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Obama Praises House Health Bill

President Barack Obama released a statement Tuesday strongly commending the House health care overhaul bill as Democrats prepared to announce the measure this afternoon. But absent from a list of things Obama likes about the legislation was any comment about one of the bill’s most controversial provisions, an expected new tax on high-income earners.“Today, key committees in the House of Representatives have engaged in unprecedented cooperation to produce a health care reform proposal that will lower costs, provide better care for patients, and ensure fair treatment of consumers by the insurance industry,— Obama said in a written statement. Obama has dived directly into the health care debate since returning from a trip to Europe and Africa, offering public optimism on the measure and meeting with top Democrats to press for action.“This proposal controls the skyrocketing cost of health care by rooting out waste and fraud and promoting quality and accountability,— Obama said. “Its savings of more than $500 billion over 10 years will strengthen Medicare and contribute to our goal of reforming health care in a fiscally responsible way.—While the legislation is expected to be ardently opposed by Republicans, Obama said he looked forward to working with “all House Members— on the bill.

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