Dianne Feinstein Dithers on Healthcare Reform
California senator still won't back Obama's healthcare plan
By JACKSON WEST
Updated 12:08 PM PDT, Thu, Dec 17, 2009
Citing the potential costs of President Barack Obama's proposed healthcare reform legislation, California Senator Dianne Feinstein has refused to openly back the project.
While agreeing that the country needs healthcare reform, in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday she expressed concerns that the the program could potentially increase deficits going forward.
"The problem is how to do it and how to pay for it. The specifics of that need to get laid out in a crystal-clear, uncomplicated manner," Feinstein told the paper.
Of course, Feinstein doesn't seem to worry about healthcare costs when they are spent on her career -- the industry is the sixth-largest donor to Feinstein's campaign funds since 2005, contributing over $300,000 according to Web watchdog OpenSecrets.
The Senate voted yesterday to table the bill in question, and will not vote on the issue until the fall. House Democrats, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, were pressing for a vote this month.
Jackson West wonders if the defense appropriations bills that benefited her husband's companies to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars are considered "entitlement spending."
Copyright NBC Local Media
First Published: Jul 24, 2009 12:55 PM PDT on NBC Bay Area
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