government takeover of care. chris: president obama and former democrat now turned republican congressman parker griffith this weekend making what could be some of the final arguments for and against healthcare reform. time for the sunday panel of fox news contributors. bill crystal of the weekly standard. mara liasson of national public radio. former white house press secretary dana p perino and jun williams. what he is saying is if you pass this plan there are benefits that will kick in this year, the ability of insurance companies to kick out people or keep people out with preexisting conditions will be gone. seniors will get more money for the prescription drug benefits this year. the argument seems to be you pass it, congressional democrats and you will have something to take home to voter. and critics would reply that the medicare advantage cuts kick in this year.
on the quality of the treatment. a lot of people have been chalk talking about that but that is not going to be changed in the so-called reconciliation fix. i think they will be two tough votes to turn around. shannon: great discussion. a lot there and you covered a lot of ground with them and the panel as well. stick around and see it today. chris, thank you. you can watch all of chris interviews with governor romney and congressman altmire and adler. and hear what mitt romney has to say about healthcare and his plans for 2012. former nfl player john runyon now has the support of ocean county republicans. the endorsement prevents a contested primary and clears the way for runyon to challenge the freshman congressman. adler won the seat in 2008. it was the first time in a century that republicans lost control of that district. six people are dead and more than a dozen still in the hospital after a deadly bus crash in arizona on friday.
democrats who won in 2008 in a district that john mccain also carried. wouldn t switching your vote from no to yes give republicans a big argument to use against you. in. using the word switch implies that this is the same bill. as i outlined this is a very different finished product than where we were the first time we voted on this in november. number one for me is where my constituents are. i feel like constituents want healthcare reform. there is a level of unease with this package and it is my job to talk with them and cast a vote. chris: the president has staked enormous prestige, some say he is all in with this issue. starting with you, congressman altmire, are you prepared to hand the president a huge defeat by defeating healthcare? i was sent here to represent my constituents and what i m doing is trying to impact the debate so that we can have a bill that i can vote for. i told the president what my concerns are, if the finished
i. i think i was elected to do what is right. i m not worried about election stuff. i m worried about trying to help the business community and taxpayers and our future as a sew tiety. chris: you are one of the democrats who won in 2008 in a district that john mccain also carried. wouldn t switching your vote from no to yes give republicans a big argument to use against you. in. using the word switch implies that this is the same bill. as i outlined this is a very different finished product than where we were the first time we voted on this in november. number one for me is where my constituents are. i feel like constituents want healthcare reform. there is a level of unease with this package and it is my job to talk with them and cast a vote. chris: the president has staked enormous prestige, some say he is all in with this issue. starting with you, congressman
what my concerns are in the bill and in the end this will come down to whether or not we do nothing or whether or not we pass the bill. i think the worst possible thing we could do is pass a bill that makes the system worse. a close second is to do nothing because if we do nothing business owners will continue to see double digit rate increases, seniors will continue to see medicare increases. chris: i want to talk some politics. some would say we have been talking it all along. you come from a district that not prior to you had a democratic congressman i think it was for more than 100 years. question if you switch from a no vote on healthcare reform because a lot of people aren t going to get all the nuances to a yes vote. don t you put a big target on your back in november. i. i think i was elected to do what is right. i m not worried about election stuff. i m worried about trying to help the business community and taxpayers and our future as a sew tiety. chris: you are one o