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Updated: 10:27 PM Feb 17, 2010
NEW INFO: Rockefeller Blasts Senate on Health Overhaul
U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller says arcane Senate rules have jeopardized passage of legislation designed to overhaul the country's health care system.
Posted: 10:27 PM Feb 17, 2010Reporter: The Associated Press; Brooks Jarosz Email Address: brooks.jarosz@wsaz.com; anna.baxter@wsaz.com |
(WSAZ Photo / Amanda Barren)
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80 Comments 
UPDATE from 5:30pm Wednesday
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Jobs and health care reform have been the source of a lot debate over the last couple of months.
At the Capitol in Charleston, U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., attended a rally Wednesday to discuss his frustrations on Capitol Hill.
There is hope a bipartisan plan will be passed soon to help provide relief for working class families.
"We can't really fix the economy until we fix health care," rally organizer Gary Zuckett said.
"If you don't have health care today, you're just in a mess," Cathy Hutchinson said.
Labor and advocacy leaders, along with concerned citizens, united at the West Virginia State Capitol to urge leaders to provide relief to their wallets.
"My prescriptions are astronomical," April Palmer said. "I not only have health insurance through my employer, but I have to have supplemental to cover the expenses of my medication ... It's either pay for medication or pay for gas and that's really sad."
It's a tough situation that also deeply affects those with disabilities.
"They're the ones where the programs get cut, money gets taken away, Medicaid, Medicare, everything affects people with disabilities," Hutchinson said. "So we're just trying to make sure everyone gets a fair shake in life, and bad bills don't get passed. That's why we're up here."
Democratic lawmakers are confident a bipartisan plan will be passed soon.
"I keep my fingers crossed," Rockefeller said. "I'm hopeful. You never give up ... You go back to work everyday, fight as hard as you can and someday things work out."
Zuckett said, "There's a lot of federal recovery dollars that still can be captured if the Legislature here in West Virginia does its job."
It's a job that some advocacy groups say Americans lose sight.
"We want a society ruled by law so when people violate the law we aggressively arrest them and prosecute them and incarcerate them," Matthew Watts said. "But when it comes to using the law to help people and very poor people, we have a tendency to develop amnesia and we become blind and we tend to ignore the laws that are on the book."
This means coming together to motivate more West Virginians to speak up for changes they say are so desperately needed.
Rally supporters say the main point they hope legislators will take away is awareness and the hope of statewide health care reform that covers every West Virginian.
ORIGINAL STORY
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller says arcane Senate rules have jeopardized passage of legislation designed to overhaul the country's health care system.
Speaking at a rally Wednesday in the state Capitol, Rockefeller said Senate Republicans are impeding that and other legislation by threatening filibusters.
Senate rules dictate that a filibuster can only be overcome by 60 votes. Even though Democrats have an 18-seat majority in that body, they're one short of 60.
Rockefeller told the crowd of about 75 there's still a chance for the bill, although the mood of the rally was doubtful.
Sam Hickman, director of the state chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, says he's not sure whether Washington will pass any health legislation.
Latest Comments
Ain't no use discussing with a GOP. They don't think for themselves. They follow the mythsayers: Gingrich,Beck,Rowe,and the pain medicated!
Good job, Keith using communist China to make your point about cpaitalist, free-market countries leading the world in everything.
This is from the World Health Organization: "The World Health Organization (WHO) in World Health Report 2000 ranked the Italian health care system second among 191 countries (France was first) with respect to health status, fairness in financial contribution, and responsiveness to people’s expectations of the health system.1 The U.S. health care system, which spends more per person on health care than any other country, was ranked 37th, last among industrialized countries."
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