Boustany: Obama Should Start Over on Bipartisan Plan

Health care reform is too big for a party-line vote

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama came to office on the promise of a post-partisan world, but he's about to jam through a monumental health care bill in the most partisan way imaginable, writes Charles Krauthammer. The president insists reform is popular because people support individual items in principle. Of course they do, writes Krauthammer. But they also balk at the enormous collective cost, a fact that Obama conveniently ignores. More»

President chides Republicans for telling constituents he'll 'destroy America'

(NEWSER) - President Obama went toe-to-toe with House Republicans today, accusing them of opposing legislation for political gain. Obama chastised the Republicans for labelling health care reform as a "Bolshevik plot" and said, "The fact of the matter is, many of you, if you voted with the administration on something, are politically vulnerable with your own base," Obama said. "Because what you've been telling your constituents is, 'This guy's doing all kinds of crazy stuff that's going to destroy America.'" More»

But trend and dismal 21% approval of Congress could spell Dem's demise

(NEWSER) - The sizable lead among registered voters Democrats have maintained since the 2006 midterm elections has eroded to almost nothing. In the latest Gallup poll, Dems have just a 2-point advantage over Republicans going into the 2010 midterms, 46% to 44%, well within the sampling error. That’s down from a 6-point lead in July, due mostly to a decrease in support from independents. More»

(NEWSER) - Congressional GOP leaders met with RNC chairman Michael Steele late last month to assert their authority when it comes to policymaking, and while those involved said the get-together in House Minority Leader John Boehner’s office was routine, Politico's sources described it as heated. Of particular concern was Steele’s “health care bill of rights,” an attack on Democratic health care reform apparently issued without consultation. More»

(NEWSER) - Reasoned debate is all well and good, but the more than 300 amendments offered to the health care reform bill by finance committee Republicans are “dangerously close to a parody,” Dana Milbank writes. Or maybe they’re already there. Take Orrin Hatch’s request for “transition relief for the excise tax on high-cost insurance plans for any state with a name that begins with the letter 'U.'” There’s only one state that starts with ‘U:’ Hatch’s Utah. More»