By MichaelJames

Oct 10, 2009 12:40pm

White House Pushes Former GOP Officials’ Support for Health Care Reform

The White House continued to roll out endorsements from former Republican officials for health care reform Saturday, releasing statements from former Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., and surgeon generals from the administrations of Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W Bush, with the Democratic National Committee introducing a new TV ad to run nationally making the same basic argument.

The goal is to paint current Republican officials as hyper-partisan obstructionists by contrasting them with former GOP officials and other Republicans from outside Washington, D.C. who have broadly endorsed health care reform efforts.

"Its not surprising that they would" have differences with bill specifics, White House deputy communications director Dan Pfeiffer told ABC News. "There are a number of substantive issues still being worked out. But they believe we are headed in the right direction and urging their party to work constructively to seize the moment and address this big challenge."

President Obama, in his weekly address Saturday, cited expressions of hope for a bipartisan solution from California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Republican (now Independent) New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former Republican Senate Majority Leaders Bob Dole, R-Kan., and Dr. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., President George H.W. Bush's Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Louis Sullivan, President George W. Bush's Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson.

"These distinguished leaders understand that health insurance reform isn’t a Democratic issue or a Republican issue, but an American issue that demands a solution," President Obama said. "Still, there are some in Washington today who seem determined to play the same old partisan politics, working to score political points, even if it means burdening this country with an unsustainable status quo."

Today, Dr. Antonia Novello, the surgeon general from 1990-1993, and Dr. Richard Carmona, the surgeon general from 2002-2006, joined two surgeon generals from the administration of President Bill Clinton, Dr. David Satcher and Dr. Joycelyn Elders, to issued a statement saying that "we have seen first-hand that the current health care system is unsustainable. Meaningful reform is vital to improving the health of our nation. We need to have reform that prioritizes prevention, preventive care and health literacy to encourage healthier lifestyles and we must also lower costs in order to make quality health care affordable for every single person who needs it. The approaches that Congress is considering, will help achieve these goals and we urge members of Congress from both sides of the aisle to work together to achieve real reform to improve the health of our nation.”

In a statement released Saturday morning, Hagel said, “Right now in this country, we have the best opportunity we’ve had in recent history to begin to create real health care reform that will expand coverage for those who don’t have it and lower costs for those who do. … The Congress and the administration are working on bipartisan, practical solutions to improve our health care system. I urge all members of Congress to put aside their narrow partisan differences and seize this moment for health care reform. We will fail our country if we do not succeed."

The Democratic National Committee today unveiled a TV ad to begin running nationally Monday sharing broad sentiments of support for health care reform efforts from Dole, Frist, Schwarzenegger and Thompson.

Dole recently said that "the American people have waited decades and if this moment passes us by, it may be decades more before there is another opportunity. The current approaches suggested by the Congress are far from perfect, but they do provide some basis on which Congress can move forward and we urge the joint leadership to get together for America’s sake." Dole added that "constantly saying no" is not the appropriate position for GOP leaders.

But as Republican aides in the Senate point out, the devil — as always — is in the details.

On Fox News Channel's "Your World With Neil Cavuto" on Oct. 9, Dole said Republicans are "not going to buy on to all the excise taxes that Sen. Baucus put on the bill. It’s going to drive insurance companies out of business. We believe in the private sector."

Frist told Time's Karen Tumulty that "I would end up voting for it. As leader, I would take heat for it. … That's what leadership is all about."

But on Oct. 6 he seemed to backtrack, telling CNBC's "Squawk Box" that “We’ve got five bills on the Senate. … Right now, in the shape that each of those are in, I wouldn’t vote for any of them.”

Thompson said in a statement with former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., "Failure to reach an agreement on health reform this year is not an acceptable option.”

They added: "Clearly, there are some issues that remain troublesome and unresolved in the Senate Finance Committee’s bill, but there are opportunities to debate these issues further as Congress moves in both Houses toward enactment of health reform this session. Differences in approach among committees in the Senate and House should not obscure the fact that there is also substantial common ground and compatible provisions between the Senate Finance Committee bill, the Senate HELP reform bill and H.R. 3200 in the House of Representatives."

And Schwarzenegger has said, "The House originally proposed fully funding the expansion with federal dollars, but due to cost concerns, members decided to shift a portion of these expansion costs to states. I will be clear on this particular proposal: If Congress thinks the Medicaid expansion is too expensive for the federal government, it is absolutely unaffordable for states. Proposals in the Senate envision passing on more than $8 billion in new costs to California annually – crowding out other priority or constitutionally required state spending and presenting a false choice for all of us. I cannot and will not support federal health care reform proposals that impose billions of dollars in new costs on California each year.”

- jpt

User Comments

News Headline: “Dems’ health care legislation wouldn’t yield more affordable insurance until 2013″. Hmm . . . 2013, sounds very conveniently timed to the end of an 8 year term for King Obama. If they timed it any earlier it would mean bad news for Democrats trying to hang onto power since taxes would skyrocket before then. So 2013, if I were a bloodthirsty power mongering tyrant I’d want to see all my radical risk taking timed for after I was gone too.

Posted by: Old Glory | October 10, 2009, 12:48 pm 12:48 pm

This isn’t reform. It’s ramming a socialist/communistic agenda down American’s throats and we’re going to remember this in 2010 at election time.

Posted by: Jon | October 10, 2009, 12:52 pm 12:52 pm

Ok Jon pick one! Obvious you don’t know what is going on. You do realize Medicare is by all definitions socialized medicine, right? This is about providing affordable health insurance and care to those that can’t afford it. It’s not free, if you like your current insurance you can stay with it. Why is it so evil to make sure ALL Americans can go to a Dr., can get the treatment they need to stay healthy.

Posted by: Try the truth | October 10, 2009, 12:59 pm 12:59 pm

Let this play out, the longer this drags out, the libs that support this fascist way of doing things and don’t listen to what the PEOPLE want, then they will be out the door next year, Nancy Pilosi, Harry Reid, Chris Dodd, Burney Frank, John Kerry and the rest of the liberal congress to keep bringing this country down to it’s knees, this is political suicide for the supporters, good get rid of them.

Posted by: bill | October 10, 2009, 1:00 pm 1:00 pm

” Find ways to cut the cost of healthcare AND guarantee everyone has coverage (including those with pre-existing conditions) WITHOUT implementing the Public Option.”
Seems like a stupid way to go since every other first world nation on Earth has shown that some form of the Public Option brings down costs dramatically. Also note that the public option proposed is quite limited – it would provide insurance (not actually hire doctors or run hospitals) that competes on a level playing field with private insurance (banned from receiving government funding and under the same requirements as every private insurer in the insurance exchange market).
The public option works and it is mind boggling to hear Republicans insult our private insurers by insisting a public option would out compete them into the ground when no such thing has occurred in the other countries with public and private insurance plans in completion.

Posted by: jhw539 | October 10, 2009, 1:03 pm 1:03 pm

Complicating the argument is the fact that some of the GOPers in question have expressed serious differences with key particulars of the health care reform proposals Democrats in Congress have unveiled.>>>>>>>>> Of Course they do. The Democratic plan is not about helping anyone its just about spending and POWER. The poor people are just to dumb to realize that this bill is going to make everyone including them poorer. The only people it might help is BIG business. GO FIGURE. Democrats are now the party of BIG business.

Posted by: ChicagoBob | October 10, 2009, 1:03 pm 1:03 pm

The reason the public option is such a big deal is 61% of Americans support it! I thought in a Democracy majority ruled.

Posted by: Try the truth | October 10, 2009, 1:04 pm 1:04 pm

Schwarzenegger needs Obama right now for financial support- he’d say anything to get help.

Posted by: n | October 10, 2009, 1:08 pm 1:08 pm

this is a joke. it starts cuts and taxes today and doesnt pay benefits till 2013 and that makes it look workable over 10 years.untillyou get through the first ten years and realize it now cost at least 30% more plus inflation and incresed incomptence. allow healthcare to be purchased across state lines.dont fight the insurance companies make them fight amongst themselves. remember the phone company. when they had a monopoly? costs were huge. now with competition cost and quality as well as technology are better. that is what capitalism is, not this socialist/communist crap they are pushing. it may not appear to be today give it 20 years. with this bill their foot is in the door and you wont get them to leave.

Posted by: bmi | October 10, 2009, 1:08 pm 1:08 pm

ChicagoBob, again, no clue. The big business that is profiting are insurance companies. The ones the Republicans are trying to protect. The rates go up, the coverage becomes less and when you need treatment you can be dropped. I know you look at this from an entirely partisan view forgetting the human factor. You do know Maine is being sued by and insurance company that wants to raise rates 18% but the state no. So they are suing. By the way, the same co pays their CEO over 9 million a year, they have dropped people from the plan and denied treatment. All the while taking peoples money.

Posted by: Try the truth | October 10, 2009, 1:10 pm 1:10 pm

“Why is it so evil to make sure ALL Americans can go to a Dr., can get the treatment they need to stay healthy. ” -
Because your gods in the Dem/Communist party are MANDATING (illegally I might add) a single-payer system that is worse than even Canadian or English medicine. This WILL result in rationed care and WILL leave the weak and helpless without care.
And I DO KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON! I have a father who depends on the existing system of Medicare for his life-saving drugs and we’re already seeing the system react in preparation to cut benefits to those whose costs will exceed that which the new system will pay for. We’re fighting to keep him alive and there are countless others being put into these positions by you stinking evil lousy lazy and greedy tax hiking liberals! Your whole existence is geared to promoting junk programs, dependence on big-daddy government and underhanded politics.
And when they do, “legally”, engage in euthanasia on my Dad, I’m going to seek to press charges on those who passed these laws and will seek to see them in prison for it. Many others I’m talking to will be doing the same. The legal system will be clogged with case after case of wrongful death lawsuits against the government for it’s role in promoting death over medical care for seniors and the weak and helpless.

Posted by: Jon | October 10, 2009, 1:12 pm 1:12 pm

Not sure who is right and who is wrong think they are kind of in the middle but that won’t work. Either a drastic change is passed or in my eyes nothing will be accomlished. We need a real change in healthcare and the industry. Too many people are lsoing their insurance and too many insurance companies are playing games. Either they get regulated or be forced to change bad practices. Just my opinion. But know it matters little as people seem to have lost all reality.

Posted by: Steve | October 10, 2009, 1:27 pm 1:27 pm

Correct…Republicans ARE for Health Care Reform. What they are NOT for is the all the reforms listed in the bill that Democrats are trying to cram into the existing bill. Competition will create better rates, but you can do this WITHOUT spending a TRILLION dollars with a govt takeover of the health care industry. Opening up the territory for existing Healthcare companies to compete in more states will accomplish that. Tort reform will drive down costs that result from extra ‘precautionary’ tests doctors order to reduce lawsuits. But, NO….Democrats don’t want reform. They want power but taking over the Private sector with a govt run plan. And anyone thinking they will run it better than they have Medicare and Medicaid is crazy.

Posted by: DevilInTheDetails | October 10, 2009, 1:30 pm 1:30 pm

The CBO report on the Senate Finance Committee Bill is based on a bunch of budget gimmicks. For example, it assumes that the States, which are all in deep financial trouble, can take on even greater unfunded mandates in the form of more Medicaid patients. Senator Reid knows his State Nevada cannot afford the unfunded mandates called for in the bill and has already opted his State out from under them. Other States will follow. Another assumption by the CBO is that enormous cuts, over 500 billion, can be made to Medicare to help pay for another big government program ignoring the fact that Medicare is already near bankrupt. So when people say there are death panels in the bill, that is exactly what will happen to Seniors if the cuts to Medicare are carried out as mandated in the Senate Finance bill. Seniors will be screaming their heads off about these cuts so think again if the government can pull this one off. Then there is the taxes on the so called Cadillac Insurance plans which are mostly negotiated union plans. Unions are already protesting these taxes so guess how long these taxes will stay in the bill? So there you have it. None of the ways of funding health care reform are actually feasible as they call for higher taxes, unfunded Medicaid mandates that the States can’t afford and enormous cuts to Medicare which Seniors will raise hell about. Any Senator on the Finance Committee voting for this bill (which is full of a bunch of budget gimmicks) should be fired. Come to think of it, even Madoff must be admiring how the good Senators are trying to con the public into thinking the bill will actually reduce the deficit, reduce the cost of health care and increase the quality of care when the exact opposite is true. The whole Health Care Reform bill is just a scam whose sole purpose is to try and con more tax payer dollars out of the people.

Posted by: james | October 10, 2009, 1:36 pm 1:36 pm

Jon posted “This isn’t reform. It’s ramming a socialist/communistic agenda down American’s throats and we’re going to remember this in 2010 at election time.”
You’re right Jon. So, what IS the solution? Jon? Jon? the Solution? I can’t hear you!

Posted by: Faurtz8 | October 10, 2009, 1:39 pm 1:39 pm

I can’t believe that the American people are going to look kindly at legislation that contains (a) several major tax increases, (b) $404,000,000,000 in Medicare cuts, ( c) increases the deficits when the bill is finalized and (d) leaves 23,000,000 people uninsured. Not to mention the fact that the bill will lower Medicare reimbursement that are already too low which will induce more physicians to drop Medicare patients. Sounds like a disaster in the making. However this should be of no surprise to anyone with so many power hungry and just plain brainless people like Obama, Pelosi and Reid running the show right now.

Posted by: GARY | October 10, 2009, 1:44 pm 1:44 pm

Jon posted “I have a father who depends on the existing system of Medicare for his life-saving drugs….”
Oh no Jon. You father is part of the socialist/communist agenda! Run away, run away. Medicare is socialized medicine. It is EVIL, YOU told me so yourself. Your father NEEDS to find another way to pay. Does he work? If he does then maybe he needs two jobs. Anything is better that being a part of that socialist agenda!
p.s. I’m just being sarcastic because YOU deserve it. I hope things with your father work out but please keep in mind the MILLIONS of people without any health care. We pay twice as much as other countries and yet tens of millions are not covered. Sometimes those who have insurance are denied too.

Posted by: Faurtz8 | October 10, 2009, 1:46 pm 1:46 pm

Jon wrote: “I have a father who depends on the existing system of Medicare for his life-saving drugs…We’re fighting to keep him alive and there are countless others being put into these positions by you stinking evil lousy lazy and greedy tax hiking liberals! Your whole existence is geared to promoting junk programs, dependence on big-daddy government and underhanded politics.
==========================
Uh, Jon. MEDICARE, which has saved your father, was one of those “junk programs” which was originally proposed by Republican Teddy Roosevelt and which the GOP fought tooth-and-nail for two decades from Harry Truman’s time until Lyndon Johnson and the rest of the “stinking evil lousy lazy and greedy liberals” got it passed.
And now you’re worried it will be cut! Pretty valuable then, huh?
And speaking of greedy, you don’t want any chance that YOUR father’s medicare coverage will slightly diminish [and that remote chance only effects 1/4 of all Medicare subscribers] so you want to keep 1/5th of all Americans without health insurance. How generous of you!

Posted by: The_Mick | October 10, 2009, 1:47 pm 1:47 pm

Posted by: Sandy | October 10, 2009, 1:48 pm 1:48 pm

Fautz8…how about tort reform? How about opening up competition with allowing the private sector to compete in any state? How about removing pre-existing conditions? ALL are SOLUTIONS presented by REPUBLICANS but rejected by DEMOCRATS since it’s NOT govt run health care!!

Posted by: DevilInTheDetails | October 10, 2009, 1:50 pm 1:50 pm

Faurtz – Oh how I’d love to meet you in person to “explain” things in my own way to you you simple little Dem shill. Name the date and time and be in fighting shape. You have done more damage by hanging out here on the forums and promoting your agenda than you know and you are certainly no American.
As for solutions:
1. Cut ALL foreign aid immediately. Take the savings and GIVE the money back to the taxpayers to let them choose what to do with it.
2. Cut ALL aid to illegal aliens and forcibly eject all of them when found. The savings alone from getting rid of them will do wonders for the system.
3. I agree with regulation on the insurance industry, but demonizing them and not talking about the good they do? There has to be a middle ground to dealing with them. So, allow for more competition and purchasing plans across state lines along with allowing small business to band together to demand better rates.
4. Keep looking for good ideas that put patients/consumers first.
5. Standard rates, advertised up front with zero increase or additional charges from creative billing departments in hospitals.
Of COURSE, Dems will hate this. They want socialism, dependence on big Daddy and to reduce the population with their purposely poor medical care they are going to be introducing.

Posted by: Jon | October 10, 2009, 1:51 pm 1:51 pm

Gary…they’re not TAXES…remember how the president argued with George S that even though Webster’s defines them as taxes, it really isn’t…

Posted by: DevilInTheDetails | October 10, 2009, 1:51 pm 1:51 pm

“Maybe” hyperpartisan???? maybe???? Please. One Senator called for this to be Obama’s “Waterloo”. (Reference Napolean ) They have NO intention in finding any solution to anything. Failure of the country, on everything, is their goal. How many times in how many ways from how many different sources do we need to hear Republicans say that their goal, their strategy is to kill the economic recovery and stall ANYTHING the president is doing dead in its tracks so they can gain political advantage and regain power. THEIR GOAL, what they are working for, is to make things BAD for Americans in every conceivable way. WHen Chicago did not get the Olympic,s which would have brought a world of revenue into this country THEY WERE GLAD! When the terrorist plot was uncovered and I reminded him that not one year ago they were predicting Obama was going to working in conjunction with terrorists, he was one them, remember? So, how’d your prediction work out, what was the response? A poster said if he worked for the CIA and knew of a terrorist attack he would let it happen!!!! Jus to make Obama look bad. I”m sure many of you read that post. Their goal is FAILURE for the US in every conceivable way.

Posted by: Republicans R the party of Hoover | October 10, 2009, 1:52 pm 1:52 pm

As Margaret Thatcher said “The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money [to spend].”

Posted by: DevilInTheDetails | October 10, 2009, 1:55 pm 1:55 pm

Cut ALL aid to illegal aliens and forcibly eject all of them —- How stupid. First, illegal aliens do not get aid. You really need to stop listening to Hannity and entertainment tv and radio. Second, how much do you think ‘forcibly eject them” would cost? There was a sting operation in Nantucket when Bush was in office. It got a whopping 10 or so illegals. It forcibly got them, and ejected them. How much do you think that costs? 500 MILLION> in pay to police, agents, fuel, transportation vehicles, processing ….500 million. given the numbers of illegals just your suggestion to “forcibly eject them” would costs trillions. Ridiculous idea.

Posted by: oh please | October 10, 2009, 1:58 pm 1:58 pm

oh please….evidently you have never lived in Texas, Arizona or California. Illegal aliens DO get aid, health care at the ER and free clinics. Many collect food stamps, etc.

Posted by: bo | October 10, 2009, 2:02 pm 2:02 pm

10 days ago, I wrote an email to Senator John McCain (my representative) and said I have $503 to pay for an annual healthcare premium. This is the same cost for Senator McCain’s health insurance (that we ALL pay taxes for). I have not heard from Senator McCain…at all. Zero. Zip. Nada. Bupkus. He doesn’t seem to care…at all. Vote the bum out of office. Vote out of office any GOP who opposes healthcare or who obstructs healthcare reform

Posted by: mapjo11 | October 10, 2009, 2:02 pm 2:02 pm

Oh Please…where did you get the data you have listed? References, please. Because I can guarantee you it did not cost an additional $5oo Million to arrest and export 10 illegal aliens. Making up ‘facts’ do not help your argument. It just makes you into a laughing stock.

Posted by: DevilInTheDetails | October 10, 2009, 2:03 pm 2:03 pm

Jimmy – Seniors are getting 10 fold back what they paid into it. Both Medicare and Social Security! They paid a lower percentage of a lower wage. I don’t begrudge them the benefits they receive, I just wonder why some of them have such an issue with those that can’t afford private health care having Govt. health care as they have!

Posted by: Try the truth | October 10, 2009, 2:04 pm 2:04 pm

The deficit is at an all time high, unemployment is at almost 10% and rising, the dollar’s value is plummeting and Medicare is about to go bankrupt.
And to top it all off, government run health care in States like Massachusetts are proven failures where costs have gone up and quality of care has gone down. Yet despite this President Obama and the Democrats are hell bent on ramming Health Care Reform down everyone’s throats. Are the Democrats all insane or what? And to add insult to injury Congress wants to force people to buy health care insurance against their will and use the IRS to collect the money if people fail to buy the insurance, make severe cuts to an almost bankrupt Medicare and increase everyone’s taxes to pay for this monstrosity which is freaking unbelievable!!!

Posted by: Henry K. | October 10, 2009, 2:05 pm 2:05 pm

The dems would be better off concerning themselves with getting their own leaders under control. Example….the man who heads the Tax committee…namely Charlie Rangel…tax cheat!

Posted by: bo | October 10, 2009, 2:05 pm 2:05 pm

DO get aid, health care at the ER and free clinics. Many collect food stamps, etc.
—–Ridiculous. They do not get food stamps. They do NOT get aid. And do you honestly say you should turn away a sick person at the ER ? This is problem number one with you people – zero touch with reality. One minute you talk about being a christian, the next you say let the immigrant die in the streets steps from a medical hospital because he’s not the race you prefer. Turn away his sick child and let it die of a simple bacterial infectoin that we could have saved it from with some pennicilin. that’s what you aspire this country to be?

Posted by: Republicans R the party of Hoover | October 10, 2009, 2:07 pm 2:07 pm

DevilInTheDetails – Really? Then why did McConnell say that even if they got EVERYTHING THEY WANTED IN A BILL, they still wouldn’t vote for it? They are more interested in obstruction! If they aren’t in power, the country suffers! 61% of Americans want a public option, who do they work for again, oh, that would be Americans, all Americans. Not just an uninformed minority!

Posted by: Try the truth | October 10, 2009, 2:07 pm 2:07 pm

Try the truth….you might want to actually try the truth. 61% do NOT want the public option. Polls show that the majority does not! Site your sources dude. Anyone (including Obamabots) can spew unsubstantiated numbers!

Posted by: mom | October 10, 2009, 2:10 pm 2:10 pm

And to top it all off, government run health care in States like Massachusetts are proven failures where costs have gone up and quality of care has gone down—-uuhhh, I live in Massachusetts and do ou know we are in the top ten states for job growth and we are ahead of the country for coming out of this recession. Of the folks who got laid off this past year, all but one has a new job. We are ahead of the country in education, health and jobs. Why you think our system is a total failure? becuase Men’s Health magazine said we are the 2nd fittest state? That our children are among hte healthiest in the nation? Or because our kids were ranked #1 in education over the entire country? Why do our businesses do better here? why? because we HAVE healthcare for all citizens and the SLACKERS HAVE TO PAY for their own health insurance. No longer do our hospitals have to take bills never paid and pass on the losses to businesses that offer health insurance. Our businesses pay LESS for health insurance for their employees because the hospitals GET PAID NOW! It is the LAW that you must have it, and just like car owners not getting stuck when someone else damages their car, no one is getting stuck paying anyone else’s bills. IF you want to say a state is a failure. better look southward, pal. Because Mass is doing pretty banner compared to the rest of the country.

Posted by: LIving large | October 10, 2009, 2:13 pm 2:13 pm

I’m from Mass. The quality of our care went down???? really??? news to me. I just got my son’s broken arm done at Chlidren’s hospital in boston and i’ve never seen us go through quicker. I think making everyone have health insurance made the ER must less crowded, actually. I’ve never seen the ER so quick.

Posted by: justsayn | October 10, 2009, 2:14 pm 2:14 pm

Why is it that the poor must continue to suffer at all cost???

Posted by: sisterdearest09 | October 10, 2009, 2:15 pm 2:15 pm

Try the Truth…what POLL are you looking at??? Because Gallup, Rasmussen, and EVERY OTHER POLL I’ve seen shows that the MAJORITY of (well over 50%) Americans are AGAINST the Public Option, AGAINST the Democratic “Mandatory Health Tax”, AGAINST new Taxes to fund Health Care Reform! Take a look and see more than made up numbers….

Posted by: DevilInTheDetails | October 10, 2009, 2:16 pm 2:16 pm

oh please | Oct 10, 2009 1:58:43 PM – Come on! You know in their little bombastic minds it was money well spent! LOL It’s all about kicking people out, going to war that we can spend money on! But the health and well being of Americans citizens, oh, NO! Not that! I find it funny, none of them seems to realize Iraq has Universal HC! Bush installed it and we pay for some of it! In fact, USAID.gov states that over 97% of IRAQI children have been immunized against MMR and Polio. Only 91% of Amercian kids have healthcare so it can be assumed that our vaccination rates are not as high as Iraq since the USA government won’t generally pay to have our children immunized. The report also states the the USA help renovate over 110 healthcare centers while our inner city hospitals are being closed for lack of funding. So paying for Iraq Ok! Helping Americans, not ok…. some country first bunch!

Posted by: Try the truth | October 10, 2009, 2:18 pm 2:18 pm

And if America is sooooo for how Democrats are running things, hmmm, why are the current races show incumbent Dems are fighing for their political post (and losing in the polls!). I would think “AMERICA” would be carrying them on their shoulders all the way to victory…

Posted by: DevilInTheDetails | October 10, 2009, 2:18 pm 2:18 pm

Try the truth, It is the Seniors who need health care the most, not the young uninsured who do not want to be forced into buying health care insurance. Nor do people want their insurance premiums and taxes to go up to pay for a costly program that will most certainly lower the quality of health care for all, not just Seniors. Nor to the States want to be forced into paying for unfunded mandates for Medicaid they can’t afford when a lot of States are near bankruptcy. That is why Senator Reid has opted his State, out of these mandates because he knows they are unaffordable.
Again, Government has a fiduciary responsibility to keep their promises to Seniors. Government should not be doubling it’s bets on another big spending government run program when Medicare is already near bankrupt. Isn’t the definition of insanity doing the same failed thing over and over?
Government’s failure to keep their promises to Seniors should tell everyone government can never be counted on to keep any of their promises.

Posted by: Jimmy | October 10, 2009, 2:21 pm 2:21 pm

it would be a good thing, as an experiment, to let many of the opponents of health care reform experience poverty and sickness, and the challenges that go along with those two things.
there are 2 cliches that come to mind:
‘walk a mile in my shoes’ and for the religiously inclined: ‘there but for the grace of god’..
there are american lives at stake, and the ‘sick’ ‘academic’ discussion of allowing citizens to forfeit their homes, savings, future for their kids and possibly die is a disgrace.
I want to hear the discussion about why the ‘government option’ isn’t good when that person is riddled with severe pain, out of money and begging the insurance companies to cover treatment.

Posted by: YO | October 10, 2009, 2:22 pm 2:22 pm

I think hte democrats should ram something through without the republicans because the republicans just want the country to fail in every conceivable way and trying to please them is a complete waste of time. I would not trust a republican as far as I could throw them, and if you look at the obesity rates and demographics in this country, that is statement is saying something!

Posted by: serioulsy | October 10, 2009, 2:23 pm 2:23 pm

Mom…I agree..I’m still laughing at Try the Truth’s imaginary Poll results! Maybe if he made up a number in the low 50% range, he MIGHT have gotten away with it, but the polls have been SOOOO against the Public Option, that his 61% number was way too funny!

Posted by: DevilInTheDetails | October 10, 2009, 2:23 pm 2:23 pm

DevilintheDetails and Mom – The new Quinnipiac Poll.

Posted by: Try the truth | October 10, 2009, 2:23 pm 2:23 pm

“it would be a good thing, as an experiment, to let many of the opponents of health care reform experience poverty and sickness”—Oh spare me the touchy feely reason for healthcare, let’s all be practical here. I’m fiscally conservative and to let the uninsured constantly bog down hospitals and over flow the ER’s and not pay their bills which then get passed on to the all hte healthplans that the high tech businesses offer is just saddling our businesses with debt from the unisured. Right now, in this country, the insured DO pay for the uninsured and the Uninsured are paying NOTHING and they are getting inadequate care and COSTLY care because they show up when they need a heart transplant, or having a heart attack instead of just getting their freakn cholesterol done and getting on meds to keep the expensive emergency unnecessary. It is PRAGMATIC to get folks to PAY for their healthcare – ALL OF THEM, rather than saddling white collar businesses. It’s good for people’s health nad it’s good for our competitive edge of our businesses.

Posted by: seriously | October 10, 2009, 2:26 pm 2:26 pm

Seriously…there are DEMOCRATS against the Public Option also, hence the reason they can’t vote yet.

Posted by: DevilInTheDetails | October 10, 2009, 2:27 pm 2:27 pm

How are Republicans the obstructionists? The Democrats hold significant majorities in both houses of congress. If the health care bill fails to go through it will be due to lack of Democratic unity in their own party. How is that the fault of Republicans? Republicans do not hold the same philosophy as Democrats, that’s why they’re Republicans. Is it a big surprise that they don’t agree?

Posted by: RickW | October 10, 2009, 2:29 pm 2:29 pm

Seriously…there are DEMOCRATS against the Public Option—-it all depends on how you ask the question . When one poll did not use the words “public option’ and just said “should hte government act essentially, as a human resource department and pool together all those folks who cannot afford or do not have health insurance and shop around insurance companies for a good plan and use the collective numbers to bargain a better rate than folks just shopping for health insurance on their own, and allow those poeple to buy into that plan” overwhelmingly, folks said yes. Suprise suprise, THAT IS the public option!!

Posted by: seriously | October 10, 2009, 2:29 pm 2:29 pm

Tell The Truth…you butchered the results of that poll! LOL!! To quote the Poll you reference “American voters oppose 47 – 40 percent President Barack Obama’s health care reform plan”… Hmmm, 40% equals 61% how??
To give you a break, the 61% you used was that voters agree with PARTS of the bill, not the bill overall. As I said, Republicans want Health Care Reform, just not the crap in the existing one!

Posted by: DevilInTheDetails | October 10, 2009, 2:32 pm 2:32 pm

Doesn’t matter. HCR will pass with or with out the obstructionists. The country wants this. The republicans hypocrisy has been unmasked (McConnell, even if we get everything we want, we won’t vote for it) Debate on here all you want, this will happen. Have a great day!

Posted by: Try the truth | October 10, 2009, 2:32 pm 2:32 pm

one needs to remain skeptical on the reform plans. Medicare is nearly bankrupt and trillions of unfunded liabilities. This would not be a good progrma to follow up with more.
We talk about NON PROFIT public plans, co-ops, state opt in, etc. however, we have states like AL and NC where the majority of insurance is covered by a NON PROFIT BCBS carriers.
How can we reduce any insurance, unless we reduce what is paid to the health care providers? How these plans save money and reduce insurance has not been explained.
WE all agree the system is broken and unstainable. However, the Pelosi plans only makes the problem worse, not better. The average American is being asked to pay more for their health care to cover those without.
Even the Senate proposal increases overall spending to provide care to all, but we do not really change the cost curve.
There are reforms that should and need to be made. the government can do more to help contain costs, but putting all theri grand electornic records, Cleveland Clinic outcomes based stuff into effect with Medicare today and NOW.
We owe it to our parents and grandparents to honor our previous promises.

Posted by: scott jeffries | October 10, 2009, 2:33 pm 2:33 pm

DevilintheDetails and Mom – The new Quinnipiac Poll.
Posted by: Try the truth | Oct 10, 2009 2:23:45 PM
There’s also the new CBS News poll – 62% favor government option
And the new Pew poll – 55% favor government option

Posted by: Numeros | October 10, 2009, 2:34 pm 2:34 pm

Try the Truth…see why Mom and I ask for sources? It’s helpful when we use FACTS, not FICTION….

Posted by: DevilInTheDetails | October 10, 2009, 2:34 pm 2:34 pm

Republicans: “Let this be Obama’s Waterloo” —oooo yeah, there’s some ‘working together’, huh? Republicans here we lost the olympics, they cheer. Scores of international revenue we would lost, would have helped the economy and it failed, and they cheer. very telling. The terrorist plot unvieled, the sigh ‘shucks’ and more than one poster on here said ” if we did get hit, maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing…” another said “If I worked for the CIA and I saw that we were going to get hit with a terrorist attack I WOULDN”T DO ANYTHING TO STOP IT” —Obama is trying to save the banks and stop us from complete economic collapse, Rush says “I HOPE HE FAILS” when questioned, he digs in his heels and says ” I meant it!” —well, when obama took office, we had over 600,000 people get laid off THAT MONTH and the month before. This past month 12,000 people got laid off. Sorry republicans. Looks like things reallky are getting better. I know how that depresses you.

Posted by: seriously | October 10, 2009, 2:36 pm 2:36 pm

I love the older women at one of the town hall meetings with the sign that says “Keep the government out of my medicare” Uh uh. another well informed republican.

Posted by: seriously | October 10, 2009, 2:39 pm 2:39 pm

Health Care Reform >>> means different thing to all these people. The devil has always been in the details. My largest disappointment is they wont pass smaller portions of the bill that everyone favors. This pass a massive bill or pass nothing is not serving anyone well. In fact its stupid. It creates a bill for lawyers to fight over for decades.

Posted by: ChicagoBob | October 10, 2009, 2:42 pm 2:42 pm

Numeros, thanks for giving your sources because, like Try the Truth before you, YOU’RE GIVING MISLEADING (as in Incorrect) INFORMATION. Pew Report: 47% to 34% OPPOSE the Overall Health Care Bill. Gives FACTS, not FICTION.

Posted by: DevilInTheDetails | October 10, 2009, 2:43 pm 2:43 pm

Based upon what I’m seeing come forward out of both houses, I predict we will have the following 7 main Health Care Reforms…actually Health Insurance Reforms.
1) Illegal to refuse insurance coverage based upon pre-existing conditions or past health history.
2) Illegal to increase premiums based upon pres-existing conditions or past health history.
3) Illegal to drop coverage while premiums are still being paid.
4) Illegal to cap lifetime benefits.
5) Co-ops to compete with Health Insurance Companies.
6) Public Option to compete with Health Insurance Companies.
7) States decide on the use of ‘Co-ops’ and Public Option.

Posted by: ErnestNM | October 10, 2009, 2:47 pm 2:47 pm

In other words, the democrats and President Obama are lying
Is there a Nobel Prize for misleading the public?
The democrats are disgusting.

Posted by: Karen | October 10, 2009, 2:49 pm 2:49 pm

Um, these guys do not sound supportive to me. Most appear to be supportive of doing something, but not necessarily what the Democrats want to do.
Even if former GOPers support the garbage put forth by the Dems, good luck getting one or two votes from the current group.

Posted by: Kathy Carpenter | October 10, 2009, 2:50 pm 2:50 pm

This is article is to fuuny. The Democrats do not need one single Repub vote to pass the bill. So how are the Repubs the bad guys? Spin and deflection guys.

Posted by: Boxcar | October 10, 2009, 2:52 pm 2:52 pm

DevilInTheDetails, you are the one twisting things like a pretzel. The subject was a PUBLIC OPTION.
Try the truth said: “61% of Americans want a public option”
Then mom said “61% do NOT want the public option.”
Then you wrote: “the MAJORITY of (well over 50%) Americans are AGAINST the Public Option”
Quinnipiac says 61% favor government option
CBS says 62% favor government option
Pew says 55% favor government option
Deal with it.

Posted by: Numeros | October 10, 2009, 2:54 pm 2:54 pm

Numeros There’s also the new CBS News poll – 62% favor government option++++You are seriously going to use a CBS poll as proof to back up your claim?? Gutsy move….stupid…but gutsy.

Posted by: Boxcar | October 10, 2009, 2:56 pm 2:56 pm

“You are seriously going to use a CBS poll as proof to back up your claim??”
If it’s good enough for Real Clear Politics…

Posted by: Numeros | October 10, 2009, 3:01 pm 3:01 pm

Today, October 10, 2009, 3 minutes ago | Numeros
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I just confirmed these stats myself Numeros.
So, I think there is enough support to put both the ‘Public Option’ and the ‘Co-ops’ in the final merged bill.
Let the Republicans filibuster this to death if they can.
The Democrats can always prove that they did the very best they could to help the poor, disadvantaged, and middle class leading up to the 2010 elections.

Posted by: ErnestNM | October 10, 2009, 3:03 pm 3:03 pm

Rasmussen++++Despite the majority’s support for reforming the health care system, just 41% of voters favor the comprehensive plan proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats, the lowest level of support yet measured. Fifty-six percent (56%) are opposed to the plan.

Posted by: Boxcar | October 10, 2009, 3:06 pm 3:06 pm

What the White-house, and ABC (All Barack’s Crap) Always fail to mention is that their are Millions of Americans who are Democrat Republican and Like Me, Independent who are disgusted by the fraud that is being MisRepresented as Health Care Reform.
I will give my money and my time to Unseat any member of Congress that votes for this shamefull fraud.

Posted by: Rick | October 10, 2009, 3:10 pm 3:10 pm

I support health insurance reform. I have not heard from the lawmakers regarding competion in each state. For instance, now, I guess, in North Dakota and other states there is only one insurance company. Does the current health insurance bill deal with this issue? In other words, in my opinion each state should have at least 5 insurance companies. Thus insurance premiums will be reduced/lowered.

Posted by: Maritza | October 10, 2009, 3:15 pm 3:15 pm

Even Rasmussen (choice pollster of conservatives said: “The first question finds that 46% favor the creation of a government-sponsored non-profit health insurance option that people could choose instead of a private health insurance plan. Thirty-seven percent (37%) are opposed.”

Posted by: Numeros | October 10, 2009, 3:19 pm 3:19 pm

Health Care Reform will not help anyone. It will just increase taxes and lower the quality of health care.

Posted by: Tim | October 10, 2009, 3:29 pm 3:29 pm

“This country wants this” some writer posts. Wants what? The Democrats can’t even begin to tell you what “it” is. No specific details with specific costs are being provided by them. Smoke and mirrors to Social Medicine is all it boils down to, and the majority of Americans DO NOT WANT SOCIAL MEDICINE. That’s in bold print for the slow minded liberals that can’t grasp that fact. Health care reform and social medicine are two separate issues and Obama keeps trying to blur them into one in hopes of pushing his extremist radical socialized society vision that he shares with Bill Ayers and the like.

Posted by: DadR | October 10, 2009, 3:31 pm 3:31 pm

Government run healthcare raises the cost for everyone while decreasing quality. Massachusetts has government mandated universal healthcare and it has been a failure. Rates there have increased faster than any other state. It is time people stopped expecting something for nothing, especially something as important to your life and well being as healthcare. Once the government gets control of all of the health care dollar some bureaucrat in DC will have the power to screw around with our money and our lives. Once that happens the people will have no say about what the money is spent on and will be last in line to get any of their own money. Most of the people’s money will be lining the pockets of the special interests groups and bureaucrats in DC while we all stand in line waiting for that surgery or treatment we need to save our lives. See the excepts from an article story below from the Christian Science Monitor:
Quality of health care in Massachusetts is lower due to Universal health care. See article below:
Health care in Massachusetts: a warning for America
The Bay State’s mandatory insurance law is raising costs, limiting access, and lowering care.
By Paul Hsieh
from the September 30, 2009 edition
“Some patients in western Massachusetts must wait more than a year for a routine physical exam. Waiting times for specialists in Boston are longer than in comparable cities in other states and have gotten worse. Some desperate patients have even resorted to “group appointments” where the doctor sees several patients at once (without the privacy necessary to allow the physician to remove the patient’s clothing and perform a proper physical exam). These patients all have “coverage,” but that’s not the same as actual medical care.
The Massachusetts plan is also breaking the state budget. Since 2006, health insurance costs in Massachusetts have risen nearly twice as fast as the national average. The state expects to spend $595 million more in 2009 on its health insurance program than it did in 2006, a 42 percent increase. Those higher health costs help explain why the state faced a $5 billion budget gap this summer. To help close it, lawmakers raised taxes sharply. “

Posted by: Jimmy | October 10, 2009, 3:36 pm 3:36 pm

I will give my money and my time to Unseat any member of Congress that votes for this shamefull fraud.
Posted by: Rick
that is ostensibly is what America is all about, choice! Choice within the framework of laws, culture and and the whatever else that somehow keeps these United States united.
we choose politicians, marriage partners, religion or atheism, whether to have children, where to shop, what to watch and listen to…. it is the fundamental center of the american experience, our freedom as a society and individual freedom within the confines of established as well as ever changing laws.
nothing is perfect, certainly not our society, and not these initial steps in health care reform.. but a refusal to try find a solution no matter how imperfect it may be at the beginning of the process is a defeatist perspective.
we choose those who represent us, should those in power fail in their responsibilities and policies, we vote them out.
but, not to allow our representatives to even have a chance to govern and try their policies dooms us to an endless cycle, a repetition of failure and inertia.
without getting political, the previous republican administration was voted out of power as a result of their policies, they tried, they didn’t work, and, it’s also happened to democrats.
if Obama’s and the Dems polices fail, or don’t live up to expectations, they will be voted out.
real health care reform must be given a chance, then refined and sharpened to benefit the majority of citizens.

Posted by: The American Way | October 10, 2009, 3:36 pm 3:36 pm

How can anyone say they are for or against the proposed “Health Care Reform” until it is finalized and they are given a chance to read it? Until that occurs they are in the dark!

Posted by: tillyerkt | October 10, 2009, 3:37 pm 3:37 pm

Those who are against health insurance reform: What do you propose to make it affordable? What can you do stop the CEOs keep the profits in their pockets? What can you do to help Americans to buy health insurance that they can afford? What can you do to help Americans with preexisting conditions buy health insurance that the can afford? Answer these questions in particular you Republicans and you CEOs. Answer now.

Posted by: Maritza | October 10, 2009, 3:45 pm 3:45 pm

The CBO report on the Senate Finance Committee Bill is based on a bunch of budget gimmicks. For example, it assumes that the States, which are all in deep financial trouble, can take on even greater unfunded mandates in the form of more Medicaid patients. Senator Reid knows his State Nevada cannot afford the unfunded mandates called for in the bill and has already opted his State out from under them. Other States will follow.
Another assumption by the CBO is that enormous cuts, over 500 billion, can be made to Medicare to help pay for another big government program ignoring the fact that Medicare is already near bankrupt. So when people say there are death panels in the bill, that is exactly what will happen to Seniors if the cuts to Medicare are carried out as mandated in the Senate Finance bill. Seniors will be screaming their heads off about these cuts so think again if the government can pull this one off.
Then there is the taxes on the so called Cadillac Insurance plans which are mostly negotiated union plans. Unions are already protesting these taxes so guess how long these taxes will stay in the bill?
So there you have it. None of the ways of funding health care reform are actually feasible as they call for higher taxes, unfunded Medicaid mandates that the States can’t afford and enormous cuts to Medicare which Seniors will raise hell about. Any Senator on the Finance Committee voting for this bill (which is full of a bunch of budget gimmicks) should be fired.
Come to think of it, even Madoff must be admiring how the good Senators are trying to con the public into thinking the bill will actually reduce the deficit, reduce the cost of health care and increase the number of people getting decent health care when the exact opposite is true. The whole Health Care Reform bill is just a scam whose sole purpose is to try and con more tax payer dollars out of the people.

Posted by: james | October 10, 2009, 3:45 pm 3:45 pm

How can anyone say they are for or against the proposed “Health Care Reform” until it is finalized and they are given a chance to read it? Until that occurs they are in the dark! Posted by: tillyerkt
Folks are arguing about whether it’s even needed at all, or whether things should remain the same. It’s between those who say ‘ too bad for those people who don’t money and access to care’, and those who believe the system must be changed and reformed for the benefit of all..
The final bill wil let us all know what kind of country we will live in.

Posted by: YO | October 10, 2009, 3:48 pm 3:48 pm

Maritza, You answer this question, Why should I be forced to hand over my hard earned money to pay for your health care? Sounds a bit greedy on your part to me and you have the nerve to condemn those so called profit driven insurance companies. What a big hypocrite you are as at least health care insurance companies are providing a product people want to buy. What have you done to earn the money you want to take out of my pocket? Answer: Nothing.
For people who can’t afford it, there is Medicaid, which is already bankrupting the States by the way and if Health Care Reform is passed there will be even more unfunded mandates that the States cannot afford.
As to what to do. Stop all the government mandates and open the market up so people can buy the insurance they can afford and want to pay for. A good example of what is wrong with government run health care is Massachusetts where people who have paid for catastrophic health care insurance (and don’t want to pay for more coverage) are now being fined a thousand dollars if they don’t buy more expensive plans that they don’t want or need.
The fact is, less government, not more will make health care insurance costs go down and make it possible for people to buy health insurance.

Posted by: james | October 10, 2009, 3:59 pm 3:59 pm

The final bill wil let us all know what kind of country we will live in. ++++Thats the scary part. The Democrats have voted AGAINST allowing the final version of the bill to be posted on the internet for review before it goes to final vote. What are they going to try to hide and where is that transparency?

Posted by: Boxcar | October 10, 2009, 4:11 pm 4:11 pm

There are some good parts and there are some ridiculous things in the health care plan. No point in following the Pied Piper over the cliff.
The GOP is doing it right by withholding any support until the ridiculous is removed and then voting unanimously for the plan.
The 2010 GOP ad will compare the beginning Dem plan to what was finally passed because of GOP efforts.

Posted by: donbl1 | October 10, 2009, 4:13 pm 4:13 pm

James, easy on Maritza, he/she is new to the debate, and he/she is on our side on this one, he/she just doesn’t know it. Maritza: I support health insurance reform. So does everyone in Congress, especially Republicans. No one is saying the status quo is acceptable. Republicans are just saying Obamacare isn’t either, and it is not. Maritza: does the current health insurance bill deal with this (no competition in states). No, it doesn’t. In fact, the Government Option is going to takeover healthcare and the only insurance company in any state is going to be the Government “Option” (Fannie Med, if you will). Does the Republican plan address these issues? YES! check it out for yourself at healthtransformation net. Currently, insurance company monopolies are protected by their state lines, enforced by their Congresspeople and Senators. Republicans want to bring this wall down; anyone should be able to buy insurance from any company in any state. At a minimum, that would bring competing insurance companies to 50. Democrats don’t like that, they rather protect their homestate insurance lobbyists. The Republican plan would also eliminate health insurance fraud. Obamacare thinks health insurance fraud isn’t a problem, probably because that is where ACORN bilks all its money. The Republican plan would eliminate lawsuit abuse. Obamacare puts trial lawyers before the People. You see, there is a fundamental difference in approach between Barack Obama’s health care change and Republican’s reform. Barack Obama thinks the problem is with insurance companies. They are part of the problem, but that is like saying its Wal-Mart’s fault that toilet paper is so expensive. True, Wal-Mart makes a profit bringing product to you, but the factory that sells Wal-Mart the product is a factor as well. Barack Obama ignores health care fraud and junk lawsuits on the hospital level, and thinks if government were to takeover health insurance, health insurance would suddenly become cheap and plentiful. No, health care defrauders will continue to defraud health care, and trial lawyers will continue to bilk doctors, except this time, instead of bilking the patients, they will be bilking the taxpayer. Join us in telling Nancy Pelosi to put the Republican plan to a vote! The Republican plan will either pass with flying colors, or Democrats will look stupid voting against it. I guess either is unacceptable to Barack Hussein Obama, hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm… Barack Hussein Obama!

Posted by: IndePalin voter | October 10, 2009, 4:21 pm 4:21 pm

A lot of poor people don’t qualify for Medicaid, james.

Posted by: WWW | October 10, 2009, 4:21 pm 4:21 pm

The DNC should get over it.. they lost this one.. their own party is at a loss to deal with it.. the citizens aren’t dumb enough to buy this neutral budget stuff.. who would be? Take your watered down bill and sell it to your own zombies.

Posted by: DontGet818OnMeNow | October 10, 2009, 4:24 pm 4:24 pm

Here’s some HCR solutions. Let all 1300 health insurers compete with each other. You should be able to buy health insurance like you buy car insurance.Ban health insurers from denying people w/pre-existing conditions. Also, tort reform will save billions in costs. But the Democrats won’t go for tort reform, because they’re beholden to the trial lawyers. Obama, Pelosi, & Reid care about one thing: CONTROL OVER YOU! They’re out to bankrupt the country & fundementally transform it, as Obama said. That’s why they are hell-bent on the so-called “public option”.

Posted by: redpens | October 10, 2009, 4:26 pm 4:26 pm

Sorry, but the “public option” doesn’t work. It will put
private insurers out of business. The government
doesn’t have to make a profit. Also, all further innovations in the medical field will grind to a halt. We”ll have outdated medical equipment in the long term. By the way, a majority of Canadians want either reform to their system or scrapping it altogether. You can’t put 300 million people on a single-payer system,
which would be the result of the “public option.” The costs would be unfathomable.

Posted by: redpens | October 10, 2009, 4:38 pm 4:38 pm

WWW, Again, more people will be able to afford health care insurance if you get government out of the picture by getting rid of all the mandates and allowing more competition between States. A good example of what is wrong with government run health care is Massachusetts where people who have paid for catastrophic health care insurance (and don’t want to pay for more expensive coverage) are now being fined a thousand dollars by the State if they don’t buy more expensive plans that they don’t want or need.
The fact is, less government, not more will make health care insurance costs go down and make it possible for more people to afford health insurance.

Posted by: james | October 10, 2009, 4:39 pm 4:39 pm

It seems that all that counts is good intentions (e.g., Nobel Peace Prize) The devil is in the details of the plan.

Posted by: tillyerkt | October 10, 2009, 4:52 pm 4:52 pm

Obama said health care will bankrupt us, then he proposes a plan that adds trillions to the deficit. HE LIED. This is all about giving an entitlement to another 30 million voters and securing his power. It is a total fraud.

Posted by: bryan | October 10, 2009, 4:54 pm 4:54 pm

What the people should be demanding,,,,is that elected officials in Washington do something NEITHER party is doing, REPRESENT the PEOPLE, BOTH parties have become legislative harlots, who pass lobby tainted legislation that ends up costing the taxpayers money while benefiting the the personal and party greed of those involved,,,call it what you want but it is a conspiracy to defraud the American people,,,,and that my friends is HIGH TREASON. have both parties forgotten why this country fought a revolution from England?….Taxation without representation,,,,,,the same thing ALL the government bailouts and stimulus packages to corporate America have been,,,,,History could repeat itself.

Posted by: tincup56 | October 10, 2009, 5:07 pm 5:07 pm

james, I never understood what socialism was until you defined it. It is the government taking your hard earned money by force of law and handing it over to someone who has not earned the money. In contrast, Capitalism is you as an individual freely handing over your money for a product or service your need or want. Why anyone in their righrt mind would be in support of what amounts to legal theft and some would say slavery, is beyond comprehension. It is not only immoral it is evil.

Posted by: Simpson | October 10, 2009, 5:11 pm 5:11 pm

James, you have no idea what you are talking about. I would gladly buy my own insurance if I were able to. There is not a single individual insurance plan that comes anywhere close to covering what I need at any price.
Don’t believe me? Call around. Tell the insurance companies that you want to buy individual coverage for yourself. Tell them you have MS, and that your RX costs are approximately $2,600 a month — for two drugs. Give them the drug names. Avonex and Provigil. See for yourself if those insurance companies give you the option of buying the health care coverage that you need.
I have not been without a job since I graduated from high school. I have excellent employer-paid health care coverage that I contribute nothing to. I have never gone a day without health care coverage; I’ve always known how important it was. For years, I never used the coverage I had, but thank goodness I had it when I needed it.
What if, ten or fifteen years from now, employers do not provide health care coverage for their employees any longer? What if they provide it, but for the best coverage you are responsible for the whole premium? Can you afford that? For the coverage I have, my premium would be about $500 a month through the group. I can afford that, if that premium would increase at a normal rate. However, we all know insurance companies don’t operate that way. That $500 a month is for single-person, group coverage, by the way.
If you think that this will never happen, all I can say is that when I first started working it never occurred to me that one day the majority of working people would be contributing to their health care coverage and getting less coverage in exchange for paying more.
Someone like me will never qualify for Medicaid. In my state, if you are eligible for Social Security benefits in any way, you don’t qualify for Medicaid.
If you want people to be personally responsible for their own care, then support an option that would give them the ability to do just that.

Posted by: auntiedancer | October 10, 2009, 5:14 pm 5:14 pm

MY PLAN for ANY Proposed Heathcare Legislation…………
“EVERY Member of Congress and EVERY Government Bureaucrat and EVERY Union Member and EVERY Lobbyists AND THEIR Families will be required to be covered
without EXCEPTION !!!”
Then and ONLY THEN will there be equity for the U.S. Taxpayers/Citizens !!!

Posted by: thgirbla | October 10, 2009, 5:15 pm 5:15 pm

Posted by: Jimmy | October 10, 2009, 5:16 pm 5:16 pm

“I never understood what socialism was until you defined it. It is the government taking your hard earned money by force of law and handing it over to someone who has not earned the money.”
_________________________________
Nonsense . . . governments the world over do this. Highways are provided to people who have not ‘earned’ highways. Military defense, police and firefighters are provided to people who have not ‘earned’ that coverage.
It’s called ‘the common good’ and it’s one of the things that distinguishes human beings and yet is also common among many species.
Greed is one of the qualities that sets humans apart from every other decent creation on the face of the planet. It is not something to be admired nor touted.

Posted by: tierra | October 10, 2009, 5:24 pm 5:24 pm

I am a Conservative and want health-care reform, but NOT Big Government health-care reform.

Posted by: No Big Gov | October 10, 2009, 5:25 pm 5:25 pm

Jimmy — Really?
Medicare is government run. With supplemental insurance coverage, it is the best care there is, with the exception of the RX coverage, which is not provided by the government, but by insurance companies. The only reason it is called Medicare Part D is because you have to be eligible for Medicare to enroll.
Medicare has its problems, but it’s not the government. It’s the fact that it only covers the elderly and the disabled. That could be fixed if everyone were enrolled in Medicare.
There is no waiting or denials with Medicare. My mother never waits for anything, and she has never been denied anything. My father was not sent home to die when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. For almost two years, Medicare paid on time, never denied a single treatment, and I never heard a word from them. His supplemental insurance was another matter entirely. They eventually paid everything that they were supposed to, which was a fraction of what Medicare paid, and only after I fought with them and threatened to go to the insurance commissioner of the state.
People act like driving the insurance companies out of business would be a bad thing. I think it’s the best thing that could ever happen.

Posted by: Auntiedancer | October 10, 2009, 5:39 pm 5:39 pm

ALL OF THESE PEOPLE ARE CROOKS DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS. WAKE UP PEOPLE Chicago’s (Chicago Tribune): Rahm Emanuel—now chief of staff to President Barack Obama—Rahm-bo left the White House in 1998 to become an investment banker, promptly making $16.2 million in just two years also making at least $320,000 for a 14-month stint at Freddie Mac that required little effort. What is less known, however, is how little he apparently did for his money and how he benefited from the kind of cozy ties between Washington and Wall Street that have fueled the nation’s current economic mess. The Freddie Mac money was a small piece of the $16 million he made in a three-year interlude as an investment banker a decade ago. On Emanuel’s watch, the board was told by executives of a plan to use accounting tricks to mislead shareholders about outsize profits the government-chartered firm was then reaping from risky investments. The goal was to push earnings onto the books in future years, ensuring that Freddie Mac would appear profitable on paper for years to come and helping maximize annual bonuses for company brass. Many of those same risky investment practices tied to the accounting scandal eventually brought the firm to the brink of insolvency and led to its seizure last year by the Bush administration, which pledged to inject up to $100 billion in new capital to keep the firm afloat. The Obama administration has doubled that commitment. The Obama administration rejected a Tribune request under the Freedom of Information Act to review Freddie Mac board minutes and correspondence during Emanuel’s time as a director. The Washington Post’s Howard Kurtz has let the cat out of the bag in the Post’s April 27 issue about a regularly scheduled secret media dinner attended by some of the top left-wing journalists in the country. But it isn’t just the lefty scribblers that have attended these secret, off-the-record dinners for these gatherings have each featured a guest. Rahm Emanuel, Sec. of the Treasury Tim Geithner, and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke have all recently had their chance to schmooze the press and guide them with the spin desired by the White House. So not only does Obama’s Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel have secret daily phone calls with which to program the media’s coverage of the White House, now it is revealed that Emanuel and other Obama staffers have been attending secret dinners to help the press understand what the White House wants reported? As Kurtz says, it all sounds “rather cozy,” doesn’t it?

Posted by: suchajoke | October 10, 2009, 5:42 pm 5:42 pm

tierra, You are the one who has it all wrong. The subject at hand is not highways or National Defense it is whether you have the right to take my hard earned money and use it to pay for your health care.
The question is, does the the common good include taking my hard earned money and paying for your food, clothing, housing and health care? I think not. If that turns out to be the case than you are turning everyone into mere slaves of the State. You are also turning the recipients of other peoples hard earned money into a bunch of dependent ungrateful dead beats, who have no ability to earn the basic necessities of life which will ultimately lead into the death of civilization.

Posted by: james | October 10, 2009, 5:46 pm 5:46 pm

Why does this suprise anyone? It’s a well known fact that most Republican voters can’t think for themselves. They let the elected Republican officials do their thinking for them.

Posted by: tom | October 10, 2009, 5:50 pm 5:50 pm

James, do you seriously believe that if I were allowed to buy health insurance across state lines that any insurance company in any state would insure me at any rate considering that my RX costs alone are over $30,000 per year? If you do, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I would like to sell you.

Posted by: auntiedancer | October 10, 2009, 5:50 pm 5:50 pm

So, james | Oct 10, 2009 5:46:43 PM, reading you, the Republican health care plan for the American citizen really is: “If you get sick, die quickly”. Amazing…well, not really…

Posted by: Robin | October 10, 2009, 5:55 pm 5:55 pm

Auntiedancer, Think again, if Medicare gets cut by a half a trillion dollars like the Democrats want to do, start ordering that coffin for your
Grand mother. Not only that, the unfunded mandates in the bill for Medicaid will further break the budgets of the States and crash Medicaid all together. In case you have not heard deficits are sky high, the value of the dollar is plummeting and we our soulds to foreign Nations like China. All of this is going to come down on all our heads very soon making the quest for government run health care look like we we all had our heads in the sand while Rome was burning.

Posted by: james | October 10, 2009, 5:58 pm 5:58 pm

James, again, check your facts. The Democrats have never said that they are going to cut funding for Medicare. What they said was that they intend to pay for a public option with savings that they could earn if they reduce fraud in Medicare. I have my doubts about whether or not they can do this. There is no doubt that there is fraud in Medicare. Kind of like there is no doubt that there is fraud in the insurance industry, on top of obscene profits while they refuse to insure people like me outside of a group plan.
If the Democrats ever wanted cut the actual funding of Medicare, I’d be the first one protesting that.

Posted by: auntiedancer | October 10, 2009, 6:00 pm 6:00 pm

fct fixes that are necessary and possible if the politician hacks would become ethical humans overnight and FIX the existing problems with a brilliant and visionary plan as opposed to a trojan government takeover that has been proven economically unsustainable and unsuccessful throughout the western world. Most comparable countries are necessarily having to move away from pure nationalized health systems towards a shift of putting more responsibility on the citizen, through free market supplemental insurance and freedom to choose their procedures, doctors and level of care.
What is currently on the table will raise premiums and taxes and lower level of care as well as increase rationing to the sickest and the oldest, who mostly have Medicare as coverage. The 2010 Medicare rules, being finalized next month, potentially call for an 11% overall cut on cardiology, a 19% cut on radiation oncology, a 44% cut on antitumor radiation therapy, certain kinds of diagnostic imaging will lose 24%, the basic tools of heart specialists—echocardiograms/stress tests- and
catheterizations— are slated to be slashed by 42% and 24%, respectively. As a stage IV cancer patient, I am terrified of the direction that my Medicare coverage will go… and I pay $320 per month for Medicare A, B, D and medigap coverage. So if you think that it’s FREE, PSYCHE! It’s only slightly less than I paid on private, but I enjoy lesser and lesser levels of care than I had on private, my doctor is forced to treat me with one and a half arms tied behind his back with restrictions known as “guidelines”, and it is slated to become much worse. I also enjoy the benefit of appealing any denials to a brick wall, with no advocacy avenues for back-up. And for the uninformed masses, insurance companies are allowed to and do follow Medicare “guidelines” (but to a lesser degree, usually, than Medicare), so when you face a denial from your private company, it is because Medicare denies it… and if you face a denial that you learn Medicare covers, then you have the benefit of a state board of insurance and an appeal process that is mostly timely to reverse your denial. I only wish I still had that avenue at my disposal. I stupidly and regretfully opted into Medicare when it became available to me on disability, and now I can not opt out… or if I can opt out in the future, my disability and SS benefit must be forfeited by me forever. So you see, the government has a way of painting the weakest in our society into a corner, like a mouse who is lured into a cage with poisoned cheese. All I can say is beware of the poisoned government cheese.

Posted by: BK | October 10, 2009, 6:05 pm 6:05 pm

Thank you tom | Oct 10, 2009 5:52:00 PM for the link to a remarkable (again) report by that voice of reason and integrity, Bill Moyers. James et al., care to comment?

Posted by: Robin | October 10, 2009, 6:11 pm 6:11 pm

Please, Republicans, do not vote for this bill. Let the Democrats take the blame for what they are doing. We all know why they want a bi-partisan bill. Don’t let them do it to you.

Posted by: Carol Lassiter | October 10, 2009, 6:16 pm 6:16 pm

We already have a public option its for both houses of congress to get their pay after leaving office for life. Its for both houses of congress to go on fact finding trips that are really a cover for a family vacation in which the public has to pay for !!!!

Posted by: jg5012 | October 10, 2009, 6:19 pm 6:19 pm

Here is my full post… the interweb found a way to cut it off somehow… but I will repost for clarity sake.
__________________________
90% of Americans believe in the generic “health reform” – and know that we need fixes. It is no surprise that The O has, in his very adept opportunistically simpleton way co-opted the former republicans radically differing views into his and Hairy Pelosi’s plans. I hope they can find many cameras and microphones in the coming week to set the record straight.
Auntiedancer, I paid $420 per month on individual private insurance, as a stage IV 50 yr old cancer patient. And I was happy to do so. I had great coverage, with only one “questioned” procedure that they promptly paid when supplied with letter of medical necessity. Imagine that. Do many insurance companies bastardize the system and abuse the consumer? Absolutely. And that is what needs to be FIXED with increased competition and legislative rules and regulations that fill in the loopholes. Your “what ifs” are the exact fixes that are necessary and possible if the politician hacks would become ethical humans overnight and FIX the existing problems with a brilliant and visionary plan as opposed to a trojan government takeover that has been proven economically unsustainable and unsuccessful throughout the western world. Most comparable countries are necessarily having to move away from pure nationalized health systems towards a shift of putting more responsibility on the citizen, through free market supplemental insurance and freedom to choose their procedures, doctors and level of care.
What is currently on the table will raise premiums and taxes and lower level of care as well as increase rationing to the sickest and the oldest, who mostly have Medicare as coverage. The 2010 Medicare rules, being finalized next month, potentially call for an 11% overall cut on cardiology, a 19% cut on radiation oncology, a 44% cut on antitumor radiation therapy, certain kinds of diagnostic imaging will lose 24%, the basic tools of heart specialists—echocardiograms/stress tests- and
catheterizations— are slated to be slashed by 42% and 24%, respectively. As a stage IV cancer patient, I am terrified of the direction that my Medicare coverage will go… and I pay $320 per month for Medicare A, B, D and medigap coverage. So if you think that it’s FREE, PSYCHE! It’s only slightly less than I paid on private, but I enjoy lesser and lesser levels of care than I had on private, my doctor is forced to treat me with one and a half arms tied behind his back with restrictions known as “guidelines”, and it is slated to become much worse. I also enjoy the benefit of appealing any denials to a brick wall, with no advocacy avenues for back-up. And for the uninformed masses, insurance companies are allowed to and do follow Medicare “guidelines” (but to a lesser degree, usually, than Medicare), so when you face a denial from your private company, it is because Medicare denies it… and if you face a denial that you learn Medicare covers, then you have the benefit of a state board of insurance and an appeal process that is mostly timely to reverse your denial. I only wish I still had that avenue at my disposal. I stupidly and regretfully opted into Medicare when it became available to me on disability, and now I can not opt out… or if I can opt out in the future, my disability and SS benefit must be forfeited by me forever. I want out of Medicare so bad I could vomit. So you see, the government has a way of painting the weakest in our society into a corner, like a mouse who is lured into a cage with poisoned cheese. All I can say is beware of the poisoned government cheese.

Posted by: BK | October 10, 2009, 6:19 pm 6:19 pm

Auntiedancer – it is that the testing I need is rationed. I have brain tumors that we knock back, but Medicare won’t pay for an MRI any earlier than set intervals, even if my doctor needs that info for treatment followup, sooner than the interval… I can’t get a pap smear or get an annual GYN check-up anymore because I am 50yrs old. But being a cancer patient, I should be checked yearly… however, I am shuttled into the bi-annual interval scheme, without any recourse. I have waited 18 months and 4 appeals for reimbursement of a medically necessary MRI that I am out of pocket for. Part D has actually worked well for me, for the most part, but the premium for it is slated to increase by 20% as the current health reform bills are written, while payments for the exact procedures I benefit from are slated to be cut by 11-44%. Talk about tying a doctors arms behind their backs and telling them how to practice medicine. The government idea of health care is poisoned. Plain and simple. In the name of equalizing the system, the weakest and the oldest WILL be opted out, no question.

Posted by: BK | October 10, 2009, 6:31 pm 6:31 pm

BK, I would gladly pay $420 a month for the kind of group coverage I have now. I would be thrilled with that, I really would. I would gladly pay more than that. The problem is that it is not available to me at any price. I’ve spent a lot of time looking into it, believe me. Even if it were available to me, those costs increase too dramatically each year for me to be able to rely on individual coverage.
Maybe I could get the coverage I need if I were allowed to buy insurance across state lines. But, again, I don’t believe that that would last. These are insurance companies, after all, and their only interest is making money, not health care. Eventually, we would be in the same position that we are in now.
The only way I can see this working is if the insurance companies insured large groups of people privately and everyone was charged the same government-mandated premium where the risk would be spread around. But then you’ll have people screaming that they don’t want to be forced to buy insurance because they think they won’t need it. Many of them will be right; they won’t need it as soon as I did or as soon as you did. The people who will be buying that insurance will be people like us, the insurance companies won’t make enough of a profit, and, again, we’ll be right back where we are now.
I truly believe that one day we will have a public option in this country. I don’t know if it will happen now, but it will eventually happen. That does not necessarily mean that the government has to take over health care. Every other country in the world has some form of a public option, and most of those countries also have private insurance if people want to pay for that instead. But the point is there is an option for everyone in those countries — an option that we don’t have here.

Posted by: auntiedancer | October 10, 2009, 6:47 pm 6:47 pm

ABC, what happen to true investigatve reporting? Who owns your soul?

Posted by: tom | October 10, 2009, 6:57 pm 6:57 pm

Advantage clause in Medicare was to “give” the big Insurance companies their due……but wait, it wasn’t paid for under the last Administration…now that’s waste….this isn’t about Republican and Democrat this is about the American people…..now just look at the faces of those people in the above video…….I see “horns”

Posted by: sara | October 10, 2009, 6:59 pm 6:59 pm

BK, I am sorry for you. What your describing has not been my experience at all. My father had four MRIs in less than two years, and I never heard a word from Medicare about it. He didn’t pay anything out-of-pocket. I’m not doubting you; I’m sure that there is something in their contract of insurance that allows what they are doing to you, and this needs to be fixed, too.
I have the best private insurance of anyone I know. I don’t contribute to it and my highest co-pay is $40 for RX costs. Because of my MS, I’m supposed to have an MRI every two years. This is not an issue for me right now because I don’t have a deductible on my coverage (I fully expect that to change, though). However, I did have a deductible at my last job. I had to pay 20% of my MRI until I reached a certain out-of-pocket amount in medical costs. I have no problem with that, either. I used to put money aside out of every paycheck for this very reason. Last year, under my old coverage, I asked the doctor if he could send me a month early for my MRI so that I could use the money I had set aside in my health care savings account. He was willing; the insurance company said no because it hadn’t been two years since the last one. It wasn’t an issue because I had other medical expenses I could spend the money on that year. If my insurance changes after the first of the year, or at any time, and I do have deductibles again, I have no problem with that. I will do what I have done in the past and set money aside for my own medical care. Unlike what others choose to believe, I do not want free care, and I don’t want anyone else to pay for my care.
I’ve been speaking from my own personal experiences and my parents’ experiences with Medicare. You’ve given me something else to think about and look into, and I have to say that it’s extremely nice to be able to have this conversation with someone who can talk about it in a rational way. Thank you for that, and I wish you the best as you go through what you’re going through right now. No one should have to worry about their health care coverage when going through what you’re going through, no matter who is supposed to be providing that coverage.

Posted by: auntiedancer | October 10, 2009, 7:07 pm 7:07 pm

It’s all politics now. The Democrats now are playing the bipartisan card after spewing “we’ll go it alone” all summer. A wonderfully hypocritical group. Pelosi is terribly partisan and divisive and absolutely NEEDS TO GO!!!

Posted by: LongT | October 10, 2009, 7:21 pm 7:21 pm

Wait until the taxes kick in (three years before any “benefits”). Won’t matter what party you’re in, you’ll have lots of explaining to do.

Posted by: Fascist Hyena | October 10, 2009, 7:31 pm 7:31 pm

Nice to see this from Newsweek:
“The Nobel committee has handed out some puzzling peace prizes over the years—Henry Kissinger and Yasir Arafat come to mind [not to mention Rigoberta Menchu and Mohamed Al Baradei]—but even given a few scratches and dings, the Nobel retained its luster as the most prestigious award of any kind in the world. Long after the ‘red carpet’ pretty much destroyed the idea of prizes in general, the Nobel Peace Prize was still seen as rare and precious. By cloaking its deliberations and through brilliant PR, the committee gave the prize a supranatural aura, as if the name of the winner were spit out of the mouth of an ancient volcano.
That’s all over now. The Nobel Peace Prize is finished. It’s just another ‘prize,’ like a Teen Choice Award for old people. No matter what you think of Obama, the man has done nothing, at all, to deserve it. He may deserve it someday, but the Nobel prize isn’t supposed to be a bet on the hope of the possibility of greatness at some point in the future. And it can no longer be taken seriously. From now on, no matter who wins, no matter how deserving, people will say, ‘Yeah, but they also gave it to Obama.’”

Posted by: Fascist Hyena | October 10, 2009, 7:34 pm 7:34 pm

Posted by: jg5012 | October 10, 2009, 7:34 pm 7:34 pm

Bought and paid for…bought and paid for….380 million dollars spent by health care industry in last few months on lobbying, ads and campaign contributions to kill health care reform, especially a single payer system or public option.

Posted by: Robin | October 10, 2009, 8:03 pm 8:03 pm

The goal should be to get 60 votes in the Senate; and since that’s not happening yet, the fat lady is singing.

Posted by: Patrick | October 10, 2009, 8:25 pm 8:25 pm

I’m not real clear on why passing a public option first is the requirement for clearing up fraud in Medicare.
Maybe they should go ahead and get working on Medicare fraud and save all that money anyway, regardless of the status of a public option.
If treatment is denied because private insurance companies refuse to pay for it, why would anyone expect those decisions to be more compassionate when civil servants are making them?

Posted by: MizFW | October 10, 2009, 8:33 pm 8:33 pm

This is weird.
1. These Republicans’ views have been purposely misrepresented. I cannot understand why Big O thinks he will get away with lying so blatantly and so often.
2. None of these Republicans were elected to represent their constituents in Washington D.C. The elected Republicans opposing Obama’s plan are doing what their constituents want. VOTE NO>
3. If these Republicans go on Republican ads showing what they really said. Big O will have more egg on his face.

Posted by: SjB | October 10, 2009, 8:45 pm 8:45 pm

If treatment is denied because private insurance companies refuse to pay for it, why would anyone expect those decisions to be more compassionate when civil servants are making them? asked
MizFW | Oct 10, 2009 8:33:37 PM. Because that’s what the law would tell them to do. Compassion would not enter into it.

Posted by: Robin | October 10, 2009, 8:46 pm 8:46 pm

Jake, It’s nice to have you back. Congratulations to you and your wife on your new child. Children are suck wonderfully (add oodles of superlatives here) blessings. :)

Posted by: SjB | October 10, 2009, 8:47 pm 8:47 pm

YIKES! That should be ‘such wonderfully’ NOT suck. Geez, I have a red face. :)

Posted by: SjB | October 10, 2009, 8:51 pm 8:51 pm

Bought and paid for…bought and paid for….1 500 000 dollars donated by health care industry to Committee Chairman Max Baucus, in last few months alone to kill health care reform, especially a single payer system or public option. Ever wonder why what a large majority of citizens wants to happen, doesn’t?

Posted by: Robin | October 10, 2009, 9:01 pm 9:01 pm

To: Robin et al: I live in Canada, when I go to MY doctor whom I choose, he prescribes medication and treatment without having to call or get permission from anybody. PERIOD. If I need an elective surgery, for a problem that I can live with for a while and is not life threatening, I might have to wait for a certain time. I had twice in my life symptoms that may have meant a serious condition and both times I got scans and tests on the spot without any wait. Our hospitals are not the Country Club that some US facilities boast, but the care and the equipment are of very high quality.BTW, not everybody drives a 2009 car but a 2007 will get you home. People here are 82% satisfied with our system, what is your rate? (don’t forget to include those who can’t even get to it).

Posted by: treblig56 | October 10, 2009, 9:05 pm 9:05 pm

Problem #1 in the USA: You do NOT have a healthcare SYSTEM, you have a healthcare INDUSTRY! As long as healthcare is viewed as an INDUSTRY like oil and furniture, nothing will change. The minute you see healthcare as a public service like police and fire department, you will get somewhere.

Posted by: treblig56 | October 10, 2009, 9:18 pm 9:18 pm

To Treblig : 44% are very, another 28% of Americans are somewhat dissatisfied with the availability of affordable health care -almost 3/4 of us are not satisfied – it’s too expensive and even us people making a pretty good living worry ourselves sick about a catastrophic disease we may get, and especially if it’s our kids that get really sick. I believe that doesn’t even cross someones mind in any other rich country.

Posted by: Robin | October 10, 2009, 9:26 pm 9:26 pm

I forgot something. You may be willing to pay as you do for police and fire prevention for EVERYBODY out of your taxes! That’s the GOP sticking point. Rich people paying for healthcare for poor people? Not on their life! Keeping healthcare as an industry prevents that. People buy products according to their means, everyone pays for its own, voilà! Problem solved!

Posted by: treblig56 | October 10, 2009, 9:31 pm 9:31 pm

To Robin: One point you might stress about single payer healthcare: Nobody in Canada will go bankrupt due to a catastrophic health problem. 60% of bankruptcies in the US result from healthcare costs, especially in an economic downturn. It is so stress-relieving that should I lose my job and then suffer a grave accident or stroke or heart attack, I will not lose my house over it!

Posted by: treblig56 | October 10, 2009, 9:42 pm 9:42 pm

Chuck Hagel was always a RINO.
He’s a Republican like Arlen Spector
was a Republican.
Always putting himself first and ready
to switch to the Democrat side at the
drop of a hat.
Instead of listening to these washed up,
out of touch, politicians the
president should start listening to the
American People who in poll after poll
have rejected the “public option”
that he seems determined to ram down
our throats whether we like it or not!

Posted by: reaganfan | October 10, 2009, 10:33 pm 10:33 pm

Wouldn’t you agree reaganfan | Oct 10, 2009 10:33:54 PM, that what is so tiresome in this health care reform process is how simple facts are ignored? In ‘poll after poll’ Americans not only choose the ‘public option’ but the much stronger ‘single payer system’ where Medicare is simply applied to all Americans, not just those over 65. You have just stated the exact opposite. Maybe you are referring to Rasmussen, but that’s just one. All the others have over many years, and now as well – even after a remarkable disinformation campaign (‘death panels’ sheesh, we’ve got those right now courtesy of the private insurance co’s with their claim rejection squads) by those special – interests who would lose big if the rest of us get out from under their thumb – shown a clear preference for us to join the rest of the civilized world.

Posted by: Robin | October 10, 2009, 11:05 pm 11:05 pm

“American People who in poll after poll
have rejected the “public option”"
reaganfan | Oct 10, 2009 10:33:54 PM
The poll that matters was taken last November. Obama made NO secret of his position or intentions regarding health care during the campaign.

Posted by: jhw539 | October 10, 2009, 11:21 pm 11:21 pm

According to figures from the AMA (yes, the AMA, that strong supporter of the president on health insurance reform), in 2008, the insurance company that refused the highest number of claims was— wait for it— MEDICARE. So government bureaucrats are already denying payment at a higher rate than corporate bureaucrats.
Why does anyone think that we will get less red tape and more access to quality health care if the government is more involved in our health insurance system than it is now?

Posted by: GetReal | October 10, 2009, 11:50 pm 11:50 pm

That ad is an excellent example of cherry-picking.

Posted by: GetReal | October 10, 2009, 11:51 pm 11:51 pm

Its not hyper-partisan, its following their constituant’s wishes. Look at the polls!!! — The majority of Americans dont want the Dem’s versions, but want something less revolutionary!! — They want a “measured” approach!!! — Don’t be fooled by the “obstructionist” label — it’s all POLITICS from the Dems, not the GOP!!!

Posted by: MidwestValues | October 11, 2009, 12:27 am 12:27 am

JHW539 —- You said “The poll that matters was taken last November” — You mean the election where the best thing the current POTUS could muster was “hope and change”?? — Well, we all see through that now — Tell me please, just how many of those campaign promises are fulfilled?? — PLEASE!!!!— He no longer deserves the votes he received!!!

Posted by: MidwestValues | October 11, 2009, 12:32 am 12:32 am

Calling the President of the U.S. the big O is very disrepectful and tells us more about what kind of a person you are than what kind of a person he is. I used to vote Republican but the party today is not the great party it once was. It is now dominated by right wing nuts, who do absolutely nothing to win me back. There must be some Republicans who are truly thoughtful and supportive of health care reform. Its good to see a few of them publicly supporting the President. Barry Goldwater would have told the screaming lunatics where to get off.

Posted by: Sam | October 11, 2009, 12:55 am 12:55 am

Good point! I like that..In the US its a health care industry as oppose to a health care system..Well said!

Posted by: Stanley | October 11, 2009, 12:56 am 12:56 am

They need to get this socialize health care program through BEFORE 2 November 2010. If they don’t, they know they’re going to lose their majority in both houses, and the Presidency 2 years after that.
It’s NOW or NEVER for the Dems!

Posted by: Laughin_All_The_Way | October 11, 2009, 1:29 am 1:29 am

the president should start listening to the American People who in poll after poll have rejected the “public option”
Posted by: reaganfan | Oct 10, 2009 10:33:54 PM
____________
Why do right wingers keep saying this about the public option? It is not true, nor has it ever been true! I will quote directly from a few recent polls.
CBS News: “The much-debated ‘public option’ –a health insurance plan like Medicare administered by the government –- still gets majority support.”
GOV’T HEALTH INSURANCE PLAN
Favor 62%
Oppose 31
Quinnipiac: American voters “support key parts of the plan, including 61 – 34 percent for giving people the option of a government health insurance plan that competes with private plans…”
Pew: “Would you favor or oppose… A government health insurance plan to compete with private health insurance plans”
55 Favor
38 Oppose
Even Rasmussen, choice pollster of conservatives, said: “46% favor the creation of a government-sponsored non-profit health insurance option that people could choose instead of a private health insurance plan. Thirty-seven percent (37%) are opposed.”

Posted by: Numeros | October 11, 2009, 2:11 am 2:11 am

regarding the public option increasing competition. the only time government involvement in the market creates competition is when the government is too inefficient to serve people’s wants and needs. for instance, the us postal service and it’s inefficiencies created the marked for ups, fed ex, etc. and even still, the us postal service stymies competition for the very reason that, as a government entity, it can and does carry a multi-billion dollar operating deficit every year, which private companies cannot do. thus, if the postal service went kaput, it would actually increase competition because the market would be opened up to entrepreneurs who would figure out ways to provide services for profit which the post office could only provide at a loss…a loss subsidized by tax payers. the concept that government can provide health care that is both better and cheaper is absurd and anyone who believes that it’s possible is living in a dream world. quite frankly, there are many who distrust both government and big business. and the only reason we favor business over government is that business is at least regulated by the demands of investors and the profit motive. government has absolutely no checks at all…not even elections…because is they were a check, we wouldn’t have people living in political office until they become fossilized.

Posted by: davidfrat21 | October 11, 2009, 7:23 am 7:23 am

Numeros – Since when do you get the truth from the left-wing biased media?? I saw the interviews they are talking about and NONE of the Republicans “endorsed” O’Bama’s healthcare plan!! They said one was needed but “not this one.” The media lies all the time and you have to get the facts from the mouth of the ones they are quoting. Watch Fox!!

Posted by: M. Summer | October 11, 2009, 7:34 am 7:34 am

Want to understand how the Baucus plan will really work? Read Shawn Tully’s column in Fortune. It’s on “Real Clear Politics.” Not such a great plan after all!!!

Posted by: M. Summer | October 11, 2009, 7:49 am 7:49 am

I want health care reform, however what Congress is doing is NOT reform – it’s just more of the same.

Posted by: ellsbells930 | October 11, 2009, 7:51 am 7:51 am

Robin – I have no idea where you are getting your information if you believer that a large majority of Americans want a single-payer system.

Posted by: ellsbells930 | October 11, 2009, 7:52 am 7:52 am

treblig56 – Healthcare should NOT be a public service. It should be an industry. The problem is the government & the creation of Medicare. That act is what has gotten us to where we are today and it is all the federal government’s fault.

Posted by: ellsbells930 | October 11, 2009, 7:54 am 7:54 am

Posted by: Fascist Hyena | October 11, 2009, 9:40 am 9:40 am

Dear ellsbells930 | Oct 11, 2009 7:52:48, Most Americans want a single payer system that simply extends Medicare to all citizens including those under 65. Type “single payer US poll” into your search engine and you will find the highly respected, most recent Kaiser Tracking Poll as one of many, many examples of this fact, which is undisputed (at least by those interested in actual facts).

Posted by: Robin | October 11, 2009, 9:45 am 9:45 am

M. Summer wrote: “The media lies all the time and you have to get the facts from the mouth of the ones they are quoting. Watch Fox!!”
Yes, M. Summer, I agree – Fox lies all the time! Fox’s Bill O’Reilly recently quoted from a poll which found that more Americans trust Fox News over other television outlets. However, O’Reilly left out the second half of the quote which found that Fox also topped the list of LEAST trusted TV news outlets – more than a quarter of Americans surveyed didn’t trust Fox!
Fair and Balanced? ROFLMAO!

Posted by: WWW | October 11, 2009, 9:46 am 9:46 am

“As president, I will make the fight against al-Qaeda and the Taliban the top priority.” (July 15, 2008)

Posted by: Fascist Hyena | October 11, 2009, 10:14 am 10:14 am

Dear Fascist, your implication that Al Qaeda members will be newly covered by the government health insurance reform is silly… that was already accomplished under Bush/Cheney at Gitmo

Posted by: Robin | October 11, 2009, 11:01 am 11:01 am

From Rasmuessen today – Forty-six percent (46%) of voters nationwide now favor the health care reform plan proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats. That’s up five points from a week ago. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 50% are opposed to the plan. Seventy-eight percent (78%) of Democrats now favor the plan while 80% of Republicans are opposed. Among those not affiliated with either major party, 39% favor the plan, but 55% oppose it.
********************
Numerous – There is no 37% in the poll. Let’s not twist the facts.
Obama or ABC is doing the same thing in this article. They only pick the points that are in their favor, and don’t report the real points these people were making. Is that call almost lying?

Posted by: wheresmymoney | October 11, 2009, 11:48 am 11:48 am

There is NO BAUCUS BILL.
Obama is floating a bunch of concepts and it means nothing.
Baucus would kill medicine. One of his proposals is cut physician reimbursement by 25%.
That’s going to be a death sentence for many people.

Posted by: drjohn | October 11, 2009, 12:00 pm 12:00 pm

Inspirational government-run healthcare story of the week:
“AN 80-year-old grandmother who doctors identified as terminally ill and left to starve to death has recovered after her outraged daughter intervened.
“Hazel Fenton, from East Sussex, is alive nine months after medics ruled she had only days to live, withdrew her antibiotics and denied her artificial feeding. The former school matron had been placed on a controversial care plan intended to ease the last days of dying patients.”

Posted by: Fascist Hyena | October 11, 2009, 12:10 pm 12:10 pm

According to CBO director Douglas Elmendorf on his blog, the CBO studied the impact of both the reduced cost of litigation and the elimination of defensive medicine that would result with tort reform. Elmendorf says that tort reform would reduce the federal deficit $54 billion over the next ten years, more than the fee Baucus plans to charge insurers for the privilege of existence.
There is one reason, and one reason only, why such reform will not occur, and everyone knows what it is: the trial lawyers give lots of money to Obama and the Democrats. Now there’s a Status Quo We Can All Believe In.

Posted by: Fascist Hyena | October 11, 2009, 12:26 pm 12:26 pm

44,000 people a year. According to a recent report published by the Harvard Medical School, that’s the number of people who die each year because of our for-profit medical system. And many of these people did have health insurance.
That’s a 9/11 a month.
Babies fare badly in our dysfunctional health care system. According to the stats I obtained from the 2009 CIA Fact book, our infant mortality rate is twice as high as the infant mortality rate of Sweden or France. According to Statesmaster.com, Washington DC has the highest infant mortality rate in the country.
So as Senators on the Hill are collecting bribes from the health insurance lobby, babies are dying
Yet the GOP and the Blue Dogs could care less .
If you don’t believe me, let’s look at Mitch McConnel’s record, which you can get from Center for Responsive Politics.
Senator Mitch McConnell gets $ 2 million in political campaign contributions from the health sector. He gets $ 1 million from lobbyists. His top political donor is Kindred Health Care. Among the other top 20 campaign donors are Humana Inc, Blue Cross, and GalaxoSmithKline
The top 6 contributors for Charles Grassley include Blue Cross, 2nd place: Select Medical Group, 3rd place; and Amgen. Throughout Grassley’s career he has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the industries health insurance industry, health products, and pharmaceuticals.
I would also like to call your attention to an article I picked up from the Huffington Post by by Arthur Delaney, (October 5, 2009)
According to this article, Anthem blue Cross/blue Shield is suing the state of Maine because they want to raise their premiums by 18.5%. That would mean that the average citizen of Maine will spend $ 13,000 a year in insurance and in out-of-pocket deductibles.
And lest I forget, Medicare Advantage is a cash cow for Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats. It enables them to raid Medicare for campaign contributions. Obama’s call for an investigation of Medicare is long overdue, and it’s little wonder that Republicans are fighting Obama tooth and nail.
Bottom line
Are you ready to spend $ 13,000 to $ 20,000 for your health insurance? Is it OK for people like Olympia Snowe, Max Baucus, Ben Nelson, or Mike Enzi to pick your pocket for campaign contributions every time you or your employer pays your insurance premium? Are you willing to give up your Medicare so that politicians like Jim DeMint can buy shiny new jet planes. That will be the wave of the future unless we get health insurance reform with a “robust” public option, such as allowing people buy insurance from Medicare.
The GOP does not care about you or your health; all they want is your money. It’s surprising how many people still don’t get it.

Posted by: William Joseph Miller | October 11, 2009, 12:45 pm 12:45 pm

Pssst…
Someone tell Obama he doesn’t need the Republicans to pass Obamacare.
He needs to make ads showing which BlueDog Democrats are supporting the bill.
No Repubs–so Obama will own the crappy health care he is forcing on Americans.
He owns it!!!!

Posted by: larry | October 11, 2009, 1:00 pm 1:00 pm

Are you ready to spend $ 13,000 to $ 20,000 for your health insurance? Is it OK for people like Olympia Snowe, Max Baucus, Ben Nelson, or Mike Enzi to pick your pocket for campaign contributions every time you or your employer pays your insurance premium? Are you willing to give up your Medicare so that politicians like Jim DeMint can buy shiny new jet planes. That will be the wave of the future unless we get health insurance reform with a “robust” public option, such as allowing people buy insurance from Medicare.
***************************
If you look up the vote on 10 shiny new planes, on the DEFENSE BILL you will find that the DEMOCRATS passed the bill. Republicans voted AGAINST.
************************
Is it OK for people like Olympia Snowe, Max Baucus, Ben Nelson, or Mike Enzi to pick your pocket for campaign contributions every time you or your employer pays your insurance premium?
*******************
Baucus is a DEMOCRAT that WROTE the latest bill. Why are you blaming everything on the GOP? Your examples are the PERFECT reasons we do NOT want GOVERNMENT RUN HEALTHCARE! No one argues there needs to be reform, but they can begin by letting the insurance companies cross state lines (as the government option will obviously do). Cut off tort reform and lobbying. Let Doctor’s have imput in the bills instead of a bunch of elitists that have never run a BUSINESS in their life. If you think they can balance a check book, 1.4 trillion deficit this year already, is not a good argument. It is a real shame that I am FORCED to trust my money with a TAX CHEAT.

Posted by: wheresmymoney | October 11, 2009, 1:08 pm 1:08 pm

Numerous – There is no 37% in the poll. Let’s not twist the facts.
Posted by: wheresmymoney | Oct 11, 2009 11:48:21 AM
I am not twisting anything; I quoted directly from Rasmussen regarding the PUBLIC OPTION. Read that again: the PUBLIC OPTION.
Do you even understand what the PUBLIC OPTION is? You are confusing the health care reform plan with the PUBLIC OPTION. Read what you quoted from Rasmussen, wheresmymoney. That poll was about “the health care reform plan proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats.” That is a different topic from the Rasmussen poll I quoted regarding the PUBLIC OPTION.
Here again is paragraph 7 from the Rasmussen article called “Fear of Losing Private Health Insurance Trumps ‘Public Option’” released October 4th, 2009:
“The first question finds that 46% favor the creation of a government-sponsored non-profit health insurance option that people could choose instead of a private health insurance plan. Thirty-seven percent (37%) are opposed.”

Posted by: Numeros | October 11, 2009, 1:30 pm 1:30 pm

Numeros – Since when do you get the truth from the left-wing biased media?? I saw the interviews they are talking about and NONE of the Republicans “endorsed” O’Bama’s healthcare plan!!
Posted by: M. Summer | Oct 11, 2009 7:34:12 AM
You are very confused, M. Summer. I was quoting from polls, not from the media. I was responding to claims that the American people do not support the PUBLIC OPTION. I was not talking about Obama’s healthcare plan, nor was I talking about endorsements from Republicans.

Posted by: Numeros | October 11, 2009, 1:33 pm 1:33 pm

The fear of being forced to change insurance coverage can be seen in results from a pair of survey questions.
The first question finds that 46% favor the creation of a government-sponsored non-profit health insurance option that people could choose instead of a private health insurance plan. Thirty-seven percent (37%) are opposed.
The second question asked about the creation of a public option if it encouraged companies to drop private health insurance coverage for their workers. Given that possibility, support for the public option falls to 29%, and opposition rises to 58%.
Even if it encourages employers to drop private health insurance for their workers, 51% of Democrats still support the public option. Eighty-two percent (82%) of Republicans and 61% of voters not affiliated with either party are opposed.
*********************
O.K. You are OMITTING facts.
*************************
Thirty-three percent (33%) of voters say new spending for health care reform is more important. But 54% rate middle class tax cuts as the priority over more health care spending. Thirteen percent (13%) aren’t sure.
One more Rasmussen I thought was interesting.

Posted by: wheresmymoney | October 11, 2009, 1:54 pm 1:54 pm

Bought and paid for…the health care lobby has spent 380 000 000 in the last few months in lobbying, ads and campaign contributions to kill meaningful health care reform, especially the ‘single payer’ extension of Medicare coverage to all citizens that a majority of Americans want. Some of that goes to those ‘ordinary citizens’ most vociferous on this post and elsewhere who are paid to distort and confuse. Let’s not be naive here – follow the money.

Posted by: Robin | October 11, 2009, 2:13 pm 2:13 pm

…the health care lobby has spent 380 000 000 in the last few months in lobbying
*******************
Didn’t the President say HE was going to stop lobbying??

Posted by: wheresmymoney | October 11, 2009, 2:30 pm 2:30 pm

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows that 32% of the nation’s voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-eight percent (38%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -6.
Posted by: Fascist Hyena | Oct 11, 2009 9:40:00 AM
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I just plotted the entire set of Rasmussen ‘Approval Index rating’ data.
If it were a typical stock a chartist would say that it has almost completed a ‘picture perfect’ ‘Inverted Head and Shoulders’ pattern.
This would mean that it has seen its bottom (-14 on Aug 24) and is in a bullish phase.
It is almost at ‘resistance’ right now (-3 on Sep 14). If it breaks this resistance (and if behaves like a stock), it will have completed the pattern, and would likely go to +10 (the previous high) in the next 3 months. It would then go towards +28 (last seen on Jan 21) over the next several months afterwards.
I’ve never thought about these polls as behaving like stocks. I guess we are going see how representative of a stock Barack’s ‘Approval Index rating’ is.

Posted by: ErnestNM | October 11, 2009, 2:56 pm 2:56 pm

The first question finds that 46% favor the creation of a government-sponsored non-profit health insurance option that people could choose instead of a private health insurance plan. Thirty-seven percent (37%) are opposed.
Posted by: wheresmymoney | Oct 11, 2009 1:54:13 PM
So now you admit Rasmussen said only 37% oppose the PUBLIC OPTION.
Furthermore, none of the people who made the following false claims about support for the PUBLIC OPTION mentioned any additional IF scenarios:
the president should start listening to the American People who in poll after poll have rejected the “public option”
Posted by: reaganfan | Oct 10, 2009 10:33:54 PM
Gallup, Rasmussen, and EVERY OTHER POLL I’ve seen shows that the MAJORITY of (well over 50%) Americans are AGAINST the Public Option
Posted by: DevilInTheDetails | Oct 10, 2009 2:16:36 PM
61% do NOT want the public option. Polls show that the majority does not!
Posted by: mom | Oct 10, 2009 2:10:01 PM

Posted by: Numeros | October 11, 2009, 3:04 pm 3:04 pm

Once again, here are October poll results showing support for the PUBLIC OPTION.
CBS News: “The much-debated ‘public option’ –a health insurance plan like Medicare administered by the government –- still gets majority support.”
GOV’T HEALTH INSURANCE PLAN
Favor 62%
Oppose 31
Quinnipiac: American voters “support key parts of the plan, including 61 – 34 percent for giving people the option of a government health insurance plan that competes with private plans…”
Pew: “Would you favor or oppose… A government health insurance plan to compete with private health insurance plans”
55 Favor
38 Oppose
Even Rasmussen, choice pollster of conservatives, said: “46% favor the creation of a government-sponsored non-profit health insurance option that people could choose instead of a private health insurance plan. Thirty-seven percent (37%) are opposed.”

Posted by: Numeros | October 11, 2009, 3:07 pm 3:07 pm

Only 29% of voters are willing to pay higher taxes so all Americans can be provided with health insurance.
Fifty-nine percent (59%) are opposed to paying more in taxes to provide universal health care, up five points since May. Twelve percent (12%) aren’t sure.
******************
It seems you keep leaving out contradictions. Where WILL they get the money? If this is SHOVED through, people are going to be VERY UNHAPPY with their taxes skyrocketing.
You might also take a look at the Baucus bill (the portion that is online). Page 119 states 22.5 Billion will be CUT from Medicare. IF the elderly hear this (which they may not because the MSM will not report on it) they will be TOTALLY against it.
The bottom line is this government is spending like there is no tomorrow. They are making money at a record pace, and our country is in a recession. Unemployement keeps going up. And they spend. They need to learn control and budget their own house before they come to mine.

Posted by: wheresmymoney | October 11, 2009, 3:27 pm 3:27 pm

Once again bought and paid for….there are 6 health care industry lobbyists for EVERY member of Congress. 500 health care industry lobbyists are former Congressional staffers. Baucus’(our fearless Democrat Ctee. Chairman, ah yes) chief advisor was previously EVP of Public Affairs for the largest player in the health care industry. These folks spend all day trying to figure out the next piece of disinformation to keep us distracted, while their bosses leaf through their private island and executive jet brochures.

Posted by: Robin | October 11, 2009, 3:27 pm 3:27 pm

These folks spend all day trying to figure out the next piece of disinformation to keep us distracted, while their bosses leaf through their private island and executive jet brochures
*************
And they slipped 10 in the Defense bill. This should be CRIMINAL. How do we get it passed that each item must STAND ALONE and voted on?

Posted by: wheresmymoney | October 11, 2009, 3:37 pm 3:37 pm

As we are collectively deflowered by health insurance, health care, pharma and banking executives who have paid our elected madams and p°mps in Congress richly for the privilege, the least they could do is send us a little thank you note (instead of claim rejection form-letters, jacked-up premium bills and interest rate hike info buried at the bottom of some general conditions printout).

Posted by: Robin | October 11, 2009, 3:49 pm 3:49 pm

Dole wants the ad about him pulled. Said it is misleading. Ya THINK???

Posted by: wheresmymoney | October 11, 2009, 3:53 pm 3:53 pm

They are making money at a record pace, and our country is in a recession. Unemployement keeps going up
Posted by: wheresmymoney
why don’t you ask yer republican buddies why they did that to america?
Repubs like to ignore the last 8 years like they didn’t happen

Posted by: Reggie | October 12, 2009, 3:19 am 3:19 am

Baucus would kill medicine.
Posted by: drjohn
‘chicken little’ speaks, the sky is falling..
put this gem in the drawer with the ‘death panels’

Posted by: reggie | October 12, 2009, 3:23 am 3:23 am

Give me a P
Give me a U
Give me a B
Give me a L
Give me a I
Give me a C
Give me a O
Give me a P
Give me a T
Give me a I
Give me a O
Give me a N
What does that spell?!?
No more private insurance industries profiting off the life and death of Americans.

Posted by: Sansom | October 12, 2009, 12:20 pm 12:20 pm

A public option is absolutely necessary to keep insurance premiums down for all of us. The insurance companies have no real competition without one.

Posted by: Lydia | October 12, 2009, 12:41 pm 12:41 pm

The fact that our insurance premiums go up much higher than the rate of inflation every year is clearly ignored by the health insurance industry as their version of additional ‘tax’.
Our premium has doubled in the last 5 years for less coverage and higher deductibles.

Posted by: Lydia | October 12, 2009, 12:45 pm 12:45 pm

“surgeons general” not “surgeon generals”

Posted by: AJ | October 12, 2009, 1:37 pm 1:37 pm

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