Biden: Health Care Bill By Thanksgiving
Vice President Biden told ABC’s Good Morning America that President Obama has “re-centered” the debate on health care, and that a bill will be passed soon. “I believe we will have a bill,” said Biden. “I’ve been in the Congress for a very long time, eight presidents. I believe we will have a bill before Thanksgiving.”
Obama’s Day Ahead
President Obama will deliver remarks on health insurance reform at 10:15 a.m. ET, from the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. He will meet with the Cabinet at 10:45 a.m. ET, and have lunch with Vice President Biden at 12:30 p.m. ET. At 1:45 p.m. ET, he will meet with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, with Sec. of State Hillary Clinton at 2:45 p.m. ET., and with Treasury Sec. Tim Geithner at 3:30 p.m. ET. At 6 p.m. ET, he will welcome the Pittsburgh Penguins to the White House. At 7:30 p.m. ET, he will chair a meeting with the Homeland Security Council on H1N1 preparations.
Biden’s Day Ahead
Vice President Biden will attend the 10:45 a.m. ET Cabinet meeting, and have lunch with President Obama 12:30 p.m. ET. He will meet at 1:30 p.m. ET with the Congressional Black Caucus, at the Capitol building. At 2:45 p.m. ET, Biden will swear in Sen. George LeMieux (R-FL), in the Senate Chamber. Later, he will meet with Chinese leader Wu Bangguo.
Dems Keep Up Attacks On Rep. Joe Wilson
Democrats are piling on Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), the man who yelled “You lie!” at President Obama. “No president has ever been treated like that. Ever,” said Rahm Emanuel. Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-NY) called it “outrageous,” and said it reminded him of the “antics that are being used to disrupt and fog what is going on.”
GOP Still Speaking Against Obama On Health Care
Republicans don’t seem too impressed by last night’s speech. “I sat there tonight wondering what the purpose of this evening was,” said Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN). “I was hoping to hear the president flesh out a middle ground, but instead we heard platitudes and campaign rhetoric.”
Senate Negotiations Hobble Along
Roll Call reports that Senate negotiations are continuing on a bipartisan health care proposal — but success doesn’t seem too probably. “Is some sort of the compromise out of the picture? No,” said an unnamed senior Senate GOP aide. “Is it likely? No.”
Rove: Red-State Dems At Risk, Should Push For More Time In Health Care Debate
In his latest Wall Street Journal column, Karl Rove says that red-state Democrats are being put at risk by the prospect of President Obama pushing through a Democrats-only health care bill. “The danger for vulnerable Democrats is they have a president who is losing popularity while championing an unpopular proposal,” Rove writes. “The wise course would be to push for more time to figure out the best consensus policy and for more bipartisanship in crafting any solution.”
