Crucial voting on Obama's health care bill tomorrow
Saturday, 20 March 2010
From Fazle Rashid
NEW YORK, Mar 19: The crucial voting on President Obama's health care reform has been set for tomorrow (Sunday). The issue is so close to his heart that he has postponed his upcoming visit to Australia and Indonesia for the second time. He was scheduled to leave tomorrow but will now go in June. The Democratic Party members of the House of Representatives are hopeful of locking 216 votes that will be needed to pass the health care bill.
The Budget Office estimates that federal deficits will be reduced by $138 billion over the next decade with medicare savings and additional tax revenue. Ms. Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House faces an uphill task. The Obama administration's effort to overhaul the $2500 America's health care system is nearing fruition, an analyst said. The bill seeks to provide health coverage to 31 million uninsured Americans and imposing tough new regulations on the insurance company.
The passage of the healthcare reforms bill add a new feather to President Obama's cap but his foreign policy priorities are facing set back as Russia refuses to backtrack on its Iranian nuclear policy, China showing open defiance to US pressure to revalue its currency and Israel continues to flout US dictates on new settlement in the occupied areas.
A Pentagon official expressed concern over Russia's increasing reliance on nuclear weapons. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and foreign minister of Russia publicly clashed over an announcement that Russia would complete a nuclear power plant in Iran this summer. The disagreement comes at a delicate moment for the US administration as it struggles to win support for tough new sanctions against Iran and to improve ties with Russia.
It also follows a major embarrassment to the administration during last week's visit to Israel by vice-president Biden when the Israeli government announced plan for building housing units in the occupied areas. The currency tangle between China and the US continues to sour the bilateral ties between the two most powerful nations in the world. The US ambassador to China expressed concern over China's reluctance to revalue its currency renminbi. America does value close ties with China. "To put our relationship on a more stable and secure footing we have to delink our differences on bilateral issues from our cooperation on global issues," The New York Times quoted the US ambassador to China as saying.
Jon Huntsman, the US ambassador anticipates the recent disruption in the bilateral ties with China will be rapidly overcome. China like Russia is against applying sanctions on Iran saying all diplomatic efforts have not been exhausted.
NEW YORK, Mar 19: The crucial voting on President Obama's health care reform has been set for tomorrow (Sunday). The issue is so close to his heart that he has postponed his upcoming visit to Australia and Indonesia for the second time. He was scheduled to leave tomorrow but will now go in June. The Democratic Party members of the House of Representatives are hopeful of locking 216 votes that will be needed to pass the health care bill.
The Budget Office estimates that federal deficits will be reduced by $138 billion over the next decade with medicare savings and additional tax revenue. Ms. Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House faces an uphill task. The Obama administration's effort to overhaul the $2500 America's health care system is nearing fruition, an analyst said. The bill seeks to provide health coverage to 31 million uninsured Americans and imposing tough new regulations on the insurance company.
The passage of the healthcare reforms bill add a new feather to President Obama's cap but his foreign policy priorities are facing set back as Russia refuses to backtrack on its Iranian nuclear policy, China showing open defiance to US pressure to revalue its currency and Israel continues to flout US dictates on new settlement in the occupied areas.
A Pentagon official expressed concern over Russia's increasing reliance on nuclear weapons. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and foreign minister of Russia publicly clashed over an announcement that Russia would complete a nuclear power plant in Iran this summer. The disagreement comes at a delicate moment for the US administration as it struggles to win support for tough new sanctions against Iran and to improve ties with Russia.
It also follows a major embarrassment to the administration during last week's visit to Israel by vice-president Biden when the Israeli government announced plan for building housing units in the occupied areas. The currency tangle between China and the US continues to sour the bilateral ties between the two most powerful nations in the world. The US ambassador to China expressed concern over China's reluctance to revalue its currency renminbi. America does value close ties with China. "To put our relationship on a more stable and secure footing we have to delink our differences on bilateral issues from our cooperation on global issues," The New York Times quoted the US ambassador to China as saying.
Jon Huntsman, the US ambassador anticipates the recent disruption in the bilateral ties with China will be rapidly overcome. China like Russia is against applying sanctions on Iran saying all diplomatic efforts have not been exhausted.