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“If you don’t set a deadline in this town, nothing happens. The default in Washington is inaction and inertia and there’s a reason why we haven’t had healthcare reform in 50 years.” (NBC)
Get the job done by August 8 – or forget about vacation.
That’s the word from President Obama to lawmakers, indicating he wants the health care bill approved before recess.
We’re finding out through various media perspectives just how important it is for the bill to make the deadline.
First, FOX News keeps its eye on Obama’s target date by offering a run down clock.
“Seventeen days and a little less than 15 hours in the Democrat’s healthcare countdown as we work our way to the August recess. New developments breaking all day and the stakes could not be higher for all of us.”
For the Wall Street Journal’s Laura Meckler, getting Obama’s health care proposal passed by August is a make or break issue for the President.
“If he were to fail to have this legislation move forward before lawmakers leave town of course he would continue to try in the fall, but he would lose a lot of momentum for the effort and rather than going into the final months of summer with a big bang he would go in really limping and that makes it all the more difficult when he comes back.”
Coming from a different angle, Kansas City Star columnist Yael Abouhalkah suggests that Obama should drop the deadline.
“A delay is appropriate; health care reform can't be handled in a slapdash manner. The issue is too important. And it would be too costly -- in terms of money and in terms of Americans' health care -- to rush a bad plan through.”
USA Today brings in perspective from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who says the bill hasn’t been rushed to the deadline after all.
“Believe it or not, it’s not as a rush as you might think. It’s just when you get down to the last few days of the bill---that people want to make other changes. … The members have been reading the health care bill and now changes are being made to it, so they have to keep up with the changes. But I feel quite certain they’ll know what they’re voting for when the time comes."
Finally ABC’s chief Washington correspondent thinks Obama’s not going to make his deadline. But that’s not going to keep him from trying.
“The votes are not there right now but the White House is going to pull out all the stops in these next couple of days over this week to get it done. The President didn’t want to say ‘crack heads’ in that interview. They have to crack heads.”
Should Obama be pressuring Congress to pass health care legislation before its recess in August?
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