“This is what the debate in Congress is all about: whether we’ll keep talking and tinkering and letting this problem fester as more families and businesses go under and more Americans lose their coverage,’’ Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address.
“Or whether we’ll seize this opportunity - one we might not have again for generations - and finally pass health insurance reform this year, in 2009,’’ he said.
Republicans were not swayed.
“The president and some Democrats insist we must rush this plan through,’’ said Senator Jon Kyl, Republican of Arizona. “Why? Because the more Americans know about it, the more they oppose it. Something this important needs to be done right, rather than done quickly.’’
Kyl, the Senate’s number two Republican, said his party’s proposed alternatives should be considered.
“These changes do not require government takeover of the healthcare system, or massive new spending, job-killing taxes, or rationing of care,’’ he said, seeking to string together the biggest fears of Obama’s plan to challenge the popular president.
Obama rejected the criticism out of hand.
“Now, we know there are those who will oppose reform no matter what,’’ Obama said.
“We know the same special interests and their agents in Congress will make the same old arguments and use the same scare tactics that have stopped reform before because they profit from this relentless escalation in healthcare costs.’’
Special unit to interrogate terror suspects considered
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is considering creating a special unit of interrogators for key terrorism suspects, focusing on intelligence-gathering instead of building criminal cases for prosecution, a government official said yesterday.
The recommendation is expected from a presidential task force that plans to send findings to the White House Tuesday.
The official said the panel, which has not completed its work, has concluded that the unit of intelligence and law enforcement agencies should be created. The task force is unsure which agencies should have a role, according to the official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the panel’s work.
