Press Release: Nancy Pelosi

[erynthered]

 

http://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/pressreleases?id=1576

 

“Thank you, President Valerie Brown [of Sonoma County, Calif.] Don’t we all take pride in Valerie Brown recently being named County Official of the Year for her advocacy on behalf of all of America’s counties? Thank you, Valerie. Her wealth of experience – as a mayor, a state legislator, and an educator and a county executive - makes her an innovative and effective leader for the future. At this time of great challenges, her understanding of the different needs of NACo’s diverse counties is essential.

 

“I understand many other county officials are here from California. Any Californians to be heard from here? Thank you for coming the distance to Washington and for going the distance for our constituents. And I want to acknowledge all of you who are here.

 

“I had the privilege last year to acknowledge the work of the Executive Committee of NACo by welcoming them to the Speaker’s office in the Capitol. This year, I have the even greater privilege to come to you to speak to all of the members of NACo.

 

“On the 75th anniversary of the National Association of Counties, your leadership is more vital and more necessary than ever. You know that. I just want you to know that we in Congress do too.

 

“The diversity of America’s counties represents the diversity of America. And yet, you share common responsibilities, whatever the diversity. America’s counties are leading on the issues most important to Americans: the education of our children, the health of their families, and the security of our communities.

 

“Your common responsibilities bring you to Washington with a common cause: to strengthen the partnership between America’s counties and the federal government. It is in that spirit that I have come here today. It’s in that spirit that we will work together to, as your theme says, to ‘find solutions in tough times.’

 

“I noticed as I was reading your program, it is pretty intense what you have been through this weekend and the beginning of this week, that you have one workshop that was ‘Influencing Congress from Home’—the cyber influence, very, very important but let me say how important your presence here in Washington is, too. It is very important you have come to all the distance, all the diversity, to make your cumulative impact on the Congress. Please don’t underestimate how important your visit is to us.

 

“I know that you sometimes have felt that your partnership with Washington has not been a balanced one – that burdens have been put on you that you simply cannot fulfill. These difficult economic times have made your challenges even greater. We all know that.

 

“Together, here in this room, we have the opportunity to ensure that the partnership between America’s counties and the federal government is strong, productive, and balanced.

 

“Just a little more than a year ago, our President Barack Obama stood on the steps of the Capitol, just a little more than a year ago and called for swift, bold action now to restore our economic growth. In his budget, he set out a blueprint founded on three pillars for our prosperity: a highly-educated workforce, the future, a clean energy economy, good-paying jobs, and quality, affordable health care for all Americans. And he saw these critical building blocks as engines of job creation and economic growth.

 

“Answering that call, and responding to the needs of America’s counties, we passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, creating and saving up to 2 million jobs so far, and more to come.

 

“You know best what the Recovery Act means to American’s counties. I have traveled the country, visited many counties to dedicate, groundbreak, observe funding coming into counties, tens of millions of dollars in some counties, over $100 million in some counties, hundreds of millions of dollars. For the Port of Houston, for a highway in Colorado, whether it is keeping teachers on the job, cops on the street, we believe that the Recovery Act was essential to keep us from an even worse recession. But in fact, it has created or saved 2 million jobs.

 

“Of particular interest to America’s counties – we increased FMAP, providing immediate relief to counties in the 27 states that contribute to Medicaid, and shored up the safety net for families in difficult times. We provided $624 million for counties in Energy Efficiency Conservation Block Grants—and I know that is important to many of you, you have told me—to promote energy efficiency and conservation while creating jobs and lowering energy costs. I am committed to ensuring that this initiative is strong and ongoing. We have $178 million in Community Development Block Grants that helped you to expand community services, and modernize housing and wastewater systems. Transportation investments and broadband access that have strengthened business opportunities close to home.

 

“You’ve seen the results, many of you, you have told me about them and again, as I say, you have told me on the site right in your own counties. But I want to just tell you, give you a perspective from here as to what the difference the Recovery Act has made nationally to our economy. Consider this:

 

“In the last quarter of the Bush Administration, what was reported in the first quarter of last year, America’s GDP, the rate of growth of GDP was a minus 6.4 percent. Minus 6.4 percent. In the equivalent quarter of the Obama Administration one year later, it is at plus 5.9 percent. A swing of over 12 percent in the GDP. This is the fastest rate that we have seen in a long time.

 

“When we were debating the recovery bill a year ago, a year and a month ago, the stock market was about 6,500. Yesterday it closed 10,500—a swing of 4,000 points.

 

“Just last week, we learned that America’s manufacturing base grew for the seventh straight month – and is now at its second highest level in years.

 

“And think of this – jobs. In the first three months of 2009, but let me just state one month so that we can compare them. In January of 2009, the last month of the Bush Administration before we passed the Recovery Act, 779,000 Americans lost their jobs. 779,000 for January of 2009. This January 2010, 20,000 Americans lost their jobs—far too many, we want to move to the plus side of course—but a difference of over three quarters of a million people in just that one month. Thank you, American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.

 

“But our work is far from complete. We know that. Congress will stay focused on our top priority: putting Americans to work. And I said putting Americans to work, I didn’t say putting Americans back to work. Because we have far too people who will have no job, never had a job that they would go back too.

 

“So we must invest in training, apprenticeships, and vocational education for the chronically unemployed so we put all of America back to work—some back to work, some newly to work. I think you see this in your counties where we have some young people who have not had the opportunity that America must afford them so that as our economy grows with training and vocational training that many more people will participate in the economic prosperity that we see for our country.

 

“Just last week, we passed the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act, that’s HIRE—Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act, we write these acronyms—another step forward in our fight to put more Americans back to work.

 

“With $15 billion in critical investments, this bill includes: extension of the Highway Trust Fund. And though the investment is $15 billion and that is paid for, it will unleash tens of billions of dollars in infrastructure investment in your communities. And for small business, we can never do enough and more needs to be done but in this particular bill: a payroll tax holiday for businesses that hire unemployed workers, to create some 300,000 jobs and an income tax credit of $1,000 for businesses that retain these employees. It’s very specific and targeted. And then we have specific support to small businesses with tax credits and accelerated write-offs.

 

“This bill is one key element, just one step of our broader agenda to expand lending to small businesses, build the infrastructure of the future, support job training, keep police, firefighters, and teachers on the job.

 

“Tomorrow, Congressman George Miller will introduce his local jobs bill, which allows for county governments and municipalities to retain workers. I think Valerie had a hand in this. I know he is grateful to the input of NACo in crafting this significant legislation. We believe at this time that nothing is more critical to the long-term economic security of American families and to our economy than comprehensive health care reform, health insurance reform.

 

“As you are in Washington this week, we stand at the doorstep of history, ready to realize a centuries old dream, started by a Republican President, Teddy Roosevelt. He was the one who started this country thinking in this direction, and we are deeply in his dept. But, we are a hundred years late. A century old dream of health care for all, and we will be prepared to send the bill to President Obama’s desk that ensures affordability for the middle class, accountability for the insurance companies, and access for millions more Americans, tens of millions more.

 

“Nobody knows better than you the strain on hospitals that never turned a patient away, and health care providers grappling with the challenges of the uninsured and shrinking reimbursement. You know as well as anyone, that our current system is unsustainable. It’s unsustainable to individuals and their families. It’s unsustainable for small businesses. It’s unsustainable for your communities. It’s unsustainable for our state, local, and national budgets.

 

“President Obama said, one year ago, when he called the first bipartisan, on March 5th of last year, the first bipartisan House and Senate meeting together with many outside stakeholders together at the White House, to find a way for us to come together. And at that time, he said: ‘Health care reform is entitlement reform.’ We cannot sustain the upward spiral of the increases in health care and what that means in Medicare and what it means in Medicaid. So from the standpoint of our national budget, and for your budgets, the current system, as I said, is unsustainable.

 

“Again, it’s unaffordable for families, individuals and families, for businesses of any size, and it is a cost to our economy. Imagine an economy where people could follow their aspirations, where they could be entrepreneurial, where they could take risks professionally because personally their families health care needs are being met. Where they could be self-employed or start a business, not be job-locked in a job because they have health care there, and if they went out on their own it would be unaffordable to them, but especially true, if someone has a child with a pre-existing condition. So when we pass our bill, never again will people be denied coverage because they have a pre-existing condition.

 

“We have to do this in partnership, and I wanted to bring up to date on where we see it from here. The final health care legislation that will soon be passed by Congress will deliver successful reform at the local level. It will offer paid for investments that will improve health care services and coverage for millions more Americans. It will make significant investments in innovation, prevention, wellness and offer robust support for public health infrastructure. It will dramatically expand investments into community health centers. That means a dramatic expansion in the number of patients community health centers can see and ultimately healthier communities. Our bill will significantly reduce uncompensated care for hospitals.

 

“You’ve heard about the controversies within the bill, the process about the bill, one or the other. But I don’t know if you have heard that it is legislation for the future, not just about health care for America, but about a healthier America, where preventive care is not something that you have to pay a deductible for or out of pocket. Prevention, prevention, prevention—it’s about diet, not diabetes. It’s going to be very, very exciting.

 

“But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy. Furthermore, we believe that health care reform, again I said at the beginning of my remarks, that we sent the three pillars that the President’s economic stabilization and job creation initiatives were education and innovation—innovation begins in the classroom—clean energy and climate, addressing the climate issues in an innovative way to keep us number one and competitive in the world with the new technology, and the third, first among equals I may say, is health care, health insurance reform. Health insurance reform is about jobs. This legislation alone will create 4 million jobs, about 400,000 jobs very soon.

 

“We must have the courage, though, to get the job done. We have the ideas. We have the commitment. We have the dedication. We know the urgency. Now we have to have the courage to get the job done. So proud that President Obama is taking the message so forcefully to the American people! This is long overdue, a hundred years.

 

“The challenges we face, the health, the education, the education of our children, the economic well-being of their families, the safety of neighborhoods, all of this, all roads lead to you. The challenges we all face are too great though for each of us to face them alone. We need to form the partnerships, strengthen partnerships at every level of government and with committed and compassionate leaders to understand that the need to focus on the next generation, we need to focus on the next generation, not the next election.

 

“With that in mind and with great enthusiasm and a sense of history that we have of this responsibility to ensure that health care in America is a right not a privilege; let us move forward in the spirit of restoring and strengthening our partnership, and finding solutions in difficult times. In so doing, we will realize the dream of a brighter future. Thank you for all that you do to make that so.

 

“Thank you NACo, for the opportunity to be with you. On behalf of my colleagues in the Congress, I welcome you to Washington, D.C. I hope we will see you on Capitol Hill. We want your advocacy either here or from home.

 

“Thank you, Valerie Brown, for the invitation to be here. Thank you all.”

[DC Tom]

This legislation alone will create 4 million jobs, about 400,000 jobs very soon.

 

Very conservatively, that's about $1.2T in annual salaries in the health care industry that have to be paid for somehow...but the bill's going to cut costs.

 

How's that work again?

[IDBillzFan]

Very conservatively, that's about $1.2T in annual salaries in the health care industry that have to be paid for somehow...but the bill's going to cut costs.

 

How's that work again?

She keeps bringing up this whole "400,000 jobs will immediately be created by this bill," and I have yet to see anyone make her explain the specifics.

 

Is it any wonder so few people actually want this bill to pass.

[drnykterstein]

They are going on the assumption that once the bill is implemented people will actually like the effect it has on their lives. They are going on the assumption that all the Republicans have been doing over the past year is spreading unfounded fears.

 

The "pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it" line is addressing the fact that 1/3 of Americans only know what Fox News tells them.

[DC Tom]

They are going on the assumption that once the bill is implemented people will actually like the effect it has on their lives. They are going on the assumption that all the Republicans have been doing over the past year is spreading unfounded fears.

 

The "pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it" line is addressing the fact that 1/3 of Americans only know what Fox News tells them.

 

And the other 2/3 know what, exactly?

[KD in CA]

In the future, for any thread titles that include "Nancy Pelosi", can the thread starter also include the phrase "Not Dead" (if appropriate) so that some of us don't get our hopes up before we open the thread?

 

Thanks.

[IDBillzFan]

The "pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it" line is addressing the fact that 1/3 of Americans only know what Fox News tells them.

Connerhea strikes again.

 

The president himself has, at last count, delivered 36 speeches on health care. You'd think after all those speeches, including a number of prime-time events SPECIFICALLY ABOUT HEALTH CARE REFORM, even the most liberal dope would accept that maybe the problem is not that people DON'T know what's in the bill, but that they DO know what's in the bill. Maybe most people realize that you simply don't add 30 million people to the health insurance rolls and have it somehow be deficit neutral.

 

I'd be willing to bet that history will show that the biggest reason this administration couldn't get a health care bill passed while having full control of the US government is going to be that they truly and honestly believed that the reason no one liked the Senate Bill is because it just wasn't explained properly.

[DC Tom]

Connerhea strikes again.

 

The president himself has, at last count, delivered 36 speeches on health care. You'd think after all those speeches, including a number of prime-time events SPECIFICALLY ABOUT HEALTH CARE REFORM, even the most liberal dope would accept that maybe the problem is not that people DON'T know what's in the bill, but that they DO know what's in the bill. Maybe most people realize that you simply don't add 30 million people to the health insurance rolls and have it somehow be deficit neutral.

 

I'd be willing to bet that history will show that the biggest reason this administration couldn't get a health care bill passed while having full control of the US government is going to be that they truly and honestly believed that the reason no one likes the Senate Bill is because it just hasn't been explained properly.

 

I spent Saturday with my family - brother, sister, their respective spouses, all liberal. ALL of them - even my sis-in-law's a classic bumper-sticker liberal and about as raving as Hedd - agree, after looking in to this bill, that it's one of the worst pieces of legislation they've ever seen.

 

The more time goes on, the more I become convinced that the only people that don't understand the bill are the ones that support it.

[meazza]

They are going on the assumption that once the bill is implemented people will actually like the effect it has on their lives. They are going on the assumption that all the Republicans have been doing over the past year is spreading unfounded fears.

 

The "pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it" line is addressing the fact that 1/3 of Americans only know what Fox News tells them.

 

What about the assumption that the larger the deficit grows, the higher the probability that the US as country will inch very close to bankruptcy?

[drnykterstein]

What about the assumption that the larger the deficit grows, the higher the probability that the US as country will inch very close to bankruptcy?

 

CBO estimated that the the bill does not add to the debt. I'll trust them on that.

[meazza]

CBO estimated that the the bill does not add to the debt. I'll trust them on that.

 

How could something that costs more not add to your overall costs? And since it's not a revenue producing venture, how can it produce enough revenue to offset the added costs???

[IDBillzFan]

I spent Saturday with my family - brother, sister, their respective spouses, all liberal. ALL of them - even my sis-in-law's a classic bumper-sticker liberal and about as raving as Hedd - agree, after looking in to this bill, that it's one of the worst pieces of legislation they've ever seen.

 

The more time goes on, the more I become convinced that the only people that don't understand the bill are the ones that support it.

I'm convinced Obama has no choice at this point but to pass this thing regardless of what anyone thinks about it. He has no other significant accomplishment going into the midterms. Nothing. This is best exemplified by how he used his SOTU to tell everyone that his number 1 priority is JOBS, only to stage some stupid, fruitless jobs summit followed by then ignoring jobs and getting back on the health care hunt. He's so far down the bottomless health care hole that not only do they think it's a bad idea to stop digging, they somehow think the answer is to dig faster.

[DC Tom]

I'm convinced Obama has no choice at this point but to pass this thing regardless of what anyone thinks about it. He has no other significant accomplishment going into the midterms. Nothing. This is best exemplified by how he used his SOTU to tell everyone that his number 1 priority is JOBS, only to stage some stupid, fruitless jobs summit followed by then ignoring jobs and getting back on the health care hunt. He's so far down the bottomless health care hole that not only do they think it's a bad idea to stop digging, they somehow think the answer is to dig faster.

 

You mean these aren't accomplishments?

 

 

A sign of true leadership right now would be for anyone to stand up and say "You know what? We really dropped the ball on this health care bill. We have to start over and do this right. Sorry...but it's better to admit that now before we dump $1.2T down this hole."

[Magox]

CBO estimated that the the bill does not add to the debt. I'll trust them on that.

uhhhh, you do know that they just passed the "DOC FIX" today don't you? In one of the Jobs Bill Mind you

 

When you add in the DOC FIX, CBO SAYS that the bill goes from $120B in reducing the National Debt to over $140B in adding to it.

 

That's what the CBO says.

 

Also, there are no subsidies to be given in this bill until 2014, and they really don't go in to full effect until 2016, and taxes begin immediately, in other words 10 years of tax collections and only 5-6 years of benefits .

 

Plus, the new bill that Obama is pushing will also include additional Medicaid funding for all states and the closing of the Prescription Donut hole, which will undoubtedly cost over a hundred billion dollars.

 

So, this claim that it reduces the deficit is a farse.

 

But I'm sure you don't see that, you will believe what your master tells you, rather than go over the details.

[IDBillzFan]

CBO estimated that the the bill does not add to the debt. I'll trust them on that.

Then you're an idiot, because CBO can only grade on the info they're given. Once the $200 billion "doc fix" was pulled from the bill and buried in the upcoming jobs bill, the health care bill amazingly came up deficit neutral.

 

Like Paul Ryan noted at the summit: it's smoke and mirrors.

[meazza]

uhhhh, you do know that they just passed the "DOC FIX" today don't you? In one of the Jobs Bill Mind you

 

When you add in the DOC FIX, CBO SAYS that the bill goes from $120B in reducing the National Debt to over $140B in adding to it.

 

That's what the CBO says.

 

Also, there are no subsidies to be given in this bill until 2014, and they really don't go in to full effect until 2016, and taxes begin immediately, in other words 10 years of tax collections and only 5-6 years of benefits .

 

Plus, the new bill that Obama is pushing will also include additional Medicaid funding for all states and the closing of the Prescription Donut hole, which will undoubtedly cost over a hundred billion dollars.

 

So, this claim that it reduces the deficit is a farse.

 

But I'm sure you don't see that, you will believe what your master tells you, rather than go over the details.

 

You should just blindly trust the CBO, because without faith, we have no religion.

[keepthefaith]

They are going on the assumption that once the bill is implemented people will actually like the effect it has on their lives. They are going on the assumption that all the Republicans have been doing over the past year is spreading unfounded fears.

 

The "pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it" line is addressing the fact that 1/3 of Americans only know what Fox News tells them.

 

Doesn't matter what effect it has on our lives if we can't afford it or if the cost is too high. We know from the CBO numbers that it's going to be very expensive and add to the deficit even with all of the new taxes it includes. We know it uses 10 years of taxes to fund 6 years of benefits and we know that the "doc fix" price tag of about $250 billion is not in the bill.

 

It's like somebody buying a new Ferrari that they can't afford (with aplologies to Ferrari). It might have a nice feel for the very short term but eventually you have to pay the bill and if you can't it goes away.

 

This health care bill as written simply loads more debt onto the backs of American taxpayers for the benefit of a few. It's not sustainable, that's what the numbers say. Anyone that supports this bill as written as the best or even a good solution to reform health care is a complete jackass. If it was truly about expanding coverage and reducing costs, it wouldn't include a huge price tag for taxpayers (those who actually pay taxes).

 

If in a business you had to solve a problem and presented a solution such as this to those that requested your input, you'd get laughed at, scolded and thrown out on your ass. Only in government can you piece together such an ugly solution to a big issue and get people to support it. Nobody in their right !@#$ing mind would look at what needs reform and come up with this piece of ****.

 

Democratic citizens should be embarrassed to support this absolute piece of **** legislation. It's garbage. Stinking rotten garbage. We can and should do much better.

[Magox]

You should just blindly trust the CBO, because without faith, we have no religion.

Amazing how much power the CBO wields, but I will say this about the, they do appear to be non partisan, although many of their projections have been way off base, and in most cases they underestimate the total costs of many of the Bills they score.

[drnykterstein]

Ah. So now the CBO is a Democrat front group? If you numskulls are able understand this DOC FIX and the concepts behind it, then you bet your sweep bippy that the CBO understands what is going on.

 

This is like DC Tom saying that he knows more about scrutinizing a climatologists research that the climatologists themselves.

 

Lol.

The PPP mantra: "PEOPLE THAT ARE SMARTER THAN ME ARE STUPID BECAUSE I UNDERSTAND 1/50th OF THEIR RESEARCH"

[IDBillzFan]

Ah. So now the CBO is a Democrat front group? If you numskulls are able understand this DOC FIX and the concepts behind it, then you bet your sweep bippy that the CBO understands what is going on.

 

This is like DC Tom saying that he knows more about scrutinizing a climatologists research that the climatologists themselves.

 

Lol.

The PPP mantra: "PEOPLE THAT ARE SMARTER THAN ME ARE STUPID BECAUSE I UNDERSTAND 1/50th OF THEIR RESEARCH"

The CBO can only grade the bill based on what is put in front of them, not based on what they think they understand is happening in other bills.

 

Of course, you either know that and are playing stupid or you don't know it and you really are stupid.

 

Who wants to pick?