By Gorman Gorman

Aug 3, 2009 8:05am

The Note: Summer of Discontent — Looking for Foes in Health Care Debate

ABC News’ Rick Klein reports: The White House has always wanted the debate to move outside of Washington. Well, here we go. The table indeed had too many seats around it — or at least an uncomfortable chair or two. And so — welcome to the summer of discontent. We’ve got concerns about the economy (nothing like starting a week with tax talk and ending it with job numbers), bailouts and clunkers, and a national debate on health care where the winner might be the side that better defines what it’s up against. The health care debate pits four bills (plus one pending in the Senate) against a growing effort to stop them — not the best of odds for Team Obama. But recall how much crisper the message machine has been when there’s someone or something to rally against. An enemy is found: “Congressional Democrats — under assault from Republicans who say their approach to healthcare overhaul is too expensive, rushed, and heavy-handed — are heading into the summer recess with a target of their own: insurers,” Lisa Wangsness writes in The Boston Globe. “Democrats leave town for the August recess with frayed nerves and fragile agreements on health-care reform, and a new bogeyman to fire up their constituents: the insurance industry,” Shailagh Murray and Paul Kane write in The Washington Post. “With the House already gone and the Senate set to clear out by Friday, the terms of the recess battle are becoming clear. Republicans will assail the government coverage plan that Democrats and President Obama are advocating as a recklessly expensive federal takeover of health care. And Democrats will counter that GOP opposition represents a de facto endorsement of insurance industry abuses.” “Congressional Democrats and leading advocacy groups are laying the groundwork for an August offensive against the insurance industry as part of a coordinated campaign to sell the public on the need for reform,” The New York Times’ Sheryl Gay Stolberg and David Herszenhorn report. David Axelrod: “Our job is to help folks understand how this will help them.” “The drumbeat will begin Monday, when Kathleen Sebelius, the health and human services secretary, travels to Hartford to talk about what the White House now calls ‘health insurance reform,’ ” Stolberg and Herszenhorn write. “Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, who disclosed Friday that he has prostate cancer and pointedly reminded Americans that he was fortunate to have health coverage, will be among several Democratic lawmakers present.” What to say: “A political strategy memo distributed to House Democrats suggested that one tactic for wooing voters will be targeting insurers. It advised them to tell people the legislation ‘will hold insurance companies accountable’ by barring co-payments, discrimination against those with pre-existing medical conditions or termination of benefits ‘because you get sick,’ ” Bloomberg’s Kristin Jensen and Nicole Gaouette report. Looking for a response (here’s guessing we won’t have to wait long): “The question now: Will the insurance industry, which has tried to keep a low profile while maintaining the proverbial seat at the table, commence a big, mean anti-reform counterattack — à la 1994′s ‘Harry and Louise’ ads?” Politico’s Glenn Thrush asks. An insight you’ll see again: “On health care, energy, taxes and spending, [the president is] pushing a blue-state agenda during a recession that’s exposed some of the blue-state model’s weaknesses, and some of the red-state model’s strengths,” Ross Douthat writes in his New York Times column. Another insight you’ll see again: “Tell your congressmen and senators when they’re home for the summer recess that it’s too soon to address this issue,” Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter writes in his column. “We’ve only been debating it for 97 years, since Theodore Roosevelt put national health insurance in the Bull Moose Party platform of 1912. We’ve only had 745 congressional hearings on the subject (I made that number up, but it’s got to be close). That’s not enough! Let’s study this problem more before we do anything about it.” A difficult comparison, on several levels: “Obama could be falling into the same trap that snagged George W. Bush when he was pushing private accounts for Social Security as part of his ‘ownership society’ in 2005,” the AP’s Tom Raum reports. “Bush’s claims that the proposal would help shore up Social Security’s long-term finances were hard to document mathematically and wound up feeding greater public skepticism.” Who stands for Washington? “Obama has not yet convinced enough people to discard the discomfort they may have over more government involvement in the health care system,” Roll Call’s Keith Koffler writes. “Though an outsider, the heart of his plan — a public insurance option — would expand the power of the city he campaigned against. And, according to polls and the president himself, that seems to be making many people uncomfortable.” Having fun with a large majority: “Republicans and other critics portray Obama’s plan as a federal takeover of medicine, making it a much riskier issue for Democrats in more conservative districts. That includes the many Democrats elected in Republican-leaning districts in the 2006 and 2008 elections and the Blue Dog coalition of fiscal conservatives,” the Los Angeles Times’ Janet Hook reports. “That wing of the Democratic Party has bargained hard for concessions to help small businesses and rural areas, and to reduce the overall cost of the bill.” The video Republicans want you to see (and replicate): “Back in Central Texas while Congress is on a month-long recess, Congressman Lloyd Doggett faced an angry reception at a town hall meeting at an Austin Randalls store yesterday,” Patrick George writes for the Austin American-Statesman. “Doggett, D-Austin, spoke at the Randalls at Brodie and Slaughter lanes on Saturday. A video of the event on YouTube shows many in the crowd showed up with signs denouncing President Obama’s proposed health care plan.” Plus, a Web video from House Republican leadership to kick off the recess with some ’80s advertising nostalgia: President Obama is not a doctor, but House GOP leaders want you to see him playing one on TV. House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, tells The Note in a statement: “Like the old joke goes, President Obama isn’t a doctor, but he plays one on TV — giving Americans a discomforting glimpse of life under ObamaCare, with government leaders and bureaucrats dispensing medical opinions that are better left to doctors, medical professionals, and patients. This is a lighthearted video, but it underscores a serious point that Congressional Democrats are going to hear throughout August as they travel outside of Washington: Americans want lower health care costs — not a trillion-dollar government takeover of health care that increases costs and lets Washington bureaucrats make decisions that should be made by doctors and patients.” UPDATE: This afternoon, DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan responded: “John Boehner isn’t an insurance company executive, but he sure plays one in the U.S. House of Representatives. That’s the only explanation for admittedly working to ‘kill’ health insurance reform while premiums for the average American family are rising three times faster than their wages, while small businesses are choosing between offering coverage and creating jobs, and when controlling runaway health care costs is necessary to get the economy fully back on track.” Also in the health care debate: Early GOP 2012 skirmishing: “In typical fashion, the self-proclaimed experts piecing together this Democratic health-care legislation are focusing on only one leg — access — of a three-legged stool that also includes cost and quality,” Gov. Tim Pawlenty, R-Minn., writes in a Washington Post op-ed. “Massachusetts’s experience should caution Congress against focusing primarily on access. While the Massachusetts plan has reduced the number of uninsured people, costs have been dramatically higher than expected. The result? Increased taxes and fees.” Back to the economy: “President Obama, after working on health care for most of the past month, turns attention this week to the overall economy — and Republican attacks on his $787 billion stimulus bill and the unemployment rate,” USA Today’s David Jackson writes. “Obama returns this week to the economically battered city of Elkhart, Ind., which he visited on Feb. 9 to promote the then-pending stimulus bill. The White House also is bracing for an end-of-the week report that Obama said will likely show another rise in unemployment.” Before the jobs report hits on Friday: “On Wednesday, President Obama and Vice President Biden will do their first tag-team road trip. They’re each traveling to a different state to argue that the stimulus plan is working,” Politico’s Mike Allen reports. Set to dominate the discussion until then: Will President Obama have to break his pledge not to raise taxes on 95 percent of Americans? “We’re going to have to do what’s necessary,” Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on “This Week” Sunday. Writes Stephanopoulos: “Geithner was clear that he believes a key component of economic recovery is deficit reduction. When I gave him several opportunities to rule out a middle class tax hike, he wouldn’t do it.” “We have to bring these deficits down very dramatically,” Geithner said. “And that’s going to require some very hard choices.” Start it rolling: “Wavering on an emphatic promise he made in the spring, top White House economic adviser Lawrence H. Summers would not rule out middle-class tax increases Sunday as a way for the Obama administration to pay for a sweeping health care plan,” Tom LoBianco reports in the Washington Times. “The statement, which was echoed by Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner on Sunday’s talk shows, pries open a door to the kinds of broad tax increases that Mr. Obama opposed in his campaign and that he and his advisers have ruled out since taking office in January.” Talking-point ready: “Strapped local and state governments are still spending on at least one activity: seeking stimulus money,” Louise Radnofsky and Leslie Eaton report in The Wall Street Journal. Decision week on bonuses: “White House officials know that populist sentiment could be stirred up with news of these billions of dollars in bonuses going to officials from these companies that received billions in government bailouts from the taxpayers,” ABC’s Jake Tapper reported on “Good Morning America” Monday. “What [the president] does not want is, on top of all the concerns about his spending programs, to be held responsible for these billions in bonuses.” Of immediate concern in Congress: Will cash-for-clunkers really get junked? “Without additional funding from Congress, the popular Cash for Clunkers program could perish this week, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said on C-SPAN Sunday,” ABC’s Rachel Martin and Ki Mae Heussner report. “This weekend, the program’s financial limbo spilled into showrooms across the country, as potential car buyers wondered if they were eligible for the program and if the program still existed at all.” “The uncertainty over whether the government’s pump-priming will continue has thrown a cloud over the program’s apparent success in stimulating consumer demand,” The Wall Street Journal’s Corey Boles reports. “Senate Democratic leaders said Sunday that they hoped to bring a $2 billion extension to the Senate floor this week as the program’s original $1 billion in funding runs low.” How to get prime-time TV coverage? White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel went to the top: “Rather than calling ABC, the White House chief of staff phoned Bob Iger, chief executive of parent company Disney. Instead of contacting NBC, Emanuel went to Jeffrey Immelt, the chief executive of General Electric. He also spoke with Les Moonves, the chief executive of CBS, the company spun off from Viacom,” The Washington Post’s Howard Kurtz reports. “Whether this amounted to undue pressure or plain old Chicago arm-twisting, Emanuel got results: the fourth hour of lucrative network time for his boss in six months. But network executives have been privately complaining to White House officials that they cannot afford to keep airing these sessions in the current economic downturn.” You didn’t think there would be a Palin-free week, did you? The next excerpt of the new Dan Balz-Haynes Johnson book is published in Monday’s Washington Post (the book hits shelves Tuesday, and the authors will be on ABCNews.com’s “Top Line” Friday): Rick Davis, on why Sen. John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate: “When you looked at everyone else, they all were good, solid selections in their own right, but who was really going to help us try and push back all these signals that said we were going to lose? Sixty days wasn’t enough time to crawl our way back into the election.” Write Balz and Johnston: “At McCain headquarters in Virginia, the communications team was caught off guard. No one had given members the advance word that they needed to prepare background material. Inundated by media calls trying to confirm the choice, they were helpless, some of them not sure how to pronounce her name. One staffer was frantically trying to download information about Palin when the overloaded Alaska state government Web site crashed. Unable to get answers to basic questions, the campaign gave out inaccurate information, telling one news organization she had been to Iraq when she had only been near the border on a visit to Kuwait. ‘It was horrific,’ one campaign official said. ‘It was a disaster. It was a huge disaster.’ ”

The Kicker: “You don’t go up against ‘American Idol’ — not even Barack Obama.” — Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer. “You know, that the economics team has a lot of strong personalities. I’m actually one of them. I’m right up there with the boys.” — Christina Romer, chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, to CNN’s Jessica Yellin. For up-to-the-minute political updates check out The Note’s blog . . . all day every day:

User Comments

One foe that the President evidently chooses to ignore. The American people who don’t want to provide care for aliens, 12-20 million of whom are here illegally. If they need care they should pay cash or go home and let their taxpayers take care of them.
Our President and Congress (are they still ours?) Choose to give them medical care at expense of citizens, then give them amnesty. We also don’t want to provide care for the octomom, Jon & Kate and everyone who breeds themselves into poverty. If you can’t afford to provide for a bunch of children, why have even more?

Posted by: Oonogil | August 3, 2009, 8:42 am 8:42 am

There are plenty of foes–rich health care CEOs, large corporations and the GOP which represents them. The abuses of the health care corporations–rescission, huge deductibles, excluding all but the most insurable, encouraging employers to lay you off when you get a serious illness so the employers won’t get huge increases in their health care costs, etc. Those things make the health care companies rich. I read where UnitedHealthcare made three quarters of a billion last quarter while 14,000 people a day lost insurance. We all know we will lose our insurance as soon as we get an expensive illness.
We need public health care insurance reform now.

Posted by: JAB | August 3, 2009, 8:47 am 8:47 am

Oonogil:”One foe that the President evidently chooses to ignore. The American people who don’t want to provide care for aliens, 12-20 million of whom are here illegally. If they need care they should pay cash or go home and let their taxpayers take care of them. ”
Could you please quit lying and stick to reality when discussing health care?
Reality:
“H.R. 3200: Sec 246 — NO FEDERAL PAYMENT FOR UNDOCUMENTED ALIENS
Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States.”
Reality:
“studies indicate that of the roughly 12 million unauthorized immigrants in this country [now], about half have health insurance and half are uninsured.” – CBO Nov 2008 (the same CBO who is taking a very conservative line on cost estimates of healthcare reform)
Anyone trying to evaluate the options, please steer clear of the editorials, paper-selling headlines, and flat out lies and look into the facts before making a decision. Thanks.

Posted by: jhw539 | August 3, 2009, 9:00 am 9:00 am

The American people are in for a rude awaking and hopefully a reality check at the same time when it comes to this Obama administration.
Within the next 3 to 4 months ALL Americans will receive a tax increase and it could range from 12% yo 20% of income and the hidden taxes for globe warming programs will break the country just as Britain has already learned.
This is what you get when you elect a President, who is a lawyer, social worker and at NO TIME has he ever had the experience of running a business. He is solely an academic living in an unrealistic world of theories.

Posted by: peterclarke | August 3, 2009, 9:05 am 9:05 am

peterclarke:”This is what you get when you elect a President, who is a lawyer, social worker and at NO TIME has he ever had the experience of running a business. He is solely an academic living in an unrealistic world of theories.”
As opposed to our last President, who had the experience of running businesses and proudly claimed the mantle of CEO in chief. Great job he did – thanks Republicans!

Posted by: jhw539 | August 3, 2009, 9:15 am 9:15 am

It’s certainly easy to place blame for the reform delay outside of the White House. Between the media distorting the debate and Republicans cooking up all sorts of fabrications about health care doomsday, how can the president compete?

Posted by: matt | August 3, 2009, 9:47 am 9:47 am

I listened to a debate on Fresh Air with Terry Gross this weekend, between Paul Krugman, and a conservative pundit from the American Enterprize Institute. I confess I am as confused as I was before.
I’m starting to think its a case of “follow the money.” Who is benefiting from all this confusion? Who has the most to lose if real healthcare reform gets passed? Yeah, I think the insurance industry is the real enemy of change. I also think this will be a long and tortuous process before Obama prevails and we get an efficient and effective healthcare system.

Posted by: Amy B Maine | August 3, 2009, 9:51 am 9:51 am

My wife and I are US citizens. In 2004 we left America because we couldn’t afford health insurance. While 12 million or more ilegals live in the US, we live overseas in a 3rd world country. My wife 59 cannot speak spanish and she cries every day because she misses her home. Damn you US government !!

Posted by: patriot1948 | August 3, 2009, 9:54 am 9:54 am

Blame the Insurance companies, blame Bush
like a bunch of kids “I didn’t do it he did”. I was one who said give the man a chance when he won. Times up pal, I know things take time but your way off track. Now they are considering a middle class tax hike, surprise, surprise. I’m starting to believe those who keep saying were heading toward socialism !!!

Posted by: hkdakota | August 3, 2009, 9:56 am 9:56 am

Amy B. Maine, efficient and effective are not in the federal government’s vocabulary
just look at social security or fanny mae.

Posted by: hkdakota | August 3, 2009, 10:03 am 10:03 am

What we need here is a common sense approach to our current private insurance system, NOT a complete gov’t takeover. We need to pass legislation that prevents the bogus “preexisting condition” reason for the insurance companies to not pay for a patient’s treatment as well as making it illegal to drop patients who become ill while they are insured. I am also for opening up intrastate commerce for the insurance companies to stimulate competition AFTER more stringent laws are on the books to protect patients’ rights. I’m not a medical insurance expert, but I don’t understand why we can’t try to fix what is wrong with our current system first instead of just starting from scratch with a gov’t run program. The costs to EVERYONE are going to be enormous and I don’t want a gov’t bureaucrat involved in my healthcare decisions!! Hell they can’t even get their own house in order how can we trust them with something this important??!!! Get Real!!!!!!!!

Posted by: fairpolitics2009 | August 3, 2009, 10:04 am 10:04 am

Not sure I understand why a giveaway program should be part of my health plan, one that will eventually raise my taxes. Please exlain:
“Subtitle D—Grants for Comprehensive Programs To Provide Education to Nurses and Create a Pipeline to Nursing.
SEC. 2531. ESTABLISHMENT OF GRANT PROGRAM.

Posted by: James L. | August 3, 2009, 10:25 am 10:25 am

Posted by: had it | August 3, 2009, 10:44 am 10:44 am

Hear what the dems have to say in their own words, captured on video. The video is posted on the Drudge Report.

Posted by: mojo | August 3, 2009, 10:48 am 10:48 am

Say “had it”. You should check out the ABC News story that says “Two of President Barack Obama’s economic heavyweights said middle-class taxes might have to go up to pare budget deficits or to pay for the proposed overhaul of the nation’s health care system.” On the blue bar at the top of the page, click on NEWS, and you will find the story.

Posted by: mojo | August 3, 2009, 10:52 am 10:52 am

@jhw539, There is ONLY ONE thing to evaluate about a Public Health Care plan run by the Government.
The Government CANNOT DO IT! They have screwed up everything they have put their hands on. Once they put their hands in it, they use it to buy our votes and to keep control over us.
I agree that there is something that needs to be done about the health care in this country and no, I do not know what that is, but the Government running it, is NOT A OPTION!

Posted by: ajax | August 3, 2009, 10:52 am 10:52 am

On Lloyd Doggett facing an angry reception at a townhall meeting in Austin: Is this not the red state that elected a village idiot to the office of governor and then sent him on to eight disasterous years in Washington? It just goes to show you how well the republicans smear/disinformation campaign has worked to misinform the Texas public. I’m certain that a great many of them enjoy being fleeced and have their insurance cancelled at the whim of a millionaire bureaucrat! Alas.

Posted by: clever bob | August 3, 2009, 10:53 am 10:53 am

As soon as I can get the same coverage Ted Kennedy and the rest of the crooks receive while supposidly serving our country….I’ll endorse it!

Posted by: JohnnyD | August 3, 2009, 11:04 am 11:04 am

How many times has President Obama said he will not raise taxes on the middle class as they have been through enough? The proposal was to end the Bush tax cuts and raise taxes on the very wealthy. How many times do you need to hear it before it sinks in? Nobody said anything about raising taxes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I guess you “missed” Timmy G’s performance this weekend …didn’t you.
“Geithner was clear that he believes a key component of economic recovery is deficit reduction. When I gave him several opportunities to rule out a middle class tax hike, he wouldn’t do it.” George. S.
Opps…sorry to foil your pipe dream but only and I DO mean only a moron would actually beleive that all of what this administration wants to do won’t result in EVERYONE paying more out of their pocket.
Makes about as much sense as telling people that insuring everyone (wont increase the deficit a dime, and wont limit yearly or lifetime payouts…etc) in the way being discussed will not increase their taxes or cause them to see a reduction in services. Most people have applied common sense to this entire issue and that is being reflected more & more in the polls.
If the President wants this, he is going to have to step up tot he plate and actually explain details and back it up with more rhetoric.
His credidiblity takes a hit everytime someone in his administration comes out and contradicts his promises in the ways such as Timmy G. did.

Posted by: Mike_C | August 3, 2009, 11:13 am 11:13 am

By the time the republicans get finished with this you won’t be able to get a Band-Aid paid for by insurance. Their whole concern is to protect the insurance and pharma industries at all costs. Just look at their history of lies on just about any issue you can think of. If it doesn’t benefit the wealthy, it’s bad for America. They will never admit the truth about “trickle down” economics.

Posted by: Gary McNeal | August 3, 2009, 11:24 am 11:24 am

With his appointment of 2 “devout” Muslums to the department of homeland security ..Obama is setting this country up for catasrophe
Obama Death Care shouted down in Texas
Obama Death Care shouted down in Pa.
Obama ON TAPE, planning to elimate private insurance.. Bawlknee Phrank on tape also for single payer system
MASSIVE tax increases for the middle class
Chicago Thug Rahm Emmanuel twisting arms at networks .. to get more coverage for Obama…ABC silent..As usual..read it at the drudgereport
and a hearty good morning to the crayon eaters an midol takers from huff&puff, koskiddes, and moveon.org…If you can get off the “frequently asked questions page”
please feel free to copy and paste LMAO

Posted by: Obamas brownnosing media network | August 3, 2009, 11:30 am 11:30 am

I absolutely agree that the Dem’s proposals that have been floated so far don’t solve the big problem: they’re doing nothing of substance to change our unworkable system. Health care has become too expensive and even key people in the medical establishment say the current system is unsustainable.
I say this as a person with a great health care policy through my pension. The policy is for “life” but the “great” will certainly deteriorate or else cost me much more unless the basics of America’s worse-than-government-run, inefficient health care policies change.
This would be a great opportunity for the Republicans to show the value of having an opposition party. So what do they do? They lie and say (Demint): “Americans don’t want their health care changed.”
Senator Demint not only knows that 60% of Americans have said they’d like a Canadian-style system, waits and all, but he knows we CANNOT keep the current system from changing – it’s going to get more and more expensive above the rate of inflation.
Of course, since 2005 Demint has also accepted $236,000 in campaign “contributions” (bribes in my book) from the health care industry and another $212,000 from the insurance industry. Why is he even allowed to speak or vote on the subject when he’s been so compromised?

Posted by: The_Mick | August 3, 2009, 11:42 am 11:42 am

Anyone who uses the Drudge Report as their documentation to back up their claims is an idiot. Drudge has been responsible for putting out lie after lie and is about as reliable as Rush Limbaugh. The above post is a perfect example of how these lies get started. It is so sad that there are those out there who don’t care one whit about the country and care only about attacking Obama. They would rather see the country destroyed than to see Obama succeed. I have gone to the trouble to get the facts and therefore know that the above post is nothing but lies.

Posted by: Gary McNeal | August 3, 2009, 11:42 am 11:42 am

Republicans, Insurance companies, media,…who is next on the Democrats “blame list”???? the American People ?
I enjoyed seeing a video this weekend of Pelosi & reid whinig about how it was media who had set expextations on the “deadline” of the summer recess….followed up by videos of Obam, Pelosi & Reid ALL saying it either would or need to be done by said “deadline”.
Talk about lies, and they wonder why the American People do not believe their claims about this mess.

Posted by: Mike_C | August 3, 2009, 11:43 am 11:43 am

Look Mikey, nobody said anything in stone about raising taxes. YOU are speculating….you know, spinning! One of those people I was talking about that goes around squawking doomsday bs. Maybe you should check out the polls on republicans too, if you can get down to the sewer. Another thing, calling me a moron just goes to show what kind of person you are. Did it make you feel superior? Now, don’t you have a birth certificate to find?

Posted by: had it | August 3, 2009, 11:46 am 11:46 am

“My wife and I are US citizens. In 2004 we left America because we couldn’t afford health insurance. we live overseas in a 3rd world country. My wife 59 cannot speak spanish and she cries every day because she misses her home. Damn you US government !!”
Posted by: patriot1948 | Aug 3, 2009 9:54:55 AM
_____________________
Dear Patriot,
so, you are covered for illness care in a third world nation? certainly drives a point.
Other than wealthy corporates and uniformed, uneducated base republicans Most of us agree in the US – everyone should have access to medical care, not just the rich, or those already on government sponsored plans-Medicare, TriCare, etc.
Bringing up illegal aliens as a cause of our healthcare problem is a rotten attempt to cover up/rationalize the huge profits of the insurance and pharmaceutical industry — profiting from the illnesses and health misfortune of US citizens.
Illegals are not covered by any federal or private plan–that is, unless those profiting from their cheap labor provide it. [The wealthy sometimes pay privately for healthcare for their nannies and home help].
Illegals do not have “it made”. They work for a pittance, are frequently taken advantage of by their employers, and do not collect nor benefit from government programs.
Blaming illegal aliens is an outright distortion of the truth. The mega corporations are running & rationing healthcare, and the GOP and other paid supporters [select Democrats in government alike] are backing them.

Posted by: gus amaral | August 3, 2009, 11:46 am 11:46 am

They picked the wrong monster, 80% of Americans are happy with their insurance, this was a huge misread on Obama’s part. It is like he just read the first sentence in a book and pretends he knows how the story goes. He doesn’t. The protests are growing. It is pretty hard to spin when you have Obama admitting he is going to eliminate private insurance, people want reform, yes, govt. insurance no and if they think they are going to keep this option on the table by whatever name they pretend it is they are mistaken.

Posted by: NoMoreMr.NiceGuy | August 3, 2009, 11:56 am 11:56 am

Senator Demint not only knows that 60% of Americans have said they’d like a Canadian-style system, waits and all, but he knows we CANNOT keep the current system from changing – it’s going to get more and more expensive above the rate of inflation.
————————————–
Care to provide where you got that number?
Im from New England, and do not know anyone who favors that idea, let alone 60% of people!
Maybe you had better take a look at the gallup results from last week. You may find that while you think the systemis unworkable, most americans do NOT fell there is a crisis right now.
Of course, since this President took office, everything discussed in political circles is a crisis. Most of the elderly in this country are not as foolish as you who running around crying that sky is falling think they are.
They know if a system such as the one being tossed about get implemented, it is they who bear the brunt of the pain with it, and naturally they are not just going to “go along” with it.
“Of course, since 2005 Demint has also accepted $236,000 in campaign “contributions” (bribes in my book) from the health care industry and another $212,000 from the insurance industry. Why is he even allowed to speak or vote on the subject when he’s been so compromised?”
LOL…are you really this foolish & ignorant? If we actually tried it your way, no one could ever vote anything.
Maybe before you toss out your incredibly biased BS, you should take a look at BOTH sides of the aisle!
simple examples:
2006….
According to Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan group that tracks campaign finance filings, Clinton has received $781,112 in contributions from the health-care sector during the current election cycle
NYTimes – 10/2007 :
“Among all the candidates in both political parties, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois is the No. 2 recipient of donations from the health care industry, having raised about $2.2 million, according to campaign finance records.”
SO Iguess the President should SHUT UP on this issues by your standards & judgement!

Posted by: Mike_C | August 3, 2009, 12:01 pm 12:01 pm

Rick, excuse me, looking for foes in the healthcare debate? Not hard to find foes with 70% of the public opposed.

Posted by: mmonroeliveson | August 3, 2009, 12:01 pm 12:01 pm

Just look at the unintended consequences from the cash for clunkers. First they haven’t released any cash, they have processed about 23,000 out of 250,000 apps. Second they are making dealers destroy the cars, raising the costs and limiting the supply of spare parts which in turn only hurts the poor not to mention shifting the costs to dealers who will end up paying more to destroy the cars than they will get from the govt. in return.
People are happy with their insurance and the top reason why is because they have an exit, if they don’t like it they can shop around for another. With govt. run insurance there will be no exit and instead of increasing peoples options to choose they are limiting them with unintended consequences that no one can fathom. People may be willing to live with unintended consequences when it comes to their car but with health care they are not going to gamble. Period.

Posted by: NoMoreMr.NiceGuy | August 3, 2009, 12:15 pm 12:15 pm

hadit,
LOL…no…there are only hundreds of video clips fromthe past year of Obama saying his little tax pledge.
I for one did not buy it at all. But, it was indeed one of the factors in his victory and the single biggest promise that ALL Americans remember!
That is the promise that Stephanopoulos gave Timmy G. the chance to re-affirm a few times yesterday, but he would not.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Because when you look at health care reform again – I know you believe it’s going to bend the cost curve over time. But the Congressional Budget office says, at best, the health care reform plans out there are going to be deficit-neutral over the next ten years. So to bring the deficits down, there is not enough money in the discretionary budget, we all know that. That means more revenues. The President has said that taxes won’t go up for any Americans earning under $250,000, but it doesn’t appear that he’s going to be able to keep that promise if you’re going to bring the deficits down.
GEITHNER: George, we can’t make these judgments yet about what exactly it’s going to take and we’re going to get there. But the very important thing, and no one is going to care about this more than the President of the United States, is for people to understand that we do not have a choice as a country, that if we want an economy that is going to grow in the future, people have to understand that we have to bring those deficits down. And it’s gonna, it’s going to difficult – hard for us to do and the path to that is through health care reform. But that’s necessary but not sufficient. We [are] going to do some other things too.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So revenues are on the table, as well?
GEITHNER: Again, we’re not at the point yet where we’re going to make a judgment about what it’s going to take. But the important thing…
STEPHANOPOULOS: But you’re not ruling it out, you can’t rule it out.
GEITHNER: I think what the country needs to do is understand we’re going to have to do what it takes, we’re going to do what’s necessary.

Posted by: Mike_C | August 3, 2009, 12:24 pm 12:24 pm

Another thing with cash for clunkers, the average increase in gas mileage, 4 mi. per gallon. So we are spending a few billion, hurting the poor, destroying perfectly good cars that could be resold for a higher price than the govt. rebates are paid out to replace them, using more energy to destroy them than they would waste if they were still on the road and costing dealers more in the long run than if they had not participated at all, not to mention the cost of processing the checks, oversight of compliance with the program etc. This is a prime example of govt. failure in the long run.

Posted by: NoMoreMr.NiceGuy | August 3, 2009, 12:25 pm 12:25 pm

Mike: Believe it or not, I did watch the program. It proves nothing. Why do you people insist on taking what they (Obama, Geithner) don’t say and spinning it around to make it seem they did say it? Geithner didn’t say they would or would not raise taxes. Do you see how the media works you? When they say something concrete like “we are raising taxes on the middle class”, then you will have an argument. Anything else before that is just a waste of words and emotion.

Posted by: had it | August 3, 2009, 12:57 pm 12:57 pm

“Obama Death Care shouted down in Texas
Obama Death Care shouted down in Pa.” – A lot of folks are going to those events because they have legitimate questions regarding healthcare reform. Instead they cant even get their questions in because a few loud mouths keep interupting. I know lots of Republicans have reasonable concerns over the shape of reform, but there are a few who determined to use the issue as political football. Dont they realize how repulsive find their thug behavior. Oh, well – keep up the obnoxiousness and you will surely help pass a good reform bill if you are seen as the alternative.

Posted by: Mark from atlanta | August 3, 2009, 1:02 pm 1:02 pm

America, according to the CDC, has the lowest post-partum infant survival rate among industrialized nations. Yet some people on the Right want to use the debate over healthcare reform to score political points. Sad.

Posted by: Mark from atlanta | August 3, 2009, 1:09 pm 1:09 pm

Posted by: Amy B Maine | Aug 3, 2009 9:51:59 AM
Lets go after the insurance companies, every week you find some one else to blame. First Bush, then the republicans now the insurance companies, Who will be next??????? I’m sure you will find someone to blame for tax increase on the middle class.

Posted by: Lizzie | August 3, 2009, 2:30 pm 2:30 pm

Sure….this is healthcare reform you can believe in…..the Govt will cover an extra 50 million people, and Obama sez YOUR costs will go down.
Give me a break folks !!! how do you give healthcare coverage to 50 million people without massive tax increases?? Oh, and Social Security? Medicare/Medicaid??
I’ve got good medical coverage….but I’m worried that our Govt is GONNA SCREW IT UP !!!!!!

Posted by: thecentrist | August 3, 2009, 2:34 pm 2:34 pm

Lizzie, your comment is lame. Bush made bad decisions: hence he gets the “blame” for the billions we lost in Iraq. That’s the way the cookie crumbles.
Republicans have approached the healthcare issue as an opportunity to damage Obama, see: “this will be Obama’s Waterloo.” They could have contributed to the debate in a meaningful way, but, no, Republicans just see this as political fodder, THEY DON”T CARE about our healthcare. So, yeah, I blame the Republicans for the mess over this.
Insurance companies decide who, and who doesn’t, get care, and what services they will, and will not reimburse, and somehow they can’t get providers from charging outrageous prices for a pair of crutches or a bottle of aspirin. Yet, conservatives prefer to have our health care system run by these yahoos, rather than by same people who currently keep grandma alive.
You know who else I blame? Stupid, moronic mainstream media who spend more time spreading birther rumors than educated the public on this very complicated topic. Our media s—-.

Posted by: Amy B Maine | August 3, 2009, 3:06 pm 3:06 pm

fyi. the neo-cons are the sheep in wolves clothing. everything that they stand for, cherish and deceive to achieve is the polar opposite of anything even close to the resemblance of Spirituality.

Posted by: word out | August 3, 2009, 3:40 pm 3:40 pm

Amy is just following the lead of the Dems. Now they have done soe field testing of words & phrases to see what might stick a bit in polling data….LOL… So sad actually, they have got the run of the house, but can’t even turn the knob on the door!

Posted by: Mike_C | August 3, 2009, 4:39 pm 4:39 pm

LOL…oh yes….we all know the dems are all about bi-partisanship….LOL..PLEASE
You liberals are so two faced about EVERYTHING….
Too bad this administration was not half as transparent as the left-wingers out here….LOL
As ALWAYS,
Liberals dont LIE…They just FORGET the TRUTH!

Posted by: Mike_C | August 3, 2009, 4:58 pm 4:58 pm

Be hard pressed to find foes amongst the public. More than 70% of this nation want strong public health care. Looks like republican ideology gets most of its looks from the rear view mirror these days. I say steam roll them like they have this Great Nation!

Posted by: rightbehind | August 3, 2009, 4:59 pm 4:59 pm

This president seems to be so caught up with labor unions and special interest groups that he seems to have forgotten that he works for the American people. Ironically, he has united congress. He’s united republicans in a way they never thought possible. He’s fractured his own party to the point where they’re joining republicans. We may see blue dogs switching to the republican party. They’ll be recovering democratiholics.
Funny as it sounds, with all the democrats defecting away from Obama, we may not even have to wait until 2010 for the republicans to take over again.

Posted by: Michael | August 3, 2009, 5:07 pm 5:07 pm

Everytime I hear one of you Repulicans rail on how we need to run a government like a business, I am reminded of the platform that Got the Great Governor Arnold in to Office in California. Now look at it. Yeah thats appealing! If we don’t fix health care and stop the robbery by these BIG BUSINESS, pro Repulican companies no one will be able to afford healthcare and the Governement will be footing the bill anyway. Who do you think pays for it now when no one can pay. The gap between the insured and the non insured will go the other way and the cost to the American Government will make a trillion dollars look like down payment on a Katrina trailer. The Dems need to get this done with or without the GOP. The Bush Administration never cared what the Dems said. They never cared about the constitution or the bill of rights or anything that went aganist what they wanted, which was to go to war and rob us blind. GET IT DONE. That is what the American people voted for.

Posted by: macrose | August 3, 2009, 5:10 pm 5:10 pm

Mike_C. I’m not sure where you got those numbers, but whoever told you that 70% of Americans want a public healthcare system lied to you. I suspect it was Joe Biden. The latest ABC News poll shows that number to be around 19%.
The truth is that this has nothing to do with healthcare. It’s about power. They want you to become so dependent on the government that you’ll vote for them to maintain it. Why do you think they tried to ram it through before the end of August? It’s because they know that most people are against this, so they wanted to put it in place before the campaigning reveals the truth.

Posted by: Michael | August 3, 2009, 5:29 pm 5:29 pm

The Dear Leader must think we’re all as dumb as the people that voted for him, as he feels free to change his story at will and flip-flop on every issue- then when you ask any questions about the constantly morphing narrative, you’re a “far-right” extremist or a “hater”- please.
This is like how all news videos show Obama pumping and stumping for Blago in 2003- then when he gets arrested, Obama says he had “nothing” to do with him. Same with Rezko.
Americans are quickly waking up to the fact that this president is habitually dishonest- can you imagine the towering arrogance of Obama, implying there’s something wrong with US for not swallowing all his self-serving BS as fast as he can shovel it on your plate? What a jerk-
I’ve already seen plenty enough to keep me from ever believing a word that comes out of the guy’s mouth… and that goes 2x for slimy Emanuel and Axelrod- all three of these crooks are used to getting away with murder in the Chicago Machine’s racketeering embrace, and they freak out and initiate vicious Alinskyite counter-attacks when they’re finally confronted.
Three-and-a-half years left of this debacle?
(puke sounds here)

Posted by: Reaganite Republican | August 4, 2009, 4:26 pm 4:26 pm

can’t stand that health care reform crap, why do I have to pay for health care for the majority of blacks that don’t want to work and will never work in their lives. I’m black myself but food stamps and section A is already available, add free health care to that and you have a society that is entirely dependent on the Govt and will never have to work again. Please mr. president deliver us from mediocrity.

Posted by: Jessica | August 8, 2009, 5:27 pm 5:27 pm

To mr. Gary mc neal who posted the comment about republicans trying to protect insurance companies and pharma industries. If the president really wanted to help he would just create competition for the insurance companies or tax them higher based on denial of coverage for people with pre-existing condition but not trying to get it out of the pocket of the middle class. If they don’t raise taxes how can they afford it, as far as I know the govt is bankrupt. It has to come from somewhere.

Posted by: simone | August 8, 2009, 5:35 pm 5:35 pm

Shhhhhhhhh . . . . . “DHS/I&A will be working with its state and local partners over the next several months to ascertain with greater regional specificity the rise in rightwing extremist activity in the United States, with a particular emphasis on the political, economic, and social factors that drive rightwing extremist radicalization.”

Posted by: Ed Taylor | August 13, 2009, 8:11 pm 8:11 pm

“Geithner was clear that he believes a key component of economic recovery is deficit reduction. When I gave him several opportunities to rule out a middle class tax hike, he wouldn’t do it.” George. S. —————— Deficit reduction is a bit like not losing as many jobs as were lost last month. __________________________ Until someone tackles the national debt there is little hope!

Posted by: Ed Taylor | August 13, 2009, 8:13 pm 8:13 pm

interesting blog, very articulate. I like it very much. I come acoss this site by yahoo search engine. I could read your site monthly and share it to my classmates. Please keep it fresh. Keep on the good work. – A techie

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The Note: Summer of Discontent — Looking for Foes in Health Care Debate

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