Friday, January 08, 2010

Buffett Calls Nelson Courageous for Supporting Healthcare

Nebraskan Warren Buffett is throwing his support behind Sen. Ben Nelson for voting for the Senate healthcare bill:
Warren Buffett said Thursday he'd have voted for the Senate's health care reform bill, and Sen. Ben Nelson was courageous to do so.
Buffett's defense of Nelson came in a telephone interview from Omaha following more than two weeks of intense political fire directed at Nebraska's Democratic senator.
"What we do know is the present system is not working well," Buffett said. "Health care costs have galloped up as a percentage of GDP (gross domestic product), and we haven't covered the population the way a rich country should.
"It is time for us to try to make an improvement."
Recognizing the legislation no doubt will "require modification over time," Buffett said, "I would have made the same vote" that Nelson did.
"I think he did the right thing. I think he did the courageous thing.
...
That kind of decision is "what I really admire," Buffett said.
"The perfect is always the enemy of the good," he said, "and the unknown scares people."
But tackling health care reform now is "the right thing for the country."
"This bill is not going to be perfect," Buffett said. "There will be some unintended consequences and some surprises."
Journal Star