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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: dave rose who wrote (132679)	3/21/2001 4:54:40 PM
From: ColtonGang	Respond to of 769667

Bush vs. McCain..........Bush draws line on healthcare By CNN's Wolf Blitzer President Bush has drawn another line in the sand. This time the issue is health care, specifically legislation calling for a patient's bill of rights. The president went to Orlando to address a group of doctors to declare that the legislation now before the Senate was unacceptable. He said he would not sign it into law - meaning he would use his veto pen instead. What he didn't say was this: that legislation in the Senate is co-sponsored by two Democrats, Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts and John Edwards of North Carolina, and one Republican, John McCain of Arizona. In my daily column for CNN.com, I will share some perspective on the day's news, including behind-the-scenes background and details of conversations I've had with newsmakers. You will be able to find it right here every Monday through Friday. I'd love to get your feedback. You can always email me at wolf@cnn.com. Return to: >>CNN.com mainpage >>CNN.com U.S. section The key political issue here is the Republican co-sponsor. As political reporter of The Los Angeles Times Ron Brownstein recently wrote that the tensions between the president and McCain are heating up again. "Hands down," Brownstein says, "the most poisonous feud in Washington is the one between the White House and the man Bush beat for the Republican presidential nomination just over a year ago." The two men have been engaged in a running battle on several fronts, including campaign finance reform, gun control, tax cuts, and now health care. "The result is a cold war that has both sides predicting nothing but sustained conflict," says Brownstein. When I interviewed McCain on Late Edition on March 11, his irritation with the White House was largely contained. But he certainly didn't back away from his campaign finance reform principles even in the face of strong opposition from the president. He also made clear he didn't like the way the Republican majority in the House rushed through a big chunk of the president's tax cut proposals without significant debate and without a formal budget. This is a senator who spent years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. In more recent years, he has been battling melanoma - a deadly form of skin cancer. He certainly has no fear of battling the president - even a president of his own party - when he deems it right. The issue involving the patients' bill of rights goes right to the core of this dispute between the president and the senator. It is an issue that could affect almost every American. The president wants a cap on the amount that patients - under federal law -- can sue their doctors and HMO's. When he was governor of Texas, that state cap was $750,000, and he signed that legislation into law. The McCain-Kennedy-Edwards bill has a $5 million cap. "Any federal bill must have reasonable caps on damage awards, and the caps on proposed legislation in Congress are too high and will drive up the cost of medical care in America," the president said, while not spelling out how high a cap he might accept. So add health care to the growing list of battles between the White House and the Congress. Other fronts, of course, include tax cuts and campaign finance reform. Tonight on Wolf Blitzer Reports, we will get a full report on this confrontation. I also have invited Ron Brownstein to join us live and talk about the feud. One question I will ask Ron: What are the chances McCain might decide to challenge the president in 2004 - running as a third party candidate? We will also get into the looming energy crisis facing the country today. I have asked the former Clinton Energy Secretary, Bill Richardson, and the chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, Frank Murkowski of Alaska, to join us to thrash out the issues. Why is California in the midst of an energy crunch? Why are gasoline prices going up again? Did the Clinton administration drop the ball on energy policy? Could the current problems have been foreseen? Please join us tonight and every weeknight at 8 pm (Eastern). Thanks. Wolf Blitzer Read Wolf Blitzer's Daily Report, news and observations on the day's top stories, Monday through Friday right here