Next week the US will find out what President Obama has to say in his first official State of the Union. It is widely believed that it could be his last chance to change the mind of his fellow citizens about the pessimism that the country is experiencing now. Obviously, the president himself and his administration are not very happy at the moment after the disastrous, for the Democrats, result of the Massachusetts election, and what that meant for his health care reform. Will it survive? It is hard to say at the moment when one hears rather confusing statements from the White House, Congress and the Senate. After hours of closed-door meetings with her fellow Democrats, Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, emerged saying that she did not have the votes for the House to adopt a version of the bill already passed by the Senate. On Capitol Hill some lawmakers in both parties were calling for a stripped down bill that could be adopted quickly with bipartisan support. And what is the position of the White House? In an interview with ABC, Mr Obama added to the confusion of his party by indicating that he might propose starting from scratch with a package that could attract bipartisan support. A package that in that case would be far less ambitious and would not meet the original goal of giving coverage to the millions of uninsured. However, and as soon as those remarks were know, White House officials tried to reverse them by saying, “Let’s be clear, the President’s preference, is to pass a bill that meets the principles he laid out months ago: more stability and security for those who have insurance, affordable coverage options for those who don’t, and lower costs for families, businesses, and governments.” In any case, all this is not making people believe that even if a health care reform bill passes, it would be what most of the people expected. And certainly it would not be what is needed. The politicians are failing the country in health care reform once more.
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