{"id":2502,"date":"2009-07-10T17:07:07","date_gmt":"2009-07-10T21:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/?p=2502"},"modified":"2009-07-10T17:07:07","modified_gmt":"2009-07-10T21:07:07","slug":"speed-bump-senate-democrats-delay-action-on-obamas-healthcare-climate-initiatives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/07\/10\/speed-bump-senate-democrats-delay-action-on-obamas-healthcare-climate-initiatives\/","title":{"rendered":"Speed Bump: Senate Democrats Delay Action on Obama’s Healthcare & Climate Initiatives"},"content":{"rendered":"

Democrats in the House and Senate handed President Barack Obama a double dose of bad news<\/a> yesterday when they moved to delay on his top legislative priorities, healthcare and climate change. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) said they would put off work on the climate change bill until September while in House Blue Dog Democrats released a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer saying that the House should “pare back some of the cost-drivers to produce a bill that we can afford.”<\/p>\n

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama suffered a double-barreled setback in Congress on Thursday when members of his own party moved to apply the brakes on his top legislative priorities, healthcare and climate change.<\/p>\n

Obama has demanded urgent and simultaneous attention to overhauling healthcare and addressing climate change, saying both were necessary to boost the U.S. economy, which is in a deep recession.<\/p>\n

He has demanded that Congress send him a bill by October to cut healthcare costs and provide medical coverage to most of the 46 million uninsured Americans. The president wants climate change legislation before year’s end.<\/p>\n

While Obama was in Italy on Thursday encouraging world leaders to intensify the fight against global warming, legislation to cut U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases suffered a delay in the Senate.<\/p>\n

The leading Senate committee responsible for developing the climate change legislation put off for at least a month work on a bill, leaving less time for Congress to fulfill Obama’s desire to enact a law this year.<\/p>\n

“We’ll do it as soon as we get back” in September from a month-long break, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer, a Democrat, announced.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, Boxer said her committee had planned to complete work on a bill by early August.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Call me crazy but I think the Obama agenda is probably dead… Given the Presidents falling approval ratings<\/a>, the still sputtering economy and rising unemployment I think it’s very likely the December will roll around and there will be no passed and signed climate change bill, no healthcare bill and no financial reform bill.<\/p>\n

Simply put Democrats aren’t going to want to head into an election year as the party who saddled Americans with billions in new taxes and sputtering economy.<\/p>\n

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