Dumbest Arguments Against Health Reform

(NEWSER) - Newt Gingrich lashed out today against President Obama’s health care plan, saying the nation should deal with crushing unemployment first, Politico reports. “America does not work if Americans are not working,” he said. “Getting Americans working should be the number one priority.” Gingrich called for a 50% reduction in the Social Security payroll tax and a cut in corporate taxes, a plan he says is supported by several members of Congress. More»

(NEWSER) - Newt Gingrich is back, and he’s here to stay. “It’s Gingrich time,” Paul Waldman writes for the American Prospect. That’s not a good thing, for the Republicans or the country. “This is Newt's time again not only because there's a leadership vacuum in the GOP but because the Republicans are back in opposition, and nobody opposes quite like Newt,” Waldman writes. “He is a master of the contemptuous sneer.” More»

President delivers closing argument to enthusiastic crowd

(AP) - President Obama described the stakes of this weekend's health care vote in stark terms today, using words uttered so rarely out of the White House that they seem all but banned: "If this vote fails." What then? "The insurance industry will continue to run amok," the president declared, pointing to rising rates, denials of coverage and limits on care. More»

Lawmakers pledge to overturn law

(NEWSER) - Republicans may not be able to stop health care reform, but they're already thinking about repealing it should they win either house of Congress. The "Repeal It" movement has won pledges from dozens of lawmakers and candidates, reports the Washington Post , including all the Senate hopefuls in Kentucky, Nevada, Kansas, and Missouri. They vow to "repeal any federal health care takeover, and replace it with real reforms that lower health care costs without growing government." More»

Congressional Democrats were irked at president for skipping town

(NEWSER) - Despite White House assurances to the contrary yesterday, President Obama will postpone his Asian trip for three days to focus on firming up health care reform legislation. Congressional Democrats had expressed dismay that the president was leaving the country as the House approached a deal that may allow them to pass the Senate bill, Politico reports. Obama will depart for Indonesia and Australia on the March 21, not 18—the deadline he gave Congress for a deal—and will trim all sidetrips, leaving Michelle and the girls at home. More»