#Dean sees no way to get good health care reform past the blue dogs
5292 Dead, 425 since 1/20/09
howard-dean-warns/
Democrats ‘in deep trouble’ due to health care, Howard Dean warns
By Raw Story
Monday, November 23rd, 2009 -- 1:54 pm
Key Democratic allies in the US health care battle warned Sunday that a
Senate bill required major changes if it was to earn their support and
give President Barack Obama a crucial victory on his top domestic
priority.
Meanwhile, former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean told
Huffington Post's Sam Stein that Democrats could be in "big trouble"
because of delays in crafting health care legislation.
A knife-edge ballot Saturday saw Democrats scrape the 60 votes needed for
debate to begin November 30, but wavering senators Joe Lieberman and Ben
Nelson sent a strong message that they would not back the bill as it
stands.
Lieberman, an independent senator from Connecticut who usually votes in
line with the Democrats and did so on Saturday, opposes the creation of a
government insurance program to compete with private firms, the so-called
"public option."
"We have a healthcare system that has real troubles, but we have an
economic system that is in real crisis," said Lieberman, who fears the
government program would be too expensive for the cash-strapped US
economy.
Story continues below...
"I don?t want to fix the problems in our healthcare system in a way that
creates more of an economic crisis," he told NBC's "Meet the Press".
On Monday, Huffington Post's Sam Stein reported, "One of the leading
progressive champions of health care reform is pessimistic about the
state of the debate in the Senate, saying he sees virtually no path to
passing strong legislation and predicting potential congressional losses
for Democrats as a consequence."
Former DNC Chair Howard Dean told the Huffington Post on Monday that
Senate Democratic leadership was "in deep trouble" on health care, even
after Majority Leader Harry Reid cobbled together over the weekend the 60
votes needed to get legislation to the floor. The problem was as much
about politics as policy.
"I think if you passed the Senate bill tomorrow it would be OK. But
then the problem is they don't have any defense for their members in
2010," Dean said, noting that the public option would not become
operational until 2014. "On the other hand, if they drop the public
option [to placate moderate members], I think they lose seats."
"So this is really tough. I didn't anticipate being in this position.
I thought it would pass. Maybe Harry has some magic up his sleeve. But I
don't see how he gets those four votes [Sens. Joseph Lieberman (Conn.),
Mary Landrieu (La.), Blanche Lincoln (Ark.) and Ben Nelson (Neb.)]
without compromising the bill," Dean concluded.
The former Vermont governor warned that if the party allowed the four
moderates to further water down the bill (or defeat it altogether) it
could lead to primary challenges or a drop in fundraising from the
party's base.
America's Thanksgiving holidays are set to be marked by bitter debate
over the nitty-gritty of the bill, from its costs in terms of tax
increases and fees to the merits or not of the "public option."
Divisive issues like abortion funding could also come to the fore while
some Democrats may also seek funding for pet causes in their states in
return for passing what amounts to the biggest shake-up of US health care
in four decades.
The leading Democrat in the Senate, Harry Reid, faced three possible
defectors in addition to Lieberman, any one of whom could have deprived
him the 60 votes necessary to prevent Republican parliamentary delaying
tactics.
Those senators -- Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Blanche Lincoln of
Arkansas, and Nelson of Nebraska -- have signaled a willingness to join
Republicans if their proposed changes to core provisions of the bill are
defeated.
Before eventually falling into party line on Saturday, Landrieu and
Lincoln repeated their strong opposition to the "public option."
Nelson indicated on Sunday that he could be open to persuasion on the
issue, although he prefers states to be able to opt in to program rather
than having to opt out.
"We could negotiate a public option of some sort that I might look at,
but I don't want a big government, Washington-run operation," he told
ABC's "This Week" program.
Nelson has also demanded tougher restrictions on federal money
subsidizing abortions, mirroring language the House of Representatives
added to its version of the bill when it approved it in a 220-215
squeaker November 7.
The New York Times reported that the Obama administration was continuing
to court two moderate Republican senators from Maine, Susan Collins and
Olympia Snowe, in the hope of winning them over and breaking up the
united Republican opposition on health care.
Debate in the Senate is expected to last at least three weeks, but
Republicans hope to kill the bill or delay the battle into next year with
the expectation that the 2010 midterm elections may make it harder for
moderate Democrats to support it.
Senators voted 60-39 Saturday to formally start debate on legislation
aimed at extending coverage to some 31 million Americans.
As well as the public insurance option, the Senate bill includes
restrictions on dropping care for pre-existing ailments. It is estimated
to cost 848 billion dollars through 2019 but cut the sky-high US budget
deficit by 130 billion dollars over the same period.
A successful final vote -- expected a month away at the earliest -- would
force the Senate and the House of Representatives to reconcile their
rival versions of the bill and vote again on whether to send it to Obama.
The United States is the world's richest nation but the only
industrialized democracy that does not provide health care coverage to
all of its citizens, about 36 million of whom are uninsured.
Several US presidents since Theodore Roosevelt in the early 1900s have
sought to overcome the traditional US suspicion of a wider government
role in health care.
Washington spends more than double what Britain, France, and Germany do
per person on health care, but lags behind other countries in life
expectancy and infant mortality, according to the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
--
Slavery: The belief that people can be property
Corporatism: The belief that property can be people.
Steve
<de...@dead.com> wrote:
>http://rawstory.com/2009/11/democrats-in-deep-trouble-due-health-care-
>howard-dean-warns/
>
>Democrats �in deep trouble� due to health care, Howard Dean warns
>By Raw Story
>Monday, November 23rd, 2009 -- 1:54 pm
Like I've been telling you far left loons... The public opption is
DOA.. Hahahaha
Kevin Cunningham
> On Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:00:49 -0600, "5292 Dead, 425 since 1/20/09"
>
> >http://rawstory.com/2009/11/democrats-in-deep-trouble-due-health-care-
> >howard-dean-warns/
>
> >Democrats ‘in deep trouble’ due to health care, Howard Dean warns
> >By Raw Story
> >Monday, November 23rd, 2009 -- 1:54 pm
>
> Like I've been telling you far left loons... The public opption is
> DOA.. Hahahaha
>
According to the far right Obama would be impeached by now. The next
far right shot was that health reform wouldn't pass the house. So
much for that. Then we were assured that there was no way the dems
could ever get 60 votes.
So how's that workin' out for ya?
National health care is comin' to git ya'!
Steve
They can't you half-witted fool. The Bill that passed the house won't
pass it again (and the vote will come up again on the combined bill)
with either the abortion amendment in or out, and the vote in the
Senate was only to start debate on it... and there are several who
say they won't to pass it if it doesn't change...
>So how's that workin' out for ya?
I think it's just dandy... since the public opption is DOA...
>National health care is comin' to git ya'!
It's going to bite the Democrats in the ass..
5292 Dead, 425 since 1/20/09
>> On Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:00:49 -0600, "5292 Dead, 425 since 1/20/09"
>>
>> <d...@dead.com> wrote:
>> >http://rawstory.com/2009/11/democrats-in-deep-trouble-due-health-care-
>> >howard-dean-warns/
>>
>> >Democrats ‘in deep trouble’ due to health care, Howard Dean warns By
>> >Raw Story
>>
>>
> According to the far right Obama would be impeached by now. The next
> far right shot was that health reform wouldn't pass the house. So much
> for that. Then we were assured that there was no way the dems could
> ever get 60 votes.
>
> So how's that workin' out for ya?
>
> National health care is comin' to git ya'!
I still have hope. I hear that the two Maine Senators are vacillating on
the issue, and the Democratic Party is letting it be known that Blue Dogs
who don't support the bill will not get party funds in the next
campaign. The gloves are coming off.
Right wingers want it gone, because they know it will greatly improve the
lives of millions of people, and leave them on the fringes for a
generation or more.
Steve
<de...@dead.com> wrote:
>On Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:53:01 -0800, Kevin Cunningham wrote:
>
>
>>> On Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:00:49 -0600, "5292 Dead, 425 since 1/20/09"
>>>
>>> <d...@dead.com> wrote:
>>> >http://rawstory.com/2009/11/democrats-in-deep-trouble-due-health-care-
>>> >howard-dean-warns/
>>>
>>> >Democrats �in deep trouble� due to health care, Howard Dean warns By
>>> >Raw Story
>
>
>>>
>>>
>> According to the far right Obama would be impeached by now. The next
>> far right shot was that health reform wouldn't pass the house. So much
>> for that. Then we were assured that there was no way the dems could
>> ever get 60 votes.
>>
>> So how's that workin' out for ya?
>>
>> National health care is comin' to git ya'!
>
>I still have hope. I hear that the two Maine Senators are vacillating on
>the issue, and the Democratic Party is letting it be known that Blue Dogs
>who don't support the bill will not get party funds in the next
>campaign. The gloves are coming off.
Cling to that hope, Fatty... and it'll suck you under when it goes
down...