Dodd Statement on White House Health Care Meeting

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) released the following statement after today's meeting at the White House with Senate Democrats and President Obama on health insurance reform:

I want to thank President Obama for holding this meeting. He was enthusiastic about the progress we have made in Congress, where four of our five committees have acted. And we both have a lot of confidence in Senator Max Baucus, who's made a Herculean effort to reach a bipartisan agreement in the Finance Committee.

I'm confident we can get that done. And Im ready and willing to sit down and meld our two bills and to begin the work with the House. All of us are committed to working with anyone and everyone who has a good idea. Democrats, Republicans, doctors, nurses, hospitals, insurance companies, labor and consumer groups all have contributed to the HELP bill, and all are welcome to contribute going forward.

But we're determined to get this job done. We're going to be home for a month. In that month that we're gone, close to 500,000 people will lose their health care coverage in the United States 14,000 people a day. We need to come back with a renewed sense of purpose, so that we can do everything possible to bring that sense of certainty and stability to the American public. Americans should no longer have to worry at night about whether they have coverage or whether they can get care if they get into trouble.

As many of you may know, I'm going to go through some surgery in a few days. But I have a great health care plan. I've never worried about whether or not I had coverage or could get good care when I needed it. My case shouldn't be any different than any other American's. When others get sick, they ought to be able to get the care they need.

I'm confident that we Democrats and Republicans, if they'll join us, can get that job done.

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[markhurt1956]

Senator Dodd is open to constructive ideas, is he? How about this? Get the government out of health care, reduce the income tax rate to 10% across the board for everyone (no exceptions), eliminate the capital gains tax, eliminate the corporate tax, eliminate the estate (death) tax, deregulate the insurance industry so that people can contract with insurance companies across state lines, and, finally, reestablish the gold standard. How about those ideas?