Show-Me States: Dems face time crunch in final health care push
Email By Rick Klein: Massage this fact — or tickle it out if you must: Eric Massa’s gone, and he may have done a favor to his non-friends on his way out. Whatever baggage he brought along, Democrats could be fairly rid of by the end of off media tour Tuesday night. And so, it’s with a sigh of relief for Democrats that we’re back to health care — amid a battle that rages with new intensity, even if the new deadline looks as silly as the ones that came before it. Your campaign has an ad war, protests in Washington, campaigning in battleground states, even one last wait on the Congressional Budget Office. It’s had these things for a year now — but the White House needs a new dynamic that’s aimed at just a handful of wavering House members. And it’s just that backdrop that makes it clear that deadlines do still matter, even if they will still be broken. Another congressional break is another chance for everything to break down. President Obama is in St. Louis on Wednesday, while HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius goes into the lion’s den of the health insurance industry, addressing the America’s Health Insurance Plans conference in Washington Wednesday morning, at Sebelius’ own request. “President Barack Obama has chosen a suburban St. Louis high school to make his closing argument for a health care overhaul, pushing a new anti-fraud plan as he cranks up the pressure on skittish Democratic lawmakers to act fast,” the AP’s Erica Werner reports. “Obama is to speak Wednesday at St. Charles High School, his second health care address in three days. His speech comes as congressional Democrats stand on the brink of delivering the president a dramatic success with passage of his sweeping overhaul legislation — or a colossal failure if they can’t get it done.” In St. Louis: “The White House is pursuing a campaign-style approach that aims broadsides at the insurance industry and warns of a rash of higher premiums,” Bill Lambrecht reports for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “When Obama takes the stage at St. Charles High School before about 400 people this afternoon, he is expected to skewer the industry, as he did repeatedly during a speech Monday outside Philadelphia. The president also is ratcheting up the rhetoric about what he sees as an out-of-touch Congress attuned to politics rather than the needs of Americans.” If this about winning an extra vote — maybe not this vote. “I think we need to walk before we run,” said Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo. “I don’t want them to do something to the detriment of my people.” (At the Wednesday night fundraiser, an odd lineup: Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., who’s not up until 2012, will be there, while Democratic Senate candidate Robin Carnahan — on the ballot this fall — has business in Washington and won’t be attending.) (Statement from the Carnahan campaign: “Robin will be meeting with financial regulators and policymakers to demand strong financial reforms to hold Wall Street bankers accountable. As Missouri’s Secretary of state she has worked across party lines to get $10 billion back for Missouri investors who have been ripped off by big financial institutions.”) What you need to know about what might or might not change: “One of the more amazing aspects of the health-care debate is how steady public opinion has remained. Despite repeated and intense sales efforts by the president and his allies in Congress, most Americans consistently oppose the plan that has become the centerpiece of this legislative season,” Scott Rasmussen and Doug Schoen write in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. “The reason President Obama can’t move the numbers and build public support is because the fundamentals are stacked against him.” New pieces of old arguments, and new spending to spread them all: “The White House released details of the anti-fraud plan hours after a fresh challenge to the administration from major business groups that unveiled a multimillion-dollar ad campaign arguing that under Obama’s plan ‘health care costs will go even higher, making a bad economy worse,’ ” the AP’s Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar reports. “The ad buy, costing between $4 million and $10 million, will start Wednesday on national cable TV outlets. Later in the week, the campaign shifts to 17 states home to moderate and conservative Democrats. Their votes are critical to Obama’s endgame for passing legislation to expand coverage to millions who now lack it and revamp the health insurance system.” What we needed all along — more ads: “The burst of TV advertising adds to the total of more than $200 million spent on ads last year, making the health-care debate the largest single advocacy campaign ever, according to Campaign Media Analysis Group, which tracks issue advertising,” The Wall Street Journal’s John D. Mckinnon and Brody Mullins report. From the air, to the ground: “We are here to make a citizen’s arrest! Congress you have listened to them long enough. It’s time to listen to us,” said William McNary, head of USAction, protesting at the insurance industry’s gathering in Washington, per ABC’s Teddy Davis. “The ‘warrants,’ delivered to police during a demonstration outside an insurance industry meeting at a Washington hotel, were an attempt to build public support for the Democrats’ healthcare legislation. The demonstration drew several thousand protesters, and it will be followed in coming weeks by more events and an advertising campaign,” Kim Geiger reports in the Los Angeles Times. Still out there: the Congressional Budget Office scoring will be key, as always, and there’s even more obscure officials in vital roles: “The White House and Democratic Congressional leaders said Tuesday that they were bracing for a key procedural ruling that could complicate their effort to approve major health care legislation, by requiring President Obama to sign the bill into law before Congress could revise it through an expedited budget process,” David M. Herszenhorn and Robert Pear report in The New York Times. “Many rank-and-file House Democrats are reluctant to approve the Senate-passed health care measure without a guarantee that the Senate would follow up with changes in a budget reconciliation bill.” “The sequence in which the Senate bill and the package of fixes would move is one of the key unresolved issues, much to the consternation of undecided House Democrats,” Shailagh Murray reports in The Washington Post. About that deadline … House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md.: “None of us have mentioned the 18th other than Mr. [Robert] Gibbs.” Why deadlines still matter: “Republicans launched an all-out effort to derail the bill, urging congressional candidates to hold town hall meetings, organize voters over the Internet and denounce any special deals that may be cut to grease Democrats’ votes,” McClatchy’s Margaret Talev reports. “And Obama senior adviser David Axelrod, on a conference call Tuesday, told advocates of the legislation, ‘What happens in the next 10 days will be critical.’ ” Quite a sentence — from Michael Gerson, in his Washington Post column: “Their proposal has divided Democrats while uniting Republicans, returned American politics to well-worn ideological ruts, employed legislative tactics that smack of corruption, squandered the president’s public standing, lowered public regard for Congress to French revolutionary levels, sucked the oxygen from other agenda items, reengaged the abortion battle, produced freaks and prodigies of nature such as a Republican senator from Massachusetts, raised questions about the continued governability of America and caused the White House chief of staff to distance himself from the president’s ambitions.” The Massa mess continues — the now former congressman didn’t win many fans with his Glenn Beck-Larry King night. (Check yourself before you decide to take this guy’s side.) Then there’s this: “Not long after Eric Massa joined Congress in January 2009, several male staff members began to feel uncomfortable with the sexually loaded language their boss routinely used, according to accounts relayed to the House ethics committee,” Carol D. Leonnig reports in The Washington Post. “As the months passed, rumors began to circulate in the office that the married New York Democrat had sexually propositioned young male staffers and interns — allegations, according to two sources with knowledge of the inquiry, that included Massa groping at least two aides,” she writes. “The freshman Democrat told Fox News Channel host Glenn Beck that ‘not only did I grope [a staffer], I tickled him until he couldn’t breathe,’ then said hours later on CNN’s ‘Larry King Live’ that ‘it is not true’ that he groped anyone on his staff.” ABC’s Jonathan Karl, on “Good Morning America” Wednesday: “The more Eric Massa tries to explain himself, the stranger his story gets… And with that Eric Massa will likely fade away into obscurity.” But what television: “Beck could not compete with the oddity of the sympathy card Massa kept pulling,” Time’s Michael Scherer writes. “He appeared frustrated that Massa wasn’t revealing any more sinister plots afoot in the nation’s capital, and he got visibly annoyed when Massa tried to take some measure of responsibility for his actions and attempted to walk back some of his more heated rhetoric against White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.” “The right’s romance of Eric Massa was off to a messy start,” Dana Milbank writes in his Washington Post column. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, on Massa, to Charlie Rose, in an interview airing Wednesday: “This is a sick person,” Pelosi said. “He has been diagnosed with cancer. Perhaps his judgment is impaired because of the ethical issues that have arisen, and he is no longer in the Congress.” On the other side — some understandable hesitance: “Republicans are considering a call for a formal investigation into the handling of sexual-harassment allegations against Massa by at least one member of his staff, although the GOP leadership has not decided whether to make that push yet, according to top Republican aides,” Politico’s John Bresnahan reports. Annals of offense: “The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, facing a tough political environment and the prospect of defending dozens of competitive seats, will announce today the 13 candidates it has selected for the “Red to Blue” program that targets GOP-held districts,” Roll Call’s Shira Toeplitz reports. “The rollout is the latest signal that the DCCC is still trying to play offense in open seats and challenger races in competitive areas even though the party is expected to lose seats in November.” On Roberts’ court: “U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts said Tuesday the scene at President Barack Obama’s first State of the Union address was ‘very troubling’ and that the annual speech to Congress has ‘degenerated into a political pep rally,’ ” the AP’s Jay Reeves reports. “To the extent the State of the Union has degenerated into a political pep rally, I’m not sure why we’re there,” said Roberts. “There is the issue of the setting, the circumstances and the decorum. The image of having the members of one branch of government standing up, literally surrounding the Supreme Court, cheering and hollering while the court — according the requirements of protocol — has to sit there expressionless, I think is very troubling.” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, to ABC’s Jake Tapper: “What is troubling is that this decision opened the floodgates for corporations and special interests to pour money into elections – drowning out the voices of average Americans.” If it has been the economy, all along… “The political consensus may be that President Barack Obama’s handling of the economy has been weak. The judgment of money in all its forms has been overwhelmingly positive, and that may be the more lasting appraisal,” Bloomberg’s Mike Dorning reports. “The economy has also strengthened beyond expectations at the time Obama took office. The gross domestic product grew at a 5.9 percent annual pace in the fourth quarter, compared with a median forecast of 2.0 percent in a Bloomberg survey of economists a week before Obama’s Jan. 20, 2009, inauguration. The median forecast for GDP growth this year is 3.0 percent, according to Bloomberg’s February survey of economists, versus 2.1 percent for 2010 in the survey taken 13 months earlier.” In Florida — Marco Rubio takes on some more water: “Republican U.S. Senate front-runner Marco Rubio brags on his Web site that he didn’t officially request budget pork in his last four years as a leader in the Florida House,” Marc Caputo reports in the St. Petersburg Times. “But during Rubio’s eight years in office — including the final two when he was House speaker — he unofficially helped push loads of hometown spending: $250 million, according to a Times/Herald analysis of little-known budget documents.” In Nevada — not what a senator bragging about his power in Washington needs… Watch for Republicans to point out that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s home state ranked last — 51st — in per capita federal spending in fiscal 2008, per a new Brookings report.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., takes Ken Starr’s side — not Liz Cheney’s: “I’ve been a military lawyer for almost 30 years, I represented people as a defense attorney in the military that were charged with some pretty horrific acts, and I gave them my all,” Graham told Josh Rogin, of Foreign Policy’s The Cable blog. “This system of justice that we’re so proud of in America requires the unpopular to have an advocate and every time a defense lawyer fights to make the government do their job, that defense lawyer has made us all safer.” More from Graham — who meets with the president Thursday to discuss immigration reform: “At the end of the day, the president needs to step it up a little bit,” Graham told Politico’s Glenn Thrush. “One line in the State of the Union is not going to do it.”
Karl Rove, on the Tea Party movement: “There’s a danger from them, particularly if they’re used by political operators … to try and hijack” elections, Rove told USA Today’s Judy Keen. Rove calls President Obama “undisciplined, unengaged, aloof and focused on the wrong things.” New at ABCNews.com, from ABC’s Teddy Davis: 10 races to watch in 2010. Andrew Young update: “A judge threatened to send Andrew Young to jail three times today, but in the end didn’t follow through on it. Instead, Young and his wife, Cheri, are due in court again Friday afternoon for the continuation of a hearing that dragged on for hours today,” per the Raleigh News & Observer’s Michael Biesecker. “Superior Court Judge Abraham Penn Jones first said he was ready to send the Youngs to jail for up to 75 days for contempt of court. The judge said the couple had failed to be truthful about the number of copies made of a sex tape of former Sen. John Edwards and his mistress and about how many people have seen it.”
A passing: “Campaign finance activist and 2004 New Hampshire Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Doris ‘Granny D’ Haddock died shortly after 7 p.m. [Tuesday], a family spokesperson tells NHPoliticalReport.com. She turned 100 years old in January,” James Pindell reports.
The Kicker: “This is wayyyy TMI.” — Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., not discussing her showering habits at the gym. “America, I’m going to shoot straight with you: I think I’ve wasted your time.” — Glenn Beck, after spending an hour with Eric Massa.
For up-to-the-minute political updates check out The Note’s blog . . . all day every day:
Intern for the ABC News Political Unit: The ABC News Political Unit is now seeking full-time summer 2010 interns in Washington, D.C. The paid internship begins Monday, May 24, 2010, and runs through Friday, Aug. 27, 2010. Political Unit interns attend political events and contribute to stories for the politics page of ABCNews.com. They also help ABC News by conducting research, maintaining our calendar of upcoming political events, and posting stories to ABCNews.com. In order to apply, you MUST be either a graduate student or an undergraduate student who has completed his or her first year of college. The internship is NOT open to recent graduates. You also must be able to work eight hours per day, Monday through Friday. Interns will be paid $8.50/hour. If you write well, follow politics closely, and have some familiarity with web publishing, send a cover letter and resume to Teddy Davis, ABC News’ Deputy Political Director, at teddy.davis@abc.com, by Friday, March 12, with the subject line: “INTERN” in all caps. Please indicate in both your cover letter and the body of your email your student status and the specific dates and hours of your availability.
Sen. DeMint: GOP Race Could Go Until Convention 
Obama Avoids Questions on Contraception Rule
Those that do like Obama understand what he is trying to do. GET THE CAREER POLITICIANS OFF THEIR BUTTS and represent the America people instead of being caught up in the power Game in Washington. If you cant see that you need to. Some may say this is good for Obama as welll.> A good clean is well overdue, JOIN THE MOVEMENT TO GET RID OF CAREER POLITICIANS, BOTH DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICIANS. LETS TAKE BACK AMERICA AND VOTE OUT ALL INCUMBENTS.( DEMO’S & REPUB’S) The Power Brokers in America dont want you to do what I am suggesting, They think they are smarter. LETS PROVE THEM WRONG, NO MORE CAREER POLITICIANS IN WASHINGTON, This scares them so bad they might even go back to work before they are run out of Washington. Take back America and say NO MORE INCUMBENTS, NO MORE CAREER POLITICIANS ever to represent us again in Washington and across America.
Posted by: Scruce9469 | March 10, 2010, 8:52 am 8:52 am
Pass health care and clean it up through reconciliation. Be sure to add a robust public option!
Posted by: rightbehind | March 10, 2010, 9:33 am 9:33 am
The president is going to a (R) part of town with a hand picked crowd of supporters invitation only how is that Hope & CHange going
Posted by: snewsom2997 | March 10, 2010, 9:37 am 9:37 am
While I sympathize with Scruce9469′s ideology — I think replacing Politicians will not change the System– Special interests drive the Elections — and Campaign donors, (aka Lobbyists)buy the politicians.. The Supreme Court has now opened the floodgates to unlimited Propaganda!! The American People have not showed themselves to be able to see through Basic Propagandistic Misinformation/Disinformation!!! For example — The Insurance lobby effectively demonized a Public option — And the pharmaceutical lobby bought the vote against buying meds direct — Both to keep up higher Prices and their profits !!!! Listening to the GOP whine about Fiscal responsibility — is laughable considering they added at least 50% to our deficit !!! The only thing that would change the Career politicians from constant Campaigning would be limits on Time and Money spent by Politicians to say 6o days before an election — Otherwise we will Continue to have ” The best Govt. Money can Buy” !!!!
Posted by: brian | March 10, 2010, 9:38 am 9:38 am
From Nancy Pelosi. “We need to pass this healthcare bill and then we will figure out what is in it” Sounds like a real smart plan to me? DUH.
Posted by: Billy Bob | March 10, 2010, 9:46 am 9:46 am
“”"”"”Pass health care and clean it up through reconciliation. Be sure to add a robust public option!”"”"
Posted by: rightbehind
Translation: Pass anything eventhough we know it is completely flawed and the majority of Americans are against it and we can fix it later. Brilliant idea Einstein.
Posted by: lfrichar | March 10, 2010, 9:50 am 9:50 am
snewsom2997 – That’s Hopie Changie to you!
Posted by: Jackson | March 10, 2010, 10:10 am 10:10 am
That’s it, BO — push your fellow donkeys to pass a stupid bill quickly, instead of slowing down to assemble and pass something that makes more sense for more people. Sure wish Nov. 2010 and Nov. 2012 would hurry up and get here so we can clean house in Washington!
Posted by: JustMe | March 10, 2010, 10:17 am 10:17 am
What happened to all the right-wingnuts posting here yesterday on the wacko Massa issue? Most of their posts where ‘cut and paste’ though.
Have they seen the light? Even Drugster Limbaugh ran for the hills yesterday.
Posted by: New Wave | March 10, 2010, 10:23 am 10:23 am
More motivation to pass Health Insurance Reform.
Limbaugh – “I’ll just tell you this, if this passes and it’s five years from now and all that stuff gets implemented — I am leaving the country. I’ll go to Costa Rica. ”
So we get 2 for 1. We pass HCR and get rid of Drugster Limbaugh.
Oh and BTW.. Costa Rica has Government-run Health Care.
Posted by: New Wave | March 10, 2010, 10:23 am 10:23 am
Nancy Pelosi probably was going to say WE WILL DO TO IT WHAT WE DID TO SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE. Both Democrats and Republicans do the same thing they just blame each other. While they point fingers (along with their stooges) they do their under the table deals which help them and the companies they represent get what they want. The healthcare plan they propose says everyone will have insurance whether they want it or not. They will pay large bills to the private insurance companies for insurance that is second rate. Oh I forgot the people who can’t pay, will be paid for by the government TO PRIVATE INSURANCE COMPANIES WHO ARE CONTRIBUTING TO THEIR RE-ELECTION. Who are the majority of these people? Right now non-citizens actually get more money from the government than citizens that are retired or disabled. They get $1500.00 a kid. The program that controls these payments don’t care or actually watch what is going on. An example A CHICAGO POLICE DISPATCH OPERATOR RECEIVED A CALL FROM A WOMAN WHO WANTED THE POLICE TO TAKE HER KIDS TO A COUSIN’S HOUSE BECAUSE THE SOCIAL WORKER WAS COMING. THE DISPATCHER CONTACTED SOCIAL SERVICES AND WHEN THE INFORMATION WAS GIVEN WAS TOLD TO MIND THEIR OWN BUSINESS. This is what should be fixed. I did not get money each month for my kids. I had to work for it yet my taxes went to pay for this type of corruption and more. One way to stop it is no extra money for having kids while on welfare/social security. If you want to see your tax dollars at work just check it out. Nancy did not mention this type of abuse, she and others need the VOTES.
Posted by: DAN | March 10, 2010, 10:29 am 10:29 am
Hey Dems. It is time to act. If this bill fails you all fail. The people will consider the democrats a failure no matter what if they cannot get a bill passed. Nothing else you do this year will be as important. Stop thinking about not voting for it because the failure of the president also is a failure for you and your party. No one will remember the names who voted “no” they will only remember the failure of the bill which was so close. Although this bill is not perfect it is a beginning and can be adjusted, modified, added to and fixed over a period of time. But to have no bill is not the answer for you and for the country.
Posted by: talmag | March 10, 2010, 10:30 am 10:30 am
Obama is going to be in St. Louis Mo today for Claire McCaskill at a $50,000.00 a plate affair. Now you tell me who has who in the pockets. Who in the heck would spend 50,000.00 to see either one? Its costing millions to protect these two so they can gain from it. We are getting it up the you know what for their personal gain
Posted by: Jim Rod | March 10, 2010, 10:33 am 10:33 am
Desperation is ugly just like this bill. I live in the area and wanted to attend the meeting but was told it was by invitation only. What fraud this president and the bill is.
Posted by: Lester | March 10, 2010, 10:37 am 10:37 am
Nancy Pelosi is an idiot and a disgrace. She should be removed IMMEDIATELY.
Posted by: maria | March 10, 2010, 10:43 am 10:43 am
The chart below where our tax dollars are going – it very clearly shows how much the US Government has to “invest” into a state for every tax dollar they “take” – it is clear it is mostly the RED States – the Conservatives – The Wing Nuts – who take more than their share – why do you take more than you give?
FY 2005 RANKINGS
STATES MOST DEPENDENT ON THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
State Outlay to Tax Ratio Ranking
New Mexico $2.03 1
Mississippi $2.02 2
Alaska $1.84 3
Louisiana $1.78 4
West Virginia $1.76 5
North Dakota $1.68 6
Alabama $1.66 7
South Dakota $1.53 8
Kentucky $1.51 9
Virginia $1.51 10
STATES LEAST DEPENDENT ON THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
State Outlay to Tax Ratio Ranking
Colorado $0.81 41
New York $0.79 42
California $0.78 43
Delaware $0.77 44
Illinois $0.75 45
Minnesota $0.72 46
New Hampshire $0.71 47
Connecticut $0.69 48
Nevada $0.65 49
New Jersey $0.61 50
Mississippi, as an example, pays $1 in taxes and gets back $2.02 – seems like a good deal for the Republican “keep your hands off” districts and States. The true Welfare queens are the Red States and Republicant’s – it’s is the Liberals who supply the breast to feed the babies in the Red States. So tell me again Wing Nuts, why are you opposed to HCR if you are already living off the public treat?
Posted by: New Wave | March 10, 2010, 10:47 am 10:47 am
Desperation is ugly, just like the millions of dollars paid to each of the Senate Republicans by the Medical Health Insurance companies to stop Health insurance Reform.
Who the heck would want to have their insurance company drop them because they became termonoly ill?
Who does not care when the insurance companies Deny Life Saving Procedures for termonoly ill patients when it could save their lives?
And Who the heck is so inhumane that they do not care when the patient dies after the Life Saving Procedure is denied?
Maybe everyones focus should be on those who worked so hard to Stop the Bill from passing.
Why isn’t anyone mad at the Republicans for eccepting money from the insurance companies to stop this bill?
Answer: Because you already know that Republicans always back money and power over the average citizen.
Posted by: Angie | March 10, 2010, 10:48 am 10:48 am
maria: Dream on … zzzzzzzzzzz
Posted by: New Wave | March 10, 2010, 10:51 am 10:51 am
Now do not forget the NEWS MEDIA. What deal was made in Chicago when Obama became a senator? The Chicago Sun Times sent their exec’s to California to dig up dirt on his opponent. He got elected, 145 days of experience he ran for President. The News Media did nothing but praise him and run down his opponent. I might not agree with Bush but no one is perfect like the News Media portrays Obama. Two years before Obama became president the Democrats took over Congress with the Majority. Yet Bush is blamed by Democrats and News Media. Any one else see a problem with this picture. Why would the News Media work to get someone elected and only show him as a guardian angel unless they are getting something in return? Any one else wonder?
Posted by: Gandar | March 10, 2010, 10:53 am 10:53 am
Oh boy, the sham wow president is going to air another obamamercial for his lemmings. At 50k per plate, I wonder what he is charging for the kool-aid? Great way to spend the prokulus dumBO. Could you bring your traveling campaign circus out west some where so that we can gather and boo!
Posted by: Todd | March 10, 2010, 10:54 am 10:54 am
New Wave good lie. it was on Rush, Hannity, O-rielly, Gretta. It was however shortened on abc, cnn, and the others who sleep with Obama. No one ran for the hills but massa. If this truly happened that Emanuel harrased him then why did he not come out and whistle blow while he held the office?? If Massa is so worried about it then why did he not come out of the closet while he held the office. you see, he is the fall guy to draw attention off Obama
Posted by: Jim Rod | March 10, 2010, 10:56 am 10:56 am
Today’s wingnut talking point: 50k/plate event.
An attempt to confuse the public event with the invitation-only one.
Nice try guys/gals.
Posted by: New Wave | March 10, 2010, 10:57 am 10:57 am
Jim Rod: Seems you missed the part where Drugster Limbaugh called Massa a ‘kook’ and that no one should go near Massa.
BTW…I felt sorry for Glenn Beck yesterday. He himself had to apologize for wasting an hour of TV at the end of his show.
Posted by: New Wave | March 10, 2010, 11:01 am 11:01 am
Looks like your leftest lemming numbers are screwed up again new wank. You must have forgot to include the dumBO bribe money in your chart. Louisiana purchase ring a bell? how about Oklahoma, or Nebraska? Then we can move on to the 336 BILLION that dumBO has promised to the health insurance companies to be silent so that dumBO can berate them on his sham wow circus campaign.
Posted by: Todd | March 10, 2010, 11:02 am 11:02 am
We have not heard anything from the Tea Party people or GOP Wingnuts regarding the news that their star Sarah Palin went to Canada for health care needs.
That silence is defeaning.
Posted by: New Wave | March 10, 2010, 11:06 am 11:06 am
Angie, you better read the healthcare program. Healthcare companies will loose nothing, instead they will make money. The government will pick up the tab on those who “allegedly” can’t afford to pay. The others have to pay for it themselves. Since the program is second rate compared to normal insurance there will be less paid out by the insurance companies and more profit. Since insurance companies will make a profit who is really getting the kick back? I would be nice if people would think and research for themselves instead of listening to politicians, both Democrat and Republican, propaganda. When Congress and the President tell you something is BETTER THAN SLICED BREAD it is time to take a step back and think, not follow blindly then complain later when it is too late. The comment “WE HAVE TO PASS IT THEN SEE WHAT IT IS” is desperation speaking. Research for yourself. Use the brain God gave us for something other than a hat rack. Politicians count on everyone not to think for themselves. This way they get away with everything they want. Believe me I would have liked to see H. Clinton run instead of Obama. I would have voted for her then.
Posted by: Dan | March 10, 2010, 11:06 am 11:06 am
Here in Missouri, we can smell a con man a mile away. Obama should just move on to something else. He usually hurts anything he is trying to help.
Posted by: Jeff | March 10, 2010, 11:11 am 11:11 am
It’s Unconstitutional! No where in the U.S. Constitution does it mandate the Government to direct the citizens to purchase anything especially a product owned by the government. If this fraud of a bill is ever passed, it will be thrown out by the U.S. Supreme Court as being Unconstitutional.
Posted by: Peter Smith | March 10, 2010, 11:14 am 11:14 am
It is true that the US has the best healthcare institutions in the world. The PROBLEM is that ONLY THE RICH can afford it.
Also, an undisclosed fact is that Canadians who come to the US for healthcare procedures are RE-IMBURSED by their GOVERNMENT.
Funny how these facts are selectively ignored.
Posted by: New Wave | March 10, 2010, 11:18 am 11:18 am
Angie, if only the Republicans back corporate money why all the bail out money that went for bonus to top exec’s. Now the Presidents staff is telling everyone how how great AIG is by giving back 1.5 billion of 45 billion given, I think that is about a 3% refund. Have you ever heard the saying BLOWING SMOKE? Attorney’s, politicians and con artists do it. They set up something to draw attention away from what they are doing, point fingers at others shouting loudly so all can hear and then actually do what they want while everyone looks else where. Misdirection is another word for it. When something is going bad start something else, 2 democratic senators fighting, a bank paying back money and other news media covered actions.
Did you know there was a president order during the auto crisis? If they went under the unions pension and medical care would be paid for by the government. Why was that run in the head lines? Who was contributing to campaign funds to get that order? Now the supreme court said unions and big corp can contribute to campaign funds. Since the supreme court is politically appointed where do you think that came from?
Posted by: Gandor | March 10, 2010, 11:20 am 11:20 am
Someone with more than a double digit IQ please explain how the Dems (or the Reps for that matter) will deal with the $14.3 trillion national debt and the not often mentioned unfunded liability which some say is $60 to $70 trillion and others say $105 trillion?
How long can the “nanny state” mentality survive? The government borrows 40 cents of every nanny dollar it trickles down to us. Like Vegas it takes its expense, perk and graft off the top!
Posted by: Ed Taylor | March 10, 2010, 11:25 am 11:25 am
HEALTHCARE PROGRAM!!!! Since politicians ruined Medicare have them fix it and keep congress away from it. The only thing a new healthcare program will do is give congress something else to ruin and raise our taxes. If you don’t believe it research SS and see how congress took money out of the SS fund putting it into the general fund and spent it. Now retirement age has to be extended and the amount reduced. Wait expect for non-citizens. The get more than someone on SS retirement and haven’t paid a thing only thing congress looks at is possible votes not running a country … they prefer to ruin it.
Posted by: Dan | March 10, 2010, 11:29 am 11:29 am
“”"”"So we get 2 for 1. We pass HCR and get rid of Drugster Limbaugh.”"”"”
Posted by: New Wave
I am good with getting rid of drugster Limbaugh (can drugster Obama go too?). But, quit calling this health care reform when Obama himself calls it Insurance reform. Your 2 for 1 means we get rid of an idiot and pass a bad bill that the majority of Americans do not want.
Posted by: lfrichar | March 10, 2010, 11:31 am 11:31 am
Ed Taylor – While I have more than a double digit IQ, I am unable to answer your question as asked, due to the fact that an answer does not exist. The plan seems to operate under the assumption that the bill will never come due. I have a friend who is completely dependent on government assistance and he seems to believe that we have all the money we need, based on the fact that they keep borrowing and adding to the deficit in amounts that defy comprehension. He reasons that if it can be this high, there is really no ceiling. You know, infinite numbers and so, infinite debt. The fact that such a system is unsustainable never penetrates his belief system. It is sad and yet he is not alone in thinking this way.
Posted by: War919 | March 10, 2010, 11:32 am 11:32 am
“”"”"Sarah Palin went to Canada for health care needs. “”"”"
Posted by: New Wave
I am certainly not a wingnut, but before you make such comments, you might want to look at the facts of when, where and why she did it. It may just open your partisan eyes a little.
Posted by: lfrichar | March 10, 2010, 11:33 am 11:33 am
lfrichar and co: Now repeat after me -
President Obama is the duly elected President of the United States of America.
How does that feel?
Posted by: New Wave | March 10, 2010, 11:34 am 11:34 am
“”"”lfrichar and co: Now repeat after me -President Obama is the duly elected President of the United States of America. How does that feel?”"”"
Posted by: New Wave
I am OK with it. His problem is Pelosi and Reid. Now, as ridiculous as your post was (because it makes you seem like a 5 year old), Obama has 3 years left to win back enough votes to remain in office. This Insurance Bill should ensure his single term Presidency.
Posted by: lfrichar | March 10, 2010, 11:47 am 11:47 am
You all notice how the distractions are away from the costs of oil? Hear the news yesterday that we will be paying 3.00 or more at the pump real soon because of demand? What happend to supply? They know this every year and why do they not produce supply to match? Obamas oil pals at Exxon and Mobil who donated records dollar amounts to the Dems are being protected. Some of you said it was Bushes oil now looks like Obama is under the covers with them. Just think of the jobs if we drill and explore?
Posted by: Jim Rod | March 10, 2010, 11:47 am 11:47 am
I love how new wank wants to try and turn Massa’s disgrace into a right wing problem. Either way it pans out it is a blemish on the left, not the right. Either he is telling the truth and this administration is strong-arming its own people, or he is a sick pervert and was thrown out as a result of his behavior. Hey, it may even turn out to be a combination of the two, but any way you slice it, it makes the Democratic Party look bad. These days that is tantamount to a high crime.
Posted by: War919 | March 10, 2010, 11:49 am 11:49 am
The Federal government has no Constitutional right to involve themselves in healthcare AT ALL. The democrats are all violating their oaths of office.
The fun part is that the democrats will fail regardless of how this turns out. If they can’t get anything done they will be abandoned by their own constituency in November. If they do force something through (illegally) then the Republicans, Tea Party activists, libertarians and everyone in the middle will rip them a new one in November.
They’ve painted themselves into a lose-lose situation and I, for one, am loving it.
Posted by: Erik | March 10, 2010, 11:54 am 11:54 am
New Wave: How do those posts feel? BTW, Massa was not going to run because of his cancer, but the Obama lead media made the mistake of saying he was resigning because of it. Funny lefties believe the media, but not what comes right out of a Democrats mouth. I agree either way, the Dems took one in the gut with this issue.
Posted by: lfrichar | March 10, 2010, 11:57 am 11:57 am
It’s amusing to see the right suddenly rediscover the Constitution every time a Dem is in office.
Where was your constitutional outrage when Bush & a Re[publican congress were ramming through the trillion dollar prescription drug benefit?
Posted by: gary | March 10, 2010, 12:01 pm 12:01 pm
We shall see. I hope to see GOPers campaign on:
1. Bringing back pre-existing condition clauses to peoples’ insurance policies.
2. Allowing insurance companies to kick people of their policies when they need help most after paying their premiums in the past.
3. Eliminating insurance pools that make insurance rates cheaper for individuals and small businesses.
4. Removing subsidies/tax breaks that assist individuals and small businesses to purchase health insurance.
That would certainly make my day in 2010 and 2012. Let me pre-order some popcorn.
Posted by: New Wave | March 10, 2010, 12:01 pm 12:01 pm
Final health care push? really? Gee you don’t think if/when this fails that he’ll jump right back into trying to push this crappy bill through again?
Posted by: mikemcdon321 | March 10, 2010, 12:05 pm 12:05 pm
new wank: It will be more fun to see dumBO as a lame duck in November, and the 336 Billion in tax payer moneys taken back from the health insurance industry. Now that deserves some popcorn!
Posted by: Todd | March 10, 2010, 12:05 pm 12:05 pm
Put people back to work!! NO HEALTH CARE REFORM!
Posted by: dashdot | March 10, 2010, 12:10 pm 12:10 pm
Final push for insurance legislation? Let’s examine, the Dems couldn’t agree without bribes, the public is against this bill and Obama thinks just one more push will get the majority of Americans behind this bill. Go for it Obama, test your persuasiveness!
Posted by: lfrichar | March 10, 2010, 12:11 pm 12:11 pm
Sure! That’s why Obam ignore’s the majority of voters’ desire that Wshington start over on the healthcare bill?
Posted by: bonbud | March 10, 2010, 12:12 pm 12:12 pm
Todd, not even Karl Rove thinks that the Reps are going to take back congress in the midterms.
Posted by: gary | March 10, 2010, 12:12 pm 12:12 pm
Is that why Obama disregards the maority of people who do no want this healthcare bill????????
Posted by: deanbob | March 10, 2010, 12:13 pm 12:13 pm
Can you dems explain to me why health care is needed? Why are they after the Insuance company who pays or does not pay the high costs of a health care bill? Does not the care provider set the rates it will charge? Does not the care provider set the pay scales for its staffing? Do you not pay 15.00 for a box of tissue when you stay in the hospital? Seems to me every dem and Pelosi are after the wrong companies?
Posted by: Jim Rod | March 10, 2010, 12:18 pm 12:18 pm
Gary: I agree, but the self desruction of the democratic party as well as the rise in Independent candidates and voters is sure to render the current administration more useless than they allready are.
Posted by: Todd | March 10, 2010, 12:21 pm 12:21 pm
Jim Rod — Good post. We are trying to fix the wrong cause. Root cause here is actual health care costs not insurance premiums. One drives the other.
Posted by: lfrichar | March 10, 2010, 12:25 pm 12:25 pm
lfrichar: Seems that you and Jim Rod are in support of the Public Option. Good to know.
Posted by: New Wave | March 10, 2010, 12:35 pm 12:35 pm
The Constitution states “All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives, but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.” This particular bill with all it’s tax increases orignated in the Senate. It should be thrown out on the basis of unconstitutionality. The whole process has been backwards, deceptive and wrong
Posted by: Gary | March 10, 2010, 12:36 pm 12:36 pm
new wank: What public option? dumBo couldn’t bribe enough democratic senators to get that in this nasty garbage bill.
Posted by: Todd | March 10, 2010, 12:37 pm 12:37 pm
Jim and Ifrichar – This is what we have been saying throughout this process; look to the ACTUAL cost of health CARE and the factors that drive it so high. I once ran a warehouse for a plastics company which made medical grade pieces for things like catheters, IVs, and all of the other miscellaneous little plastic things that you see all over a hospital. They also had molds for toys and other non-medical items; the cost difference for the medical pieces was over 8 times the cost for a piece made from the same materials and having the same weight. Why? The excuse was that they were held to a higher standard on specifications, but this never impacted actual production costs, the engineering process for the molds was no different. They charged more, because they could get more. This is simply one small group of items that combine with so many other factors to make the cost of care ridiculously high.
I now work in development at a company that makes digital x-ray systems. We produce ours for the Veterinary market; human medicine used the exact same generators, receptor plates, etc…but where our systems go for about 120K, the same system for human medicine goes for over 500K. Do you see the disparity?
Posted by: War919 | March 10, 2010, 12:38 pm 12:38 pm
Every “politician” who says he “cares for the middle class and blue collar people”, better make sure this passes or they are the ULTIMATE LIARS and rank 0 on a scale of 1-10 in leadership skilss and knowledge.
Posted by: CND FOX | March 10, 2010, 1:06 pm 1:06 pm
Where is the report and pictures from this news station of the thousands of demonstraters protesting his health care bill? Is this news station only going to cover the one side again?
Posted by: Stuart | March 10, 2010, 1:22 pm 1:22 pm
AP: Obama 53% Approval. Dems 36%, Repubs only 30%
Posted by: New Wave | March 10, 2010, 1:25 pm 1:25 pm
War919 | Mar 10, 2010 12:38:56 PM…Do you have competition? If yes, do they have the same markups?
Posted by: deanbob | March 10, 2010, 1:25 pm 1:25 pm
Has everyone forgotten that this health care bill is propelled by MANDATORY enrollment, under pain of civil conviction? Why pass a law that handcuffs us all for the sake of maybe, 20 million citizens?
You can bet, that some how, some way the 15 million illigals will get covered. This is the real plum for obama. All of this will be on the backs of seniors, who will get a double dose.
If they don’t pay = jail. and if they do reduced care and abandoment. And for what?
This not a genuine attempt to improve our lot as American citizens. It social payback for what obama sees as “Past injustices”
Posted by: KLJ | March 10, 2010, 1:27 pm 1:27 pm
KLJ: into code words again? could you please enlighten us on what you mean by “Past injustices” ?
Posted by: New Wave | March 10, 2010, 1:34 pm 1:34 pm
New wave — Part of that AP poll —–”Even though 56% say the country is headed in the wrong direction…” and the Dem-led congress (22% approval)!
Posted by: TheLoyalOpposition | March 10, 2010, 1:36 pm 1:36 pm
And KJL…are you saying that you can sleep OK at night not helping those 40 million (not 20) who are uninsured? And you would call yourself what…unselfish and “not narcissistic”? Your sense of “outrage” is troubling and inconsistent with “humanity”.
Posted by: CND FOX | March 10, 2010, 1:37 pm 1:37 pm
Dean – Our scale pretty much represents the industry standard. We shop the various manufacturers for both the generators and receptor plates and the unit cost for the hardware is fairly consistent. Our development costs on the software end are actually higher than for human medicine as we have to provide image enhancement algorithms for numerous species ranging from cats and dogs, to horses and large marine mammals. Human medicine only has to deal with only one species, hence lower development costs and yet very similar human systems command 5 times the cost. These are issues that need to be addressed when discussing the problems with our health care system, not ridiculous insurance industry re-writes that do nothing to address run away costs.
Posted by: War919 | March 10, 2010, 1:48 pm 1:48 pm
CND FOX, I sleep pretty well at night and I am one of the uninsured. When I am sick I take some Nyquil, I do not go to the emergency room. I have had three motorcycle wrecks and guess what? I did not go to the hospital; road rash and aches and pains do not require medical assistance. In fact, unless I am smashed by a car and I have no way to refuse the paramedics, I would not go to a hospital for anything. When it is time to die I will die, until then I will live. It is really simple, when you think about it. Answer me this: How did the human race survive over the centuries when there was no health insurance, or even health care for that matter? Do you believe in survival of the fittest? Apparently not. Will you be able to avoid death with your insurance and even the best medical care money can provide? Absolutely not. I love how everyone says this is being fought using fear mongering when it is being sold using the same tactic! The bottom line is this; living life is a dangerous business, people get hurt, they get sick and they die. This is what being mortal is all about. It is the brevity and finite nature of life that makes it so precious, but clinging to life and leaning on medicine to prolong that life past the point where enjoying it is even possible, is folly of the worst kind. Sadly, most people engage in that folly with abandon.
Posted by: War919 | March 10, 2010, 1:58 pm 1:58 pm
A closed speech no public allowed,must be for Union Members only? Playing Russian roulette have McCaskill there in your place Robin,you apparently do not know how off the wall McCaskill really is?
Posted by: stormerF2 | March 10, 2010, 1:58 pm 1:58 pm
War…..Taking your word for this, how does one allow for profit wthout being gouged? Could you environment be similar to my old one: When I was in the software business, the company would gouge software maintenance fees in one area to subsidze either new or slow selling products in another.
Posted by: deanbob | March 10, 2010, 2:03 pm 2:03 pm
War: Great comment. I agree!
Posted by: Todd | March 10, 2010, 2:31 pm 2:31 pm
Dean, my response did not get posted. Basically I said that we do factor a generous profit margin into our development costs, which are higher than human medicine, and yet their systems are still more than 5 times as expensive. We maintain service contracts too and we have expanded into the international market, with all of the development headaches that go along with it.
Todd – Thanks.
Posted by: War919 | March 10, 2010, 2:39 pm 2:39 pm
War919 —- We’re definitely on the same page about actual health care industry costs!
New Wave—– What do you mean I am for the public option? The public option would succeed in blowing this insurance bills estimate way out. IF our government could go single payer where anyone can get care (at the level we get now) without having to pay, I would be for it. After living in Europe for 18 years and the middle east for 3, I have seen how the quality of care deteriorates once the government runs things. We need steps to reform, not an immediate overhaul. First step, why do we pay 2 times more for health care than any other country? Health care costs, which drive insurance premiums higher.
Posted by: lfrichar | March 10, 2010, 2:52 pm 2:52 pm
War919 | Mar 10, 2010 1:58:33 PM—– Nice post. I went to Vegas with my brother and had to take him to the ER with an irregular heart beat (pulse 158 sitting down). As they wheeled him into one of the rooms, some lady came up to the desk complaining she was there first and demanded to be seen. She had a stuffy nose and sore throat. Health care needs reform for sure especially costs, but we should start by charging $50 to those using an ER when it’s not a real emergency.
Posted by: lfrichar | March 10, 2010, 2:57 pm 2:57 pm
Here is my take on this Healthcare bill. First the House has to pass the Senate bill unmodified. This means all the bad deals for states remain in the bill that becomes law. You also get the 40% tax on Cadillac plans as part of the way that finances this bill. The Senate will then need to need to use reconciliation to fix only budget related stuff in the bill they don’t want like the bad deals but they can’t fix the abortion or add additional stuff to the bill. The President said he wanted to delay the 40% Cadillac tax until 2018 but if you do that this bill loses about 25 to 30 percent of the financing for this bill for the first 8 years. This then causes this bill add to the deficit. The CBO’s score on the Senate bill stated that it was deficit neutral only if everything happen as stated in the original Senate bill. The CBO also said the other day that the current budget projections have the deficit growing by about 1 trillion dollars a year for the next 10 years adding 9 trillion to the national debt. Add the cost of this Healthcare bill deficit onto the already out of control budget and the USA will be broke long before 2020. Some people will say, we are spending too much on the wars but I queried Google about the cost of the wars to date from the start and total was about 1.2 trillion or about 200 billion a year and with the drawdown in Iraq scheduled for August of this year the cost will be going down. So everyone has to ask yourself if you think the US government will have any money for Healthcare in about 5 years time when it is bankrupt. Greece is in trouble and their debt was 120% of GDP, the USA is at about 85% of GDP right now and congress just raised the countries debt limit to 14.1 trillion expecting it to last until 2011. At 14.1 trillion we are very close to 100% of GDP. So what happens in 2012 when they need to raise the debt limit again? Everyone should be able to see where this is going. Are you ready for tax rates of 40 to 50 percent for the average Joe and higher for the upper income levels? I guess we will all have Healthcare but will not be able to afford to eat 3 meals a day to save enough money to keep the electricity on in the house.
Posted by: 56fle | March 10, 2010, 3:00 pm 3:00 pm
test
Posted by: Billy Bob | March 10, 2010, 3:05 pm 3:05 pm
The Democratic congress and senate haad 1 year to pass this crap without a single Republican vote but they could not. So many here are blaming the Republicans for the bill not passed yet? How does that work? Of course the American public’s option on the bill has had nothing to do with why it is not passed. Poll after poll has the majority wanting this bill scraped and start with simple bipartisan things first.
Posted by: 56fle | March 10, 2010, 3:06 pm 3:06 pm
Well said 56, well said.
Posted by: War919 | March 10, 2010, 3:14 pm 3:14 pm
Take it slow. Drag it out until November. One step at a time, cowboy. Then nothing to worry about ’cause nothin’s gonna happen. Nothin’ to do ‘cept light cigars with 1000 dollar bills while we bad mouth Obama. Now, who gets that honkin’ corporate election money barrelin’ down the pike? Go baby. That’s what I’M talkin’ ’bout. A friggin’ money pump. Yeah baby!
Posted by: justanotheropinion123 | March 10, 2010, 3:25 pm 3:25 pm
Obama doesn’t care what Americans want and either do the democratic leadership.
Reid will lose either way.
The democrat congressmen who will lose their seats as a result of support of this bill, can go down with the ship or not. They have a choice. My guess is they try and save their seats. Obviously only dopes think the republicans have the control over this.
Posted by: jonny | March 10, 2010, 3:27 pm 3:27 pm
Who is saying “Drag it out until November”? Work on bipartisan steps next week and watch thinks happen. The current our way or nothing by the Democrats has the public in an uproar because they see the current bill as nothing short of higher taxes, high insurance rate, and nothing to address lowering the cost.
Posted by: 56fle | March 10, 2010, 3:32 pm 3:32 pm
Obama spent his time as a Junior Senator running for President. If he couldn’t do his Senate job, how can he possibly do this one? Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Biden, Dean, Kerry, Kennedy and the other liberals based the entire 2008 campaign on lies. Obama is campaigning again, trying to get approval for Obamacare. This corrupt administration simply cannot be trusted.
Posted by: Proud American | March 10, 2010, 3:42 pm 3:42 pm
Smack the health care through now, then save your political rear ends from the raging corporations by running on a constitutional amendment platform overturning the SC ruling. Americans will listen, and Americans will vote.
Posted by: justanotheropinion123 | March 10, 2010, 3:43 pm 3:43 pm
Independent definition of partisan hacks – “tools who go on news boards to spout party rhetoric, ignore facts and insult all individuals with opposing views.”
Happens every day!
Posted by: War919 | March 10, 2010, 3:55 pm 3:55 pm
War919 — Wow, this forum just got a little off track. Just count how many times “right winger”, “GOP”, Beck and Hannity, etc are on those posts!
Posted by: lfrichar | March 10, 2010, 4:04 pm 4:04 pm
I PRAY TO GOD THAT THIS HEALTHCARE BILL IS PASS,AND THAT IT IS REALLY SIGN IN LAW,YEARS AGO IT WAS MUCH BETTER ,UNTIL THE GOP!S DID EVERYTHING THEY COULD TO HURT THE REGULAR PERSON.
Posted by: .JANIE J | March 10, 2010, 4:10 pm 4:10 pm
If this bill is sooooooo good for us all, why are they exempting themselves from it?
Hoaxed AND Chained!!!!!
Posted by: SoNowImARadical | March 10, 2010, 4:12 pm 4:12 pm
Frankly, in a broken, corrupted government like we have, bipartisanship means nothing to me. B’ship got me the deregulation of Dec. 1999. B’ship got me the resulting meltdown of 2009. B’ship got me an eviscerated treasury. Now I’m supposed to worship B’ship for B’ship’s sake? B’ship is B’shi*.
Posted by: justanotheropinion123 | March 10, 2010, 4:13 pm 4:13 pm
Ifrichar – So true. Sometimes it is hard to remember which article I am posting on since the party rhetoric eventually degrades to the same tired refrains over and over again.
Good to know there are still some sane people who apply logic to facts to arrive at a conclusion, rather than reacting emotionally to issues that too complex for simple feelings to sort out.
On a fundamental level I do think that helping others is a good thing; but, like everything else, too much of even a good thing can become a problem. People need to be able to take care of themselves first. They need to be able to shepherd their own families, friends and community before they can save the world. Once we have ensured the well being of those closest to us, we can take a look at the world around us and see what we can do to help. The problem is that many of us run out of resources just trying to take care of our families. I do not have the means to provide for others and I will not be made to feel like I am a bad person because I put the needs of my family first. You cannot help others if you allow your own world to fall apart in the process.
Posted by: War919 | March 10, 2010, 4:36 pm 4:36 pm
Reducing individual dependency on the govt is a good goal for our democracy.
I just hope that the same level of scrutiny will be applied to the level of corporate welfare in our country. There are so many loopholes in our tax code that most working people pay higher taxes (on a percentage basis) than a lot of corporations.
I still recall when Accenture won a contract to do work for IRS. Accenture is a corporation with headquarters in a tax haven but given a contract in IRS paid for my taxpayers. This is one of many more examples.
Posted by: New Wave | March 10, 2010, 4:42 pm 4:42 pm
New Wave – I have to agree with you on that one. Corporations should be held to a higher standard than individuals, however, if we want industry to return to our shores we are going to need to find a happy medium. We have to provide some form of incentive to lure these corporations back but we need to balance that incentive with responsible requirements to be placed on those corporate citizens. There is never an easy answer, but we have to find some common ground or the downward spiral will go on.
Posted by: War919 | March 10, 2010, 4:57 pm 4:57 pm
Oh, by the by, we are actually a Democratic Republic, not a Democracy. Sorry to nitpick.
Posted by: War919 | March 10, 2010, 4:59 pm 4:59 pm
It is a race to the bottom:
- Our economy is dependent on consumer spending
- Corporations strive to make their products cheaper, move offshore to achieve that.
- People are laid off their jobs
- The pool of dollars for consumer spending goes down
- And the cycle continues downward
Addressing this may be key to our economic rebound.
Posted by: New Wave | March 10, 2010, 5:04 pm 5:04 pm
Again, I could not agree more. I think the fundamental differences arise when talk moves to methods of implementation. The goals can be agreed upon, but everybody has a different idea as to the best way to achieve those goals.
Posted by: War919 | March 10, 2010, 5:08 pm 5:08 pm
hellooo
Posted by: secreg756 | March 10, 2010, 6:16 pm 6:16 pm
Ifichar, the Senate version of the HCR bill is not as you say, ” completely flawed’. To begin with hcr bill will force insurance companies to show costs and profits. While forcing them to spend a mimimum of 85 cents of every dollar they collect on health care. It will do away with insurance company’s denying people coverage with pre existing conditions. Right there you can see two examples of how hcr will help Americans. your comment is
wrong
SECREG666
Posted by: secreg756 | March 10, 2010, 6:21 pm 6:21 pm
It used to be the DemoCats ruled the South or as they are known today, the red states. Back then you could be a DemoCat and still be considered a good Christian with Christian ideals. Science has changed all of that. I read an earlier posting which depicted which states were the highest recipients of welfare and those that aren’t. Apparently the red states lead in taking federal funds. The blue states take much less from the government. This example clearly shows the great hypocrisy of the liarcon party. Their states representatives vote against government spending and federally funded programs. But the states they represent are the largest recipients of federal money. Red states are against HCR and a public option. Why? In thoery they should welcome larger grants and more federal aid. So are the Mitch McConnells and the John Boehners voting on behalf of their states and their residents. or are they voting in favor of their health care CEO’s who fund the majority of their re election campaign
trusts? Or do they want Obama and America to crumble and fall so they can walk back into power with no new ideas?
As the smoke clears from the flames of liarcons lies. More people are realizing what HCR and a strong public option will accomplish for them and our country. Liarcons do not put country first. 73% of all Americans who have heard the truth about a public option favor it. The lies sold by the Liarcons about government death panels, killing gran, are not burning as brightly as they once did. Truth is a great extinguisher of lies. Did one liarcon mention death panels, killing gran at the health care summit? No, because their lying heads would have been blown off with the truth. The truth, liarcons have been lying to their constituents.
I am always so amused to hear the representatives of states that take the most federal money are against federal spending. Are theese people sent to washington to vote against their own states best interests? There are reasons politicians like Pelossi and McConnell continue to get re elected. It’s a process called redstricting. Redistricting almost certainly assures certain politicians of being re elected. A final thought. If Obama care will kill the DemoCatic incumbents. Why are they fighting it. Let the DemoCats pass health care and let the public outrage sweep them back into power on the slogan of, NO!
SECREG666
Posted by: secreg756 | March 10, 2010, 6:58 pm 6:58 pm