Obama dealing with health care reform and Iran (video)
AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari
BROOKE HART
Today President Obama travels to Illinois to promote his call for health care reform, all the while keeping a close eye on the fallout from Friday’s election in Iran.
President Obama will be in Chicago today talking to doctors and reassuring them any overhaul will keep aspects of care that work.
Speaking to the American Medical Association, President Obama today, courts the nation’s doctors, a critical faction in his push for health care reform.
He says not everything should change.
In his weekly address, President Obama said “We will fix what’s broken while building upon what works. If you like your plan and your doctor you can keep them.”
Lawmakers may be finding middle ground on the biggest glitch so far: whether a government-subsidized health care plan competing with private providers. Republicans say no.
Indiana Congressman Mike Pence said “the government competes in the private sector the way an alligator competes with a duck!”
Democrats admit the idea needs tweaking.
North Dakota Senator Kent Conrad said “I don’t think the votes are there.”
North Dakota’s Kent Conrad suggests a system of non-profit health co-operatives instead of a government-run plan. Some Republicans are intrigued.
Maine Senator Susan Collins said “this is a possible compromise.”
And administration officials don’t rule it out.
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said “there is no one-size-fits-all idea.”
On another matter, this afternoon President Obama meets with Italy’s prime minister.
Both are keeping close watch on Iran, where the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has spurred the worst unrest in more than a decade.
Vice President Joe Biden questioned whether the results are legitimate.
Mr. Biden said “it sure looks like—the way they’re suppressing speech, the way they’re suppressing crowds, the way in which people are being treated—that there’s some real doubt about that.”
Opposition leader Mirhoussein Mousavi said the election results should be canceled to restore the public trust.
