Mixed Messages on the Public Plan

“But no one said Barack Obama or any of the pro-government-option factions in Congress want to pull the plug on their own grandmothers”
“U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, speaks to more than 300 in Winterset Wednesday morning.
“In the House bill, there is counseling for end of life,” Grassley said. “You have every right to fear. You shouldn’t have counseling at the end of life, you should have done that 20 years before. Should not have a government run plan to decide when to pull the plug on grandma””

Let’s be clear about one thing – Obama has always been for the Public Option. The “sliver” comment has to do with it being one part of the overall Health Insurance reform, but for Health Care reform it remains the key component – the means to the end.
It doesn’t matter what Sebelius says even though it is obvious she misspoke.
Really it comes down to you in the media who seem incapable of simply relaying the news as it is.
Get it together. Health Care is too important to trivialize.

Democrat – Rep. Massa: I will vote against the interests of my district
Washington Times reports
bring out the democrat mascot … the crying baby

“Obama revoked school vouchers for poor kids in DC”
Nope.
Though Democrats in Congress sought to end the program this school year, Obama intervened and made sure the kids attending now could finish out their full term of high school.

Obamacrat for Palin
***************************************
That is all you need to say.

jpt quotes Der CHANGEline:
“This is just one sliver of it”
Sliver, huh? Not even a chunk. Just … nothing. So much for His weird mantra that a “public option” would hahaha “keep insurance companies honest” . . .
“Keep” insurance companies “honest”.
Give this shameless, double-talking hustler the hook: Dr. Dean in 2012.

High deductible, catastrophic health insurance is just not that expensive, and would be even cheaper than it is if millions and millions of people formed the pool of insureds. Limited to that, I could support a public option.
Unfortunately, I know good an well it won’t be limited to that. Too many people want somebody else to subsidize their low deductibles, their low copays, their prescription drugs, etc.
I’d really, really like to see the cost of catastrophic health insurance separated from the cost of what is essentially prepaid medical care and the two treated separately. The former being something we should strive to extend to everybody, the latter being something we should be free to choose if we or our employers want to pay for it.

The Dems have to get their act together. But one of the main problems is that lobbyists and corporations are controlling the debate. There are a couple of related posts at http://iamsoannoyed.com/?page_id=588

“Der CHANGEline”
Slip of the finger-brain: CHANGElinG, Der CHANGEling.
No need to pay much attention to ANYthing He says, because it will soon CHANGE.
As for HOPE, one can only HOPE He’s out of the White House quickly — maybe for tapping the Treasury for the corporations a few too many times, or by cutting the Congress out of the PhRMA deal.
Anyway, this flim-flam administration can’t end too soon.
Dr. Dean in 2012. Single Payer. Peace.

“Let me tell you what the stakes are now. And what I find incredibly refreshing about this president is he uttered words that Lyndon Johnson never said, which is that we cannot win this war militarily. He knows that from the get-go.”
No kidding. We’re losing BTW.

“Right, I’m faking concern.”
Yup same old schtick with a different screen name.
“The main attraction of Afghanistan: its wide open spaces for weapons testing.
Howard Dean in 2012. Dump Obama.”
“HOWARD DEAN: Look, again, you know—and I don’t have to say anything nice; I’m not in the administration. But I’m with Obama on his conduct of the war”

“[A dozen Republican Senators who have elections in 2010] are sellouts to the insurance and medical lobbyist.”
–> So is Obama a sellout to insurance and medical lobbyists — what do you think His PhRMA deal with Billy Tauzin was about?
Can we get rid of Obama in 2010? That’d be a huge relief.

May be a plus for the president, but it would be a HUGE minus for the 80% of the population that is happy with their current insurance. The only “mobsters” are the ones in the WH from Chicago.

“He needs to show the public a concrete proposal; that is the only way to combat the mobsters…”
–> The guy who made a deal with Billy Tauzin so secret He kept it from Congress is hahaha going to “combat the mobsters”? Obama IS “the mobsters” — remember His Chicago mansion?
This hustler didn’t get where He is by showing “concrete proposal”s, but by the opposite.
He wants EVERYbody’s adoration — with the result that nobody even LIKES Him. One begins to suspect, in fact, that even the power-groupies at msnbc don’t like Him any more …

“He wants EVERYbody’s adoration — with the result that nobody even LIKES Him.”
*chuckle*
Ahhhh more made up nonsense.
Obama’s favorables (if you like him or not) are higher than his job approval by about 10 pts.
His job approval stands at 53.4% (RCP poll aggregate/avg)

“Obama’s favorables (if you like him or not) are higher than his job approval by about 10 pts.”
–> Only as a result of having been pushed like Cheez Whiz by CNN and MSNBC, whose collective ardor seems to be cooling.
Think O.J. Simpson :^|
As more people come to understand the circumstances and parameters of the secret PhRMA deal, the cutesy-poo factor — and the novelty of His over-merchandised “black” schtick — is gonna finish evaporating.
How many polls will continue to skew their questions to His supposed likeability doesn’t really matter: He’ll NEVER be believed on anything, or elected TO anything, again.
Howard Dean in 2012. Single Payer and Peace.

“Only as a result of having been pushed like Cheez Whiz by CNN and MSNBC, whose collective ardor seems to be cooling.”
ROFLMAO! The desperation when confronted with facts!
I see the right winger is peeking out from the left wing clothing.
“How many polls will continue to skew their questions to His supposed likeability doesn’t really matter:”
Yes because a question that asks: “Is your opinion of Barack Obama favorable or unfavorable or are you unsure” is totally skewed!
Another right wing spambot caught having no idea what they are talking about.

correction:
“By 3012″
Oops: it won’t REALLY take a thousand years. “2012″ was meant.

“At this point, were Dean to so much as WHISPER, most of the Democratic Party outside DC (along with a hefty chunk of it IN DC) would toss Obama like the rotten apple He is.”
Doubtful. Dean (like Obama) was never as liberal as the billing though he is certainly popular within the party.
Dean also does not think single payer is going to happen.
“Dr. Dean: President Obama’s plan is realistic. Even in Britain, where medicine really is socialized [doctors offices and hospitals are publicly owned] 15% of health care dollars go to private insurance. Private insurance isn’t going away. Americans should be the ones to choose. If they like their current, private insurance, they can keep it. If they aren’t satisfied, they should be able to choose a public plan. Respect Americans’ ability to decide.”
“By 3012, Obamamania will be only a slightly-embarrassing memory,”
The United States may be just a memory at that point in time.
“a political footnote to “The Madness of Crowds” … Obama will be kind of the “black” Gary Hart figure (was that the guy’s name, the “Monkey Business” fellow) — “smart” but annoying, a flash in the pan — with a dash of Gerald Ford — bumbling, boring — thrown in.”
Interesting that you extol Dean and trash Gary Hart considering that it was Hart who Dean credits with the DNC push to make in roads in the West.
Looks like more evidence that you are just lying.

“Looks like more evidence that you are just lying.”
Accusing someone of “lying” about matters of personal opinion is quite a stretch, logically speaking — even for an Oblabla groupie.

“After the “snitch line” drama, can you think of ANYbody dumb enough to tell an anonymous official-sounding telephone voice that he/she finds El Know-it-all “unlikeable”?”
–> That question is “ROFLMAO!”-level funny … how? Especially when Der Ocean-healer has at His disposal the expanded surveillance capabilities of the western world . . .
Don’t strain any brains here — it was just a rhetorical question.

“That question is “ROFLMAO!”-level funny … how?”
You taking a right wing talking point and running with it while claiming to be upset with Obama not being on the left enough.
That was hilarious.

“MASSA: I will vote for the single payer bill.
PARTICIPANT: Even if it meant you were being voted out of office?”
The previous questions were asking if the town hall was split 60/40 against single payer or 80/20 against single payer.
So the right wing has gone from ridiculing politicians legislating by poll to demanding it.

Bridget, I completely agree with you when you argue, “I’d really, really like to see the cost of catastrophic health insurance separated from the cost of what is essentially prepaid medical care and the two treated separately. The former being something we should strive to extend to everybody, the latter being something we should be free to choose if we or our employers want to pay for it.”
One objection I have to the current plans being circulated is that they do not seem to consider HSA and high deductible insurance to be a “qualified plan.” Republican efforts to amend the house bill, for example, so that it would explicitly state that HSAs and high deductibles would qualify were defeated in committee. So much for “if there’s a good idea out there, I don’t care what party it comes from.”
Yes, catastrophic health insurance is a different matter than everyday health care expenses, and the two should be delinked. I agree that we need to make sure everyone is able to buy affordable catastrophic health insurance and that the government should subsidize premiums for those in danger of falling through the cracks– not poor enough to qualify for medicaid, not rich enough to afford quality health coverage.
But I love the way Mackey handles HSAs at Whole Foods, as described in his superb op-ed in the WSJ. Whole Foods contributes up to 1800 a year into an employee’s HSA. That is the employee’s money to spend on health care as s/he wishes. Perhaps the government could set up HSAs for the uninsured and fund them to a certain level as well as subsidizing the purchase of a high deductible insurance premium.
There are plenty of ways to increase the level of coverage and to lower the cost of health insurance without a public option. Focusing on providing access to catastrophic health coverage rather than everything-but-the-kitchen-sink coverage is a good start.