Category: February 2010

WASHINGTON – In his weekly address, President Barack Obama said that the nation cannot lose the current opportunity to finally enact meaningful health care reform. At Thursday’s meeting on reform, both sides were able to find several areas of agreement, but there were some differences. While the President is willing and eager to move forward…

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama used his weekly address to call on Democratic and Republican leaders to attend next week’s health care meeting in good faith to find reforms that work for American families and small businesses. With several health insurance companies announcing steep hikes in their rates – from 10 to over 30 percent…

WASHINGTON – Hours after signing pay-as-you-go legislation into law, President Barack Obama praised this step towards restoring fiscal responsibility and called for both parties to set aside politics and do the hard work of addressing the deficit. To this end, since the proposed Fiscal Commission was recently blocked in the Senate – by a handful…

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning, everybody. Earlier today, a devastating earthquake struck the nation of Chile, affecting millions of people. This catastrophic event was followed by multiple aftershocks, and has prompted tsunami warnings across the Pacific Ocean. Earlier today, I was briefed by my national security team on the steps that we’re taking to protect our…

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, everybody. Please have a seat. (Applause.) Thank you very much. Well, it is wonderful to be here. And thank you for the outstanding introduction by Mr. Smart. And I was complimenting him on his bowtie — (laughter) — as well as the excellent scholarship that he’s showing. I want to thank…

February 25, 2010 SENATOR McCONNELL: Mr. President, Dr. John Barrasso is going to make our opening statement on coverage. THE PRESIDENT: And then I will call Henry Waxman, and we’ll just go back and forth. SENATOR BARRASSO: Thank you very much — THE PRESIDENT: And because we are short on time, let’s keep our remarks…

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, everybody. Please have a seat. (Applause.) I’m sorry I’m a little late. (Laughter.) I had this thing I had to do. (Laughter.) But I understand that people have been drinking and — (laughter) — and eating the big shrimp around here. And I have to say that the wait will have…

THE PRESIDENT: All right, Joe, let’s talk about cost because — and now we’re not talking about cost to families but we’re talking about deficit, how much respective ideas cost. I think this is a good place to talk about Medicare as well because it’s been brought up several times. Joe, go ahead. THE VICE…

REPRESENTATIVE BOEHNER: Mr. President, I’d like to yield to Dr. Boustany to continue this conversation about insurance reform. REPRESENTATIVE BOUSTANY: Thank you, Leader Boehner, and thank you, Mr. President. I come at this as a physician, a cardiovascular surgeon with over 20 years of practice doing open-heart surgery, dealing with patients who have come to…

Q How is it going, Mr. President? THE PRESIDENT: It’s interesting. I mean, I don’t know if it’s interesting watching it on TV, but it’s interesting being part of it. Q Are you making progress? Q How is the progress? THE PRESIDENT: I think we’re establishing that there are actually some areas of real agreement…