Boehner On Healthcare: ‘Mr. President, Scrap This Bill’ 
The Hill
Molly K. Hooper 
07/21/09 

Noting disagreements among Democratic lawmakers over the president’s landmark healthcare reform measure, House GOP leader John Boehner said on Tuesday, “Mr. President, scrap this bill.”

Boehner and House GOP leaders told reporters that it is apparent that the bill is in trouble given the dissension voiced by the Democratic rank-and-file.

GOP Whip Eric Cantor (Va.) said “either this bill fails or it will change dramatically, and if the bill fails it will be because of disagreement among the Democrats as to the proper direction to head as far as healthcare reform is concerned.”

President Obama intends to make a heavy lobbying effort at the White House on Tuesday afternoon to convince conservative Democrats to support his trillion-dollar bill.

Starting Tuesday at noon, House Republicans intend to begin their effort to delay consideration of Obama’s “job-killing” measure.

The GOP Conference chairman said Monday that the president needs to “come off” his timeline for the House to pass a massive healthcare bill before the August recess.

If the president reached out to Republicans and slowed the process down, a bipartisan bill would be possible.

Boehner (R-Ohio) told reporters on Tuesday that it’s time to “start over with a bipartisan bill,” and that he’s encouraged “there are members on my side of the aisle trying to find a way forward; there’s a bipartisan way to solve the cost problems with healthcare and to ensure affordable access to Americans.”