July 23rd, 2009 – Last night President Barack Obama had a press conference in which he tried to explain why he was trying to rush the Health Reform bills through Congress and the Senate before their August recess. This morning Senate Democrats said that just wasn’t going to happen.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., responded by saying “It’s better to have a product based on quality and thoughtfulness rather than try to jam something through.” Interestingly, his words were a near echo of Republicans who have criticized the rush to act on complex health reform legislation that deeply affects every American.
Reid said he listened to requests from senior Republicans working with Baucus to allow more time for a compromise to emerge. “The decision was made to give them more time and I don’t think it’s unreasonable,” he said.
President Obama received news of the delay just hours before the president’s appearance at a health care forum in Ohio earlier today.
As a quick update, late Thusday President Obama pushed out his desired time table for Health Reform legislation from August to year’s end.