Obama wants bipartisan healthcare action
WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- A bipartisan discussion about jobs and the U.S. economy touched on how lawmakers can move ahead on healthcare reform, President Barack Obama said Tuesday.
Obama announced previously he'll meet with congressional Democratic and Republican leaders Feb. 25 for a television discussion of healthcare reform. He has said he would be willing to consider healthcare reform ideas from both parties.
After the meeting Tuesday, Obama told reporters he would subject reform proposals to critical questions.
"I'm looking forward to a constructive debate," he said, "with plans that need to be measured against this test: Does it bring down costs for all Americans, as well as for the federal government, which spends a huge amount on healthcare? Does it provide adequate protection against abuses by the insurance industry? Does it make coverage affordable and available to the tens of millions of working Americans who don't have it right now? And does it help us get on a path of fiscal sustainability?"
Noting news reports that Anthem Blue Cross, the largest insurer in California, indicated it would raise premiums for many individual policyholders by as much as 39 percent, Obama said, "If we don't act, this is just a preview of coming attractions: Premiums will continue to rise for folks with insurance, millions more will lose their coverage altogether, our deficits will continue to grow larger."
In a letter to the White House Monday, House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio and Minority Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia said GOP members would be "reluctant to participate" in the meeting if the bills passed by the House and the Senate were the starting point. Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., the ranking minority member of the Budget Committee, while welcoming the invitation, expressed concern that the meeting would become "an arena for political theater."
Obama, Dems, GOP discuss economy, jobs
WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama said his meeting Tuesday with Republican and Democratic congressional leaders went well and he hoped for more bipartisan meetings.
"We all understand that there are legitimate and genuine differences between the parties," Obama told reporters after the meeting. "But despite the political posturing that often paralyzes this town, there are many issues upon which we can and should agree."
Obama said he and the leaders from the House and Senate discussed their approaches to job creation and pulling the nation out of the recession.
He said both parties should be able to come together to help create more jobs and provide small businesses with additional tax credits and much-needed loans.
Nigeria seats acting president
ABUJA, Nigeria, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- Vice President Goodluck Jonathan became Nigeria's acting president Tuesday by vote of the National Assembly.
The Senate voted to suspend ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua from office, Radio France Internationale reported. The BBC has said Yar'Adua is suffering from an inflammation of the lining around his heart and has kidney problems.
Critics suggested immediately the legislative action was unconstitutional, The New York Times reported. The 58-year-old president, who has been in office since May 2007, has been out of the country since late November getting medical treatment in Saudi Arabia.
Jibrin Ibrahim, director of the Center for Democracy and Development, called the vote a "political farce."
"If it continues, the end of the road in this case is bureaucratic anarchy," Balarabe Musa, chairman of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, said.
Musa told RFI Yar'Adua should be impeached for leaving the country without notifying the legislature.
Jonathan, 52, gave a broadcast speech to the nation.
"Today affords us time to reconnect with ourselves and overcome any suspicions, hurts and doubts, which had occurred," he said in a transcript printed in The Nigerian Compass. "In all these, there are no winners and no losers because, by the grace of God, we have once again succeeded in moving our country forward."
Since the president left the country, there have been court battles and Cabinet fights over making Jonathan acting president.
Sudan, Chad mending fences
KHARTOUM, Sudan, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- The leaders of Sudan and Chad said Tuesday they have taken steps to end diplomatic tensions between the two African nations
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir said he and Chadian President Idriss Deby "have turned the page of our differences and disputes between the two states," the BBC reported.
"From today, our common battle is the realization of peace, security and stability for the affluence of the people of the two states," al-Bashir said.
Al-Bashir called for the resumption of full diplomatic relations between the two countries, which had accused each other of fomenting rebellions. Deby, who spent two days meeting with his counterpart in Sudan, extended an invitation to al-Bashir to visit Chad.
Deby also urged Chadian rebels operating out of Sudan to lay down their arms, saying they would not be harmed upon returning home.
Scott Gration, a special U.S. envoy to Sudan, told the British network the development was a good start but said progress will depend on the countries reducing the power of militias operating under their auspices.
