Washington -- Two senior senators said Sunday that President Barack Obama should back off his proposed sweeping changes to the nation's health care system while the nation is stuck in a recession.
"I'm afraid we've got to think about putting a lot of that off until the economy's out of recession," Sen. Joe Liberman, I-Conn., whose vote Democrats often rely on to get to the 60-vote margin needed in the Senate to pass controversial legislation.
"There's no reason we have to do it all now, but we do have to get started. And I think the place to start is cost health delivery reform and insurance market reforms. ... I think it's a real mistake to try to jam through the total health insurance reform, health care reform plan that the public is either opposed to or of very, very passionate mixed minds about," Lieberman added on CNN's "State of the Union.Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Indiana, added on CNN, "I would advise the president that the bringing up of the health care situation in the midst of recession ... was a mistake. Let's clear the deck and try it again next year or in subsequent times."
Additionally we have further division within the Democratic party as Senator Schumer of New York claims they have 60 votes while Kent Conrad re-iterated his belief that the Public option is a deal killer. Considering Max Baucus and Conrad, as well as other Democrat senators on the Finance committee have shown distrust and opposition, I don't know where he gets the 60 votes from, especially now that Lieberman is all but in opposition.
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