Posted by: Alex Leary
Source: blogs.tampabay.com
GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill McCollum: President Obama gave a well delivered speech tonight that was great on style and wrong on substance. The health care plan that Washington Democrats and what I suspect my opponent Alex Sink supports will not work in its current form. As I have said before, these proposals will reduce the quality of care, limit choice and put our more than three million senior citizens in Florida at great risk.
RPOF Chairman Jim Greer: The President’s speech tonight was a good effort in discussing this important issue with the American public. I, along with many people, believe that our health care system has challenges which must be addressed and while I agreed with much of what the President had to say, there is still much that I cannot support when it comes to government run health care and the many unanswered questions that still exist. At the end of the day, the President was right when he said that the need for bipartisanship cooperation is crucial to passing health care reform legislation that all Americans can support
Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Orlando: I’m glad the president is proposing insurance exchanges that will help the nearly one-in-four Floridians who don’t have or cannot get affordable health insurance. Americans who are satisfied with their coverage should be able to keep what they have. And we ought to make coverage affordable for those who don’t have it.
Florida Democratic Chairwoman Karen Thurman: We are closer than ever to passing comprehensive reform and President Obama has laid out a clear path forward. Unfortunately, Republican leaders in Florida have decided to stand in lock-step opposition to reform. They want to maintain the status quo and hurt President Obama politically. Opponents of reform have a choice. They can either stop playing partisan games and come up with their own reform proposal, or they can start explaining to the American people why it’s better to stand by and do nothing at all as thousands more Floridians face skyrocketing costs and lose their coverage every day.
Health care: The Florida reaction
