technical changes to language about Pell Grants for low-income students – are so minor that they don’t threaten to derail the reconciliation package, which includes a series of fixes to the reform bill that has already been signed into law by President Barack Obama.
But clearly Democrats are anxious to put the health care voting behind them – given the painful history of the past year of close votes and near-death experiences on the bill – and want nothing to pop up now that could give them headaches.
It’s also possible that Republicans can force more changes to the bill when the Senate reconvenes at 9:45 a.m., with a vote on the bill scheduled for 2 p.m. It wasn’t clear early Thursday morning when the House would vote, but both chambers are anxious to wrap up business to get out of town for the two-week Easter recess.
All told, 16 lines of text will be removed from the 153-page bill to strip the Pell Grant language, Majority Leader Harry Reid's spokesman Jim Manley told reporters as business on the Senate floor wrapped up early Thursday morning.
The House has already passed the reconciliation bill, on Sunday night when it approved the landmark health reform measure. But since the House and Senate must pass identical versions of the reconciliation bill to put the fixes into law, the reconciliation piece must go back to the House for a second vote.
And the reconciliation bill includes several provisions that are must-haves for House members, including eliminating the Cornhusker Kickback and other state-specific deals and putting off a tax on "Cadillac" insurance plans until 2018.
“We are confident the House will quickly pass the bill with these minor changes,” Manley said Thursday morning.
Obama's signature Tuesday means the landmark health reform changes are already the law of the land, and nothing that happens to the reconciliation bill will change that. He travels to Iowa City, Iowa, Thursday to promote health reform -- the city where he first unveiled his plans for universal coverage as a presidential candidate in May 2007.
The provisions are included in one non-health-reform part of the reconciliation bill – a change to student lending laws sought by Obama. One provision would make sure students don’t see cuts in their Pell Grants even if Congress doesn’t appropriate enough money for the program, and the other strikes obsolete language. But they didn’t pass the parliamentarian’s muster – despite extensive Democratic efforts to make the reconciliation bill bulletproof to just such a technical challenge.
A spokeswoman for the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) reiterated that the changes are "minor" and won't create problems when the altered bill goes back to the House for approval. The reconciliation bill is designed to make changes to the newly minted health care reform law.
"The parliamentarian struck two minor provisions tonight from the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, but this bill’s passage in the Senate is still a big win for the American people. These changes do not impact the reforms to the student loan programs and the important investments in education. We are confident the House will quickly pass the bill with these minor changes,” Harkin spokeswoman Kate Cyrul said in a statement.
The all-night session came as Republicans offered 29 amendments in a final attempt to scuttle the bill, or at least force Democrats into taking politically difficult votes that could be used against them in November.
Democrats steadily rejected each amendment, arguing that any changes would send the bill back to the House for another vote, an outcome Senate Democrats worked mightily to avoid before the parliamentarian's ruling early Thursday. That meant Democrats had to vote no on such campaign ad fodder as a provision barring sex offenders from being given Viagra.
Reid finally adjourned the marathon session at about 2:45 a.m. after striking a deal with Republican Leader Mitch McConnell to return at Thursday morning -- news that was greeted with audible sighs of relief from tired senators.»
in POLITICO.com
quarta-feira, 24 de março de 2010
Histórias da Casa Branca: Barack & Nancy Care - A Reforma da Saúde nos EUA
Texto publicado ontem no site de A BOLA, secção Outros Mundos:
Barack & Nancy Care - A Reforma da Saúde nos EUA
Por Germano Almeida
Uma vez mais, as notícias sobre o falhanço de Obama revelaram-se precipitadas: a Reforma da Saúde, que tinha sido dada como morta depois da perda da supermaioria democrata, a 19 de Janeiro, foi aprovada na Câmara dos Representantes – e, desta vez, só precisará de uma maioria simples para passar no Senado.
Quer isto dizer que o fantasma do 'filibuster' republicano não impedirá a concretização da principal batalha política do primeiro mandato de Obama. O que foi aprovado na House será sujeito a alterações no Senado, mas sob a forma de 'reconciliation', figura que não exige 60 votos para aprovação.
Neste momento, os democratas têm 59 senadores – e só precisam de uma maioria de 51 para selar uma reforma que estava a ser tentada no último século, desde Teddy Roosevelt.
Em votação histórica, que se prolongou madrugada dentro na câmara baixa, o Congresso norte-americano aprovou, por 219 votos favoráveis e 212 contra, a Reforma da Saúde.
Sem qualquer apoio republicano e com 34 democratas a votar contra – menos, ainda assim, do que havia acontecido na primeira aprovação feita pela Câmara dos Representantes.
Foi uma enorme vitória política para Barack Obama e, como bem lembrou o Presidente, só foi possível graças à «extraordinária liderança da 'speaker' Nancy Pelosi».
Depois da derrota de Martha Coakley no Massachussets, os democratas entraram em estado de choque. Muitos garantiram que, sem a supermaioria, o sonho de Obama de alargar os cuidados de saúde a quase toda a população tinha ido por água abaixo. O próprio Presidente anunciara, no dia seguinte à derrota no Massachussets, que o importante seria «aprovar rapidamente uma versão mais modesta do diploma».
Havia dois caminhos a seguir: tentar preservar uma versão alargada do ObamaCare, mas tendo presente que já não havia os votos suficientes para fazer aprovar a versão final no Senado; ou iniciar com os republicanos uma versão bem mais modesta, evitando, assim, o risco de 'filibuster' (minoria de bloqueio).
Vingou a tese de Nancy
A via mais pragmática era liderada por Rahm Emanuel, o chefe de gabinete de Obama. Rahm já havia começado a negociar como a ala republicana um conjunto de cedências. Mas Nancy Pelosi acreditou que era possível manter o que o Senado tinha aprovado na véspera de Natal (ainda com a supermaioria democrata).
Obama hesitou, porque, numa primeira fase, duvidou dos benefícios de retomar o processo, numa altura em que os democratas ainda estavam a recuperar do choque e perdiam, claramente, o 'momentum' político.
Mas Nancy terá convencido o Presidente de que iria conseguir estabelecer uma nova maioria no Congresso – e persuadiu Obama a aceitar uma 'final push' pela Reforma da Saúde que implicaria dois passos: uma nova aprovação na câmara baixa e uma concretização no Senado pela via da «reconciliação».
A tese de Nancy acabou por vingar – e o sucesso desta madrugada mostrou que o caminho estava correcto. Anne Eshoo, congressista democrata da Califórnia, comentou ao site Politico.com: «Depois do desastre do Massachussets, a speaker Pelosi foi a única que manteve pressão real sobre o Presidente em relação à Reforma da Saúde. Os méritos devem-lhe ser atribuídos».
Reforma histórica
O plano aprovado no Congresso prevê um investimento de 940 mil milhões de dólares, a pagar na próxima década. Alarga o acesso a cerca de 95 por cento da população até aos 65 anos (a população sénior já está coberta com os programas Medicare e Medicaid). Prevê a obrigatoriedade de um seguro de saúde garantido pelos empregadores aos seus funcionários, com a contrapartida de benefícios fiscais. Os portadores de doenças crónicas não poderão ver recusados os pedidos de tratamento por parte das seguradoras.
O actual Sistema de Saúde na América está obsoleto. É caríssimo (representa um sexto do PIB americano) e é injusto (deixa de fora uma grande fatia da população). O plano aprovado cobrirá cerca de 32 milhões dos 47 milhões que se encontram desprotegidos.
Com o ObamaCare, todos os adultos na América terão um seguro de saúde, a partir de 2014 – através do seguro garantido pelo seu emprego, ou de um mercado individual (quem tiver menos rendimentos, receberá ajudas governamentais).
Enorme vitória de Obama
Obama sublinhou a importância do momento histórico: «Depois de quase cem anos de conversa e frustração, e depois de um ano de esforços continuados e debate intenso, o Congresso americano finalmente declarou que os trabalhadores americanos, e as famílias americanas, e os pequenos negócios na América também, merecem ter a segurança de saber que neste país nem a doença nem os acidentes devem pôr em perigo os sonhos que demoraram uma vida inteira a conquistar».
Recuperando um registo que utilizou muito durante a campanha, Barack apontou: «Quando os 'pundits' diziam que já não era possível, ficámos acima do ruído dos políticos. Conseguimos passar à frente da influência dos 'interesses especiais'. Não desistimos perante a desconfiança, o cinismo ou o medo. Em vez disso, provámos que continuamos a ser um povo capaz de fazer grandes coisas. Provámos que este governo, que é um governo 'do povo e pelo povo', continua a ser capaz de trabalhar 'para o povo'».
E sobre os votos favoráveis de congressistas democratas que revelaram muitas reservas quase até à hora da votação, Obama decretou: «Sei que não foi um voto fácil para muita gente – mas foi o voto certo».
Para o Presidente, esta aprovação não marca um triunfo partidário: representa, isso sim, o triunfo do bom senso. «Este debate nunca foi sobre abstracções, uma luta entre Esquerda e Direita, entre democratas e republicanos. Foi sobre algo bem mais importante: é sobre cada americano que sente o choque de abrir uma carta em que fica a saber que os 'premiums' voltaram a disparar, em tempos que já são suficientemente duros. É sobre o desespero de cada pai, que perante uma doença fatal de um filho, não sabe o que mais possa tentar fazer, depois de ouvir repetidamente 'não'. É sobre todos os donos de pequenos comércios, que eram forçados a escolher entre admitir empregados ou manter o seu negócio. Esta não é, por isso, uma vitória partidária. É uma vitória do povo americano e é uma vitória do senso comum.»
O regresso da «change»
Sem temer a contra-resposta que os republicanos já estão a preparar, Obama focou-se no essencial: «Quando a poeira assentar, ficará claro que, a partir de agora, não vigorará um sistema que privilegiava os interesses das grandes seguradoras, mas sim um sistema que integra visões dos dois partidos».
Pelas contas da Administração Obama, a lei que será assinada, nos próximos dias, pelo Presidente reduzirá o défice norte-americano em mais de um bilião de dólares na próxima década e em mais de um trilião de dólares nas próximas duas décadas.
«Não resolverá todos os problemas do Sistema de Saúde, mas move-nos na direcção correcta. É isso que a 'mudança' deve ser», conclui Obama.
Visão bem diferente tem o senador John McCain, do Arizona: «Pela primeira vez na História, será feita uma grande reforma sem o apoio da maioria dos americanos. Quando se vai contra a vontade das pessoas, paga-se um preço».
Os republicanos estão contra esta enorme intervenção governamental na área da Saúde – mas já não conseguirão travar a aprovação do ObamaCare.
A opinião pública, que se tem mantido dividida sobre esta tema, terá uma importante palavra a dizer nas midterms de Novembro.»
terça-feira, 23 de março de 2010
Reforma da Saúde: Kathleen Sebelius explica os pormenores da nova lei
A secretária da Saúde, antiga governadora do Kansas, foi uma das grandes vencedoras da votação desta madrugada no Congresso:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Robert Gibbs: «A aprovação da Reforma da Saúde foi mais importante para Obama do que a sua eleição como Presidente»
O porta-voz da Casa Branca não faz a coisa por menos...
segunda-feira, 22 de março de 2010
Reforma da Saúde: Nancy Pelosi lembrou Ted Kennedy
«Não seria possível ver a Reforma da Saúde aprovada no Congresso sem o trabalho de Edward Kennedy, que fez deste tema a causa da sua vida. Numa carta que escreveu ao Presidente Obama, dias antes de morrer, o senador Kennedy referiu que a Reforma da Saúde era o 'grande assunto por resolver na nossa sociedade'. Esta noite, esse assunto ficou, finalmente, resolvido»
Nancy Pelosi, esta madrugada, no Câmara dos Representantes
Nancy Pelosi, esta madrugada, no Câmara dos Representantes
REFORMA DA SAÚDE APROVADA NA CÂMARA DOS REPRESENTANTES
Foi à justa, mas passou: 219 votos a favor, 212 contra.
Barack Obama teve, esta madrugada, a sua maior vitória política interna desde que é Presidente. A Reforma da Saúde foi aprovada na Câmara dos Representantes, em grande parte devido ao trabalho feito por Nancy Pelosi, a speaker do Congresso.
«House Democrats passed their landmark health care overhaul on a party-line 219-212 vote late Sunday night, marking a stunning turnaround for an undertaking on the brink of collapse just weeks ago and an achievement that leaders said was akin to the enactment of Social Security and Medicare.
The vote sends the Senate’s health care bill to the president for his signature following a weekend of high drama. After days of an all-out whip effort led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and President Barack Obama, the outcome was still in doubt until the White House cut a deal Sunday afternoon with a bloc of anti-abortion-rights Democrats led by Rep. Bart Stupak (Mich.) by drafting an executive order reiterating that no federal funding would pay for elective abortions.
The House also approved a package of reconciliation "fixes" to the Senate version of the bill, which will be considered this week by the Senate. A majority of Senators, all Democrats, have agreed to support the reconciliation measure.
Purely in terms of stagecraft, the day’s most dramatic moment came after a midday Democratic Caucus — the final in scores the majority has held over the past year to wrestle with health care. During that meeting, House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson (Conn.) and Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) placed the issue in the context of the civil rights struggle, and both spoke about Lewis’ experience 45 years ago leading civil rights marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge outside Selma, Ala., where they were assaulted by state troopers. When the Caucus meeting ended, Pelosi, backed by her leadership team, emerged from the Cannon House Office Building room holding the oversized ceremonial gavel that Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) had used to call the vote when the Medicare bill was passed in 1965.
“I will use it this evening when we cast a very successful vote for this important legislation,” Pelosi said. “We’re doing this one for the American people.”
Pelosi, Lewis and other Democratic leaders then linked arms and walked out of Cannon and across the street to the Capitol, through a gauntlet of anti-reform tea party protesters shouting “kill the bill!” and a smattering of pro-reform supporters shouting “We vote yes!”
“I think I will remember the walk across the street with John Lewis for the rest of my life,” said Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.).
The health care reform bill’s passage comes after a year of seemingly intractable party infighting. And it comes two months after the effort appeared all but dead following the upset victory of Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) in the special Senate election to replace Sen. Edward Kennedy (D). As he neared the end of his life last summer, Kennedy, the former chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, called health reform the cause of his life.
But Pelosi, Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) quickly regrouped, brushing aside Democrats who urged them to scale back the effort and finding a way to appease House Members who had a profound distaste for the Senate bill, in particular its tax on high-cost health insurance plans and a series of special deals cut individual Senators.
Several of those deals will be deleted if the reconciliation package passes the Senate and the “Cadillac” tax will be dramatically scaled back and delayed until 2018 – two presidential elections away. The reconciliation bill also boosts affordability credits for buying insurance plans.
The combined package spends $940 billion to expand health care coverage to 32 million Americans while slicing the deficit by $143 billion in the first 10 years and more than $1 trillion in the second decade.
It also raises or creates a host of new taxes, with the largest tax increase hitting the wealthy, and it slices more than $500 billion from expected Medicare costs over the next decade.
Democrats said the bill would extend the solvency of Medicare’s trust fund by nine years; Republicans said the cuts would erode services for seniors, and they charged the bill would ruin the economy and the quality of health care while bankrupting the government.
The true turning point for Democrats in their months-long effort came when Stupak and his cadre of like-minded, anti-abortion-rights Democrats announced a deal at a packed 4 p.m. press conference on Sunday — ensuring at least 216 votes for passage of the bill.
Republicans ripped the deal as a betrayal, and the Catholic bishops remained opposed to the package, but Stupak said that there was simply no way for his tougher abortion insurance ban to get through the Senate.
“We’d all love to have a statute,” Stupak said. “We can’t get 60 votes in the Senate. The reality is we can’t do it.”
While the White House and Pelosi were heavily involved in negotiating the abortion compromise, at one point on Saturday, talks with Stupak appeared to have broken down as top Democrats sought to splinter his coalition and peel off the support they needed without him.
“It’s the damndest process you’ve ever seen,” Stupak said around 3:30 p.m., acknowledging he was no longer in talks with leaders or the White House. During votes later Saturday, Stupak talked on the floor with Dingell, a home-state colleague, close friend and mentor. Stupak had managed Dingell’s unsuccessful campaign to hold onto his Energy and Commerce Committee gavel when Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) challenged him after the 2008 elections — and was crushed when Dingell lost.
Now, Stupak was leading a group of holdouts that was threatening to sink a reform initiative Dingell, and Dingell’s father before him, have made their life’s work in the House.
The duo agreed to meet in Dingell’s Capitol hideaway, where they spent about an hour, one-on-one, talking about the standoff between leaders and the anti-abortion rights group Stupak was leading, Democratic aides said.
Dingell’s message: Don’t lose hope, and don’t walk away. “John Dingell had a piece of me yesterday,” Stupak said at his Sunday press conference.
Stupak also had become a hero of sorts to Republicans who hoped abortion would ultimately sink the Democrats’ bill. But he went from hero to villain in an instant.
“Anybody who will trade the protections of law for a vague promise which can at best last a few years, is making obviously a terrible trade, one that can never be pictured as pro-life, one that will never be viewed as pro-life, one that by pro-lifers of the future will be viewed as a Benedict Arnold moment,” said Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.).
But Stupak said the executive order carried the same effect as law.
“Make no doubt about it, there will be no public funds for abortion,” he said.
Stupak also said that his group would continue to work to push his stricter abortion language in the future. “I would like some day to get statutorily what the bishops would want,” he said.
But he understood that the compromise wasn’t going to sit well with either camp.
“Now both sides will be pissed,” the Michigan Democrat said with a wry smile.
Democrats and Republican leaders, meanwhile, were already turning their eyes to the fall elections and assessing the impact of the sweeping legislation.
House Majority Leader John Boehner (Ohio) and other GOP leaders predicted the bill would lead to a new Republican revolution sweeping them back into power, and over the weekend he compared the package to “Armageddon.”
“We’re now about 24 hours from Armageddon, 24 hours from Members casting a vote on one of the biggest bills they’ll ever vote for in their careers,” Boehner told GOP Members on Saturday during a Conference meeting. “We are right there.”
GOP lawmakers exited the meeting to the cheers of protesters who told thanked them and urged them to “fight on.”
As the debate on the health care bill neared on Sunday, Republicans still raised numerous objections and procedural motions on the House floor to try to delay action, but acknowledged that under the rules adopted by Democrats there will be little they can do to stop the final vote.
“These rules closed the door on everything,” Republican Study Committee Chairman Tom Price (Ga.) said. “They have raised tyranny to a new level.”
But as Democratic holdouts began to announce their support for the bill, the GOP resolve began to waver.
By the time the vote was held, most of protesters had left and Republicans, who had drawn much of their political energy from the thousands of activists who flooded the Capitol grounds, accepted they had lost.
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen (Md.) predicted that the bill would become more popular once it becomes law.
“First of all, the American people are going to wake up the day after the president signs the final package and realize that all the horror stories that Republicans and Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh have talked about are just not true. ... They are going to realize the world did not come to an end, and then they are going to begin to see the benefits of legislation.”
Democrats pointed to a host of changes that would take place within six months of enactment, including banning discrimination against children with pre-existing conditions, banning lifetime insurance caps, banning rescissions when people get sick and beginning to close the “doughnut” hole for Medicare prescription drug benefits.
“There is going to be a huge credibility gap on the other side,” Van Hollen said.
Van Hollen also said that Democrats are eager to defend the bill on the campaign trail.
“I don’t quote George Bush much, but ‘bring it on,’” he said.»
in RollCall.com
Subscrever:
Mensagens (Atom)