Obama turns up the heat on healthcare reform

AFP - US President Barack Obama on Wednesday pressed Congress to "finish its work" on far-reaching legislation to remake US health care, his top domestic goal, after a bitter year-long political fight.

"I ask Congress to finish its work, and I look forward to signing this reform into law," the president said in excerpts of a speech he was to give at 1:45 pm (1845 GMT). The White House released the remarks.

With many of his Democratic allies nervously eyeing the possible impact on November mid-term elections, Obama told lawmakers that passing the bill amounted to a test of the often-gridlocked US political system.

"The American people want to know if it's still possible for Washington to look out for their interests and their future. They are waiting for us to act. They are waiting for us to lead," he said.

"And as long as I hold this office, I intend to provide that leadership. I don't know how this plays politically, but I know it’s right," said Obama, whose still-young presidency could rise or fall on the outcome.

Obama said the legislation, which would usher in the most sweeping overhaul of its kind in 45 years, included "the best ideas" from his Democratic allies and from his Republican foes, who seemed united in opposition to the bill.

"It’s an approach that has been debated and changed and I believe improved over the last year," said Obama, who pointed to state grants, changes to medical malpractice rules, and "curbing waste, fraud, and abuse in the health care system" as key planks of the Republican platform.

He also underlined plans to strip out special provisions inserted in an earlier version of the bill to win over swing-vote lawmakers, "provisions that were more about winning individual votes in Congress than improving health care for all Americans."

Obama's remarks came after he hosted an unusual day-long health care "summit" with key Republicans last week, and held out an 11th-hour olive branch to his critics in a letter offering to include four of their main ideas.

The blueprint still faces an uphill road to passage, with Republicans united in opposition, and Democrats struggling to marshal their majorities to approve the bill before a two-week Easter break set to start March 26, aides said.

The Senate and House of Representatives passed rival versions of the overhaul in 2009, and were on the road to melding them into a compromise bill when Democrats lost their 60-vote Senate supermajority in a shock January election that boosted Republicans to 41 seats in the 100-member Senate.

With Republicans suddenly empowered to stall the legislation indefinitely, the president's allies were expected to rely on an infrequently used parliamentary tactic called "reconciliation" that requires a simple majority.

The precise sequence was unclear, but one scenario had the House first passing the bill approved last year by the Senate, which would subsequently use "reconciliation" to approve "fixes" reflecting the derailed compromise plan.

The approach has pitfalls: The method is reserved for measures that directly impact government revenues and outlays, and could open the door to a wave of Republican amendments aimed at burying the bill.

Republicans have loudly complained about that approach, even though they have used that approach more than Democrats in recent history, notably for health bills and to pass trillion-dollar tax cuts under the previous president, George W. Bush.

Top Republicans mocked Obama's recent outreach, with the party's number two leader in the House, Representative Eric Cantor, declaring: "It isn't bipartisanship -- it’s political cover."

"The sales pitch may be new, but the bill isn't," said Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who warned that the bill would cost Democrats in the elections.

Democrats scoffed, with party chairman Tim Kaine telling NBC television he would "relish" such a fight and saying: "The American people are entitled to an up-or-down vote, and that's what they're going to get."