Barbour: If I Lose 40 Pounds, I’m Either Running For President Or Have Cancer
Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS) isn’t ruling out a potential run for the White House. “If you see me losing 40 pounds that means I’m either running or have cancer,” said Barbour.
Paterson: I Will Confirm Rumor — I’m Running For Governor
Gov. David Paterson (D-NY) officially kicked off his 2010 election campaign, firing back at rumors of scandal, retirement and resignation that have not come to anything. “After all you have heard, there’s one rumor I will confirm, I am running for governor this year,” Paterson told the audience. “They haven’t knocked us down yet and they never will.”
Dingell Running Again
Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives in all of American history, has announced that he will run again. “These are challenges this nation must confront,” said Dingell, who has served in the House since 1955. “I think it is time for all hands on deck.” There had been some question about whether Dingell would run again, after losing his chairmanship of the Energy and Commerce Committee to Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) in a Democratic caucus ballot.
Brown-Waite Running Again
Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL) officially announced that she will seek reelection, dispelling speculation that she might retire. “The rumors of my pending retirement,” she said, “are greatly exaggerated.”
Price: GOP Conservatives Can Lead On Health Care, With New Members In Congress
In an interview on C-Span, Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) said that Republicans would work more aggressively on health care reform if they win the majority in Congress, as compared to their performance from 1995-2007, due to having a large share of newer members. “The majority of members in our conference will have been there three terms or fewer — so it’s a different mindset,” said Price, chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee. “The challenge is that much closer to us. Medicare, Medicaid — the spending trajectory on those two programs is staring us directly in the face.”
Obama: ‘The Status Quo Is Good For The Insurance Industry And Bad For America’
In this weekend’s YouTube address, President Obama denounced the recent round of health insurance rate increases in California, Kansas, Maine and across the country:
“The bottom line is that the status quo is good for the insurance industry and bad for America. Over the past year, as families and small business owners have struggled to pay soaring health care costs, and as millions of Americans lost their coverage, the five largest insurers made record profits of over $12 billion,” said Obama. An”d as bad as things are today, they’ll only get worse if we fail to act. We’ll see more and more Americans go without the coverage they need. We’ll see exploding premiums and out-of-pocket costs burn through more and more family budgets. We’ll see more and more small businesses scale back benefits, drop coverage, or close down because they can’t keep up with rising rates. And in time, we’ll see these skyrocketing health care costs become the single largest driver of our federal deficits.”
GOP Address: If Americans Are Looking For Common Sense, ‘Next Week’s White House Health Care Summit May Not Be It’
In this weekend’s Republican address, Rep. Dave Camp downplayed the chance of any bipartisan consensus at next weeks’ health care summit, blaming Democrats for not scrapping their health care bill and starting over:
“For those families and small businesses looking for a sign that Washington is ready to wake up and find common sense on this issue, next week’s White House health care summit may not be it,” said Camp. “In fact, right now, Democrats are continuing to work behind closed doors, putting the finishing touches on yet another massive health care bill Americans can’t afford and don’t want.”
