He is doing seriously great work. I was one of the 600 or so to follow teacherken’s diary to get an email of support to him. He seems to be hearing us (The White House only seems to be hearing Glenn Beck).

teacherken’s diary:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/9/11/135916/474

We fight back — and so does Raul.

It’s great to have a champion in elected office. I’m a proud supporter now, too!

I consider Senator Baucus’s proposal to be essentially an insider trader move to protect an industry and really doesn’t have validity at all, both political validity or content validity.

Which is why every other Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee needs to be pinned down in public about their opinion of both the substance of the Baucus Deal, and the process of its creation (there has yet to be a single public meeting in 2009 of the whole committee, or any of its subcommittees, to work on this legislation).

As a reminder, those Democrats (whose votes are necessary to pass the Baucus Bill out of committee intact, since Republicans will not participate in passing the legislation) are, in order of seniority:

MAX BAUCUS, MT
JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, WV
KENT CONRAD, ND
JEFF BINGAMAN, NM
JOHN F. KERRY, MA
BLANCHE L. LINCOLN, AR
RON WYDEN, OR
CHARLES E. SCHUMER, NY
DEBBIE STABENOW, MI
MARIA CANTWELL, WA
BILL NELSON, FL
ROBERT MENENDEZ, NJ
THOMAS CARPER, DE

Conrad and Bingaman have been in Baucus’s back pocket throughout his months of private wheeling and dealing. But where were and are all the rest, include the second-ranking Democrat and chairman of the committee’s health care subcommittee, Jay Rockefeller? Mouthing weak opposition for the sake of public consumption, while privately nodding in approval, or prepared to publicly stand their ground to ensure a worthy product is produced by the actual Senate Finance Committee – never mind its gone-rogue, power-abusing chairman and his handful of self-serving friends, backed by unseen players in the White House and Corporate America’s executive suites?

Agreed. Now is the time for John Kerry to step forward and show he really did deserve to be president in 2004. Hell, he’s safe as houses — he and Teresa have enough dough that Rahm can’t touch them.

saw it yesterday
ill tell ya what legitimacy Baucus has
HE IS A CROOK
an insider trader to big insurance
cart him off to prison,or RELEASE the millions of PETTY thieves in there

only WOMAN go to prison for INSIDER TRADING….Martha took the fall for ALL THE WEASELS

As a reminder, those Democrats (whose votes are necessary to pass the Baucus Bill out of committee intact, since Republicans will not participate in passing the legislation) are, in order of seniority:

they have an ace up there sleeve we have not considered but I want us to be prepared if it happens;

the bills being are very good for republicans, very bad for progressives and for the middle/lower class

the republicans know this but they don’t want to give obama a victory and they love the ifighting they are causing

my prediction;

if it is a bill they they really should be voting for as republicans, one that won’t pass because of prorgressives, and they think the progressives might win the day in the end if a current bill does not pass;

they will flip at the last minute in a show of “bi-particentship”

now, that’s not an actual prediction but a scenario that can happen, they do have that ace up their sleeve and do not put it past them to stick it to progressives and vote for a bill we do not want passed

Re Kerry observation: Booyah!

ph (202) 225-2435 to leave a message for Grijalva re speaking truth to Baucusness.

Well, we didn’t ask for bank bailouts but we got them. We didn’t ask for auto bailouts but we got them. We didn’t ask for fake mortage bailouts but we got them and we didn’t ask for money to go directly to auto dealers and not to buyers but it happened without our asking. We did and are asking for health care and we are not going to get health care we are going to get screwed. Is this change to die for..probably yes we are probably going to die from it.

I agree the bill lack legitimacy, too bad is isn’t irrelevant as well.

die broke in a work house like a Dickens character of TB

going to send him the same LION…i sent Teddy last April

Baucus (202) 224-2651
Bingaman (202) 224-2651
Cantwell (202) 224-3441
Carper (202) 224-2441
Conrad (202) 224-2043
Kerry (202) 224-2742
Lincoln (202) 224-4843
Menendez (202) 224-4744
Nelson (202) 224-5274
Schumer (202) 224-6542
Stabenow (202) 224-4822
Wyden (202) 224-5244

Does Obama see the Baucaus Bill as legitimate?

we actually did ask for the auto bail out but in the form of loans not free money, loans backed by assets which is not a bail out it’s a loan, we did not get what we wanted, they got what they wanted which was an ability to deny contractual obligations

the money to banks was rediculous, that was not a loan but free money, absolutely a bailout inn every sense of the word

as far as cash for clunkers, that went to the buyers of cars not the car industry, though they were at times able to raise prices of cars because of the give back to the middle class but in general those funds went to the middle class

it wasn’t in the best form as far as I am concerned, it should have gone to only American built cars, not necessarily an American brand but definitely to union only nameplates

the money to banks nobody wanted but the banks so you are right about that, we all said long before it happened it was a huge mistake and then it was

CROOKS AND LIARS period……………

Dunno. Ask him.

“by former health insurance lobbyists”

Assertion of facts not in evidence.

Cokie just said on This Weak With Staphylococcus 15 Democratic Senators are opposed to the public option–can’t even get to 50. Has their been a head count? Do we have all of their names?

Senator Rockefeller will have difficulty walking this back:

“There are real concerns about the potential impact of health care co-ops on consumers, and we cannot afford to hang our hat on any unproven, unregulated, or unreliable model for health insurance coverage,” Rockefeller said in a statement.

much more in this link

and Good Morning Barb dear…dont want to lose my civility like a puke!

uhm Cokie…is Kookie
justsayin

headin out…gorgeous day

I disagree. Rockefeller has never had any problems taking a completely different stand on any issue once his palm has been crossed with a few industry dollars.

Hi, darlin’! Good to, ummm, “see” you.

She is the ultimate Village insider. I generally pay attention to what she says.

Cokie cost herself and Sam Donaldson their anchor spots in my opinion. I don’t have any evidence on which to base that except that I used to watch that program back then and it was obvious what a petty, spiteful, uninformed clown she was/is.

Claire McCaskill just declared the public option a “distraction” away from the goal of reducing costs and providing affordable insurance. WTF?

good idea …suffering from politics overload myself !

“She is the ultimate Village insider”

Ironically, that is exactly the reason I ignore her. I just can’t be less interested in the f***ing villagers’ opinions anymore.

The bombardment of these congressmen begins NOW! Thanks for these numbers.

Let’s examine Claire’s dirty bag of tricks, shall we? How much “blood money” has McCaskill taken?

They KNOW that the key to real reform is the Public Option (actually it’s Single payer and they know that, too!). However, the degree of “blood money” taken by the Blue Dogs is commensurate with their rejection of the Public Option.

I call it LEGAL BRIBERY and needs to be stopped or we have complicit congressmen in the pockets of their Fascist Employers – Corporations & Monopolies.

WAG -

Nelson – NE
Nelson – FL
Conrad -
Baucus
McCaskill
Lieberman
Landreu
Lincoln
Bingaman
Pryor
Hagan
Inouye
Reid
Feinstein
Bayh

some are interchangeable with Begich, Carper, Bennet, etc

good to see ya !

she hasn’t necessarily taken blood money – but she is a designated WH trial balloon launcher

Call what you like. I don’t feel it is legal. In fact, I think it goes directly against the constitution and their oath of office. Just my opinion though.

Health Professionals $221,600, Hospitals/Nursing Homes $80,250. LINK

Nothing really outrageous.

I’ve called the WH. Now I’ll ask you. Is it legitimate?

One would feel less betrayed by Barack Obama and his WH if during last summer he was talking and walking what he is standing up for and doing now here in summer going into fall of 2009.

Clearly President Obama has not been true to what he said he stood for,would stand for and would be the champion of if elected to Oval Office.

It is not just this entirely hijacked by for profit insurers/pharma so called American healthcare “reform” that this Obama WH has betrayed over.

It is now about also then how Obama WH has done turn arounds on FISA,Bush/Cheney torture policy and actual torture prosecution,on Iraq Pullout and Afghanistan escalation. How Wall Street and Big Banking are getting all the candy at Obama WH Candy Store.

It is the implicit general betrayal of many of the voters who put Barack Obama in the WH in November 2008.

This so called American healthcare “reform” has been misrepresented and the depth of dishonesty Barack Obama and his Clintonite infested WH is practicing here should have very real electoral consequences in 2010 and 2012. President Obama gives a good speech. But the deeds are what truly count. This sellout as described in above post to the vested interests who want no reform,little real reform or are raiding the cookie jar and trying to sabotage this reform with cooperation from too many D’s and this Obama WH is not honorable or worthy of further extension of trust.

He has. He believes the Massachusetts legislature should give Governor Deval Patrick, one of President Obama’s closest friends and political allies, the power to choose and interim Senator to fill Ted Kennedy’s seat until the special election in January.

Care to guess how that appointee will see the things? I’m more than willing to bet the house that he or she will see that the public option isn’t a critical component to bring down health care costs. The appointee will be a “the public option is a small even inconsequential piece of health care reform” bootlicker.

Senator John Kerry, in French this translates to John d’ Les Speine, announces his ultimate position on the issue of the public option, albeit inadvertently.

You can’t pin them down. It’s a code of honor thing. In fact, it’s carved into the lintel at the entry way to the Senate cloakroom. It’s written in Latin but the English translation is: “Never lead when you can either duck or swerve.”

Rahm Emmanuel knows this better than any US Senator, whether Republican or Democratic or Independent.

A few of the 800 #’s for the congress:
1800-828-0498
1800-459-1887
1800-614-2803
Saves the pennies.

It’s my understanding that 4 out of the 5 committees that have to report out on this legislation have done so, and that all 4 of them have the public option in them? Yet the so called willing to compromise position has to be the one without the public option. …oh yeah that makes perfect sense. Democrats are still negotiating with themselves here…and losing badly. The minority of Dems are giving the minority party/corporate overlords (and their framing) just what they want. How to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat Dems. Oh and the last point I want to make, I understand that the public option is in the Democratic platform, and yet….this pathetic party can’t live up to it’s own platform! And they wonder why their such easy targets for republicans to mock.

People don’t like wimps and those who want to compromise with themselves on principle. Obama needs to crack a few head together here and get this done right…and that leadership is sorely needed, but I just don’t think he has it in him…unfortunately.

But not to let other Democratic leaders off here, Lawrence Wilkerson was right in his discussion of spineless and feckless dems like Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. Now granted he was talking about the torture issue and how they’ve fallen hook line and sinker for the king of kooks Cheney and repub framing about being afraid of the bogeyman terra-ists if they prosecute known law breakers or go after the CIA/torturers. The same can easily be said when it comes to health insurance reform too.

from a site link you gave me a long time ago – federal contracts for missouri http://www.fedspending.org/fpd…..ateCode=MO

notice 10 ten recipients on grants – http://www.fedspending.org/faa…..te_code=29

by clicking on ‘expanded’ on this site, you get the big picture.

It is the clinton WH…and she is running against Obama in 2012. Words are important. Obama is a figurehead.

The clintons are corporatists.

What I don’t understand is, if democrats are going to pass this bill without any help from republicans, why bother to delete the public option, something even the guy from Politico admitted today on Shieffer that the Democrats (not progressives, not liberals) want?

Why alienate rank and file dems when they don’t gain anything? Their seats may not be up for grabs, but don’t they recall what happened in the mid-terms when Clinton was unable to get healthcare reform done?

How important can re-election money be if you come back to a Congress where you’ve just been made impotent?

It’s not. So I am making phone calls, too.

In answer to your quesion, Does Obama see Baucus Bill as legitimate? I don’t know, but one indication that he does is that the White House and Baucus got together on the deal with big Pharma. to drop the requirement from the Finance bill that Medicare would be able to negotiate drug prices and for re-importation of prescription drugs,in exchange for a supposed agreement that Pharma would reduce drug costs by $800 billion over ten years and donate $150 million for advertising for Obama’s plan. See discussion in the New York Times today.

There’s something in Obama’s speech that was bothering me but I couldn’t put a finger on it until my son said that the government makes you have insurance to own a car what’s so bad about making you have it for yourself?

And the answer that finally came to me, the thing that was bothering me about that analogy ever since Obama made it is this: A car is potentially a lethal instrument. A car is 1500+ pounds of metal and plastic and fuel that can cause considerable damage to person and property if not properly operated.

Is the analogy between mandatory car insurance and mandatory health insurance a legitimate one? No, it is not and it was disingenuous for Obama to make it. I have to insure my car to mitigate another party’s damages in the event there is an accident. I do not have to insure myself so that society does not suffer if I become sick. If that analogy was to hold, then society must do something to ensure that I do not become sick, must provide some sort of mechanism whereby I can maintain my wellness.

This government falls far short of that. It’s own FDA colludes with drugmakers to market drugs that injure and in some cases kill people. The same agency allows harmful additives to be put into foods that are then marketed to kids, e.g., high fructose corn syrups, monosodium glutamate, caffeine in soft drinks, excess sodium in snack crisps, etc.

Until the government provides some avenue for assisting me in remaining well, such as a true government watchdog for consumers in the area of drug and food safety, I feel no responsibility in insuring myself for any reason other than that I want my family and myself to have access to health care. And I will always believe that this is a legitimate function of government, that it works towards the well-being of its subjects, if you will, if only so that these people are healthy enough to be productive members of a capitalist society.

What I don’t understand is, if democrats are going to pass this bill without any help from republicans, why bother to delete the public option, something even the guy from Politico admitted today on Shieffer that the Democrats (not progressives, not liberals) want?

I believe the answer is Obama & Rahm are corporatists and consider their major enemy to be the liberal and progressive Democrats. Notwithstanding what he said about the public option in his speech to Congress, I think it’s very clear that Obama & Rahm cut backdoor deals by mid-June with the private insurance companies as well as Big PhRMA to exclude it from the final bill and they directed Baucus to work out the fine print while making a show of bipartisanship by including Grassley, Enzi, and Snowe as members of the mini-committee, Gang of Six. By refusing to consult or meet with liberal and progressive Democrats and their supporters, they completely excluded them and us from any role in the process until very late in the game when they realized the progressives in the House presented the only credible threat to passing their terrible regressive non reform bill.

How else can we make sense of Obama’s continuing difficulty to specifically define the public option? Isn’t the best and most simple explanation be that he never gave it much thought because he agreed to a final bill without one?

We need to face reality and realize that our enemy isn’t so much the deranged and clown-like Republicans as it is Obama, Rahm, and their corporate masters with whom we are likely to disagree on all issues of importance to us.

Mr. Grijalva is a stand up guy and we’ll back him and anyone else who stands up to this blatant gift that Baucus is giving to his pimps. It’s great that Mr. Grijalva points this out publically to make sure that the media knows but, won’t hasn’t mentioned thus far! We’re behind you all the way Sir!

If the Rahm Obama administration really want to capitulate to the Republicans, they should just go all out and name Joe Wilson as Health and Human Services Secretary.

They can thrown Kathleen Sebelius under the bus, along with ACORN and Van Jones.

it’s only a matter of time

Just get ready to bend over and spread em cause that is what is going to happen to us, “We, The People….”

After they continue to cower in fear at the “2 million moron march” and allow Glenn Beck to continue to be more powerful than the Federal Government they will capitulate and give up anything of substance.

You can kiss the “public option” good bye as you are forced to buy health insurance and fatten up the pockets of Aetna, Wellpoint, UHC, et. al.

I applaud all the hard work Jane and others have done in this fight. Unfortunately, it will be all for naught. We will once again get it “up the butt” from the Dems. I’m done with em.

Unfortunately, it will be all for naught

Bite your forked tongue.

Regardless of what happens with the PO, some new strategies are being developed in the Progressive community thanks to Jane, et. al. The Progressive Caucus, for example, is beginning to whip its members into a voting block.

Also, Trumka has thrown some union weight around by threatening to stop the cash flowing into the D coffers if (when) the PO goes down.

So, there has been real progress toward strengthning progressive voices.

I applauded all the hard work by Jane, et. al. Unfortunately, I think it will be wasted. All I have seen out of the Dems over the past couple of years, especially since gaining the majority is a bunch of hot air. No action, just talk.

And extremely wimpy talk. I don’t have much trust in the Progressive Caucus. I hope they will prove me wrong but I am pretty hopeless at this time.

I heard Jane on the Mike Malloy show on Sirius before Obama’s health care speech and I felt some hope then. But, the extremely poor Democratic followup and leadership post speech has made me feel this way. When Dem Senators (McCaskill) go on the TeeVee thing and say that the Public Option is “a distraction” rather than standing up there and strongly defending it then I see that it is more of the same ole, same ole. Just like Dubya said, “fool me once, shame on you……”

I won’t feel so cynical when I hear Obama and his mouthpieces say: “I will not sign a bill without a strong public option”. How difficult is that? They all need to “grow a pair” and use them.

Yes, Obama’s analogy is flawed because he compared conditioning the exercise of a privilege (driving with insurance) to paying for a fundamental human right (health care) that the government should pay for with tax revenues.

Courts have held that driving is a privilege that can be legislatively conditioned on obtaining an operator’s license, obeying traffic laws, and maintaining insurance. Assuming we have a fundamental right to quality universal health care at affordable cost, which I believe we do even though the U.S. Supreme Court has not established that we do, the government is obligated to protect that right by enacting laws reasonably related to providing such care and paying for it with tax revenues. Viewed from this perspective, there really isn’t a legitimate reason for the government to delegate its responsibility to pay for health care to private for-profit insurance companies. Their abysmal record over a period of many years plunged us into the present crisis and constitutes clear, convincing, and overwhelming evidence that the government no longer can delegate its duty to them.

The same cannot be said regarding auto insurance because no one has a fundamental right to drive that the government is obliged to protect by paying for their insurance. Auto insurance is not a universal requirement because only the people who drive need to be insured and private for-profit insurance companies provide adequate and affordable insurance.

I’m in, for both Grijalva and Ellis.

Thank you, Jane.

Well, I cannot say for sure, but Gibbs sounded pretty miffed about Baucus’ ridiculous “product” being circulated through K street before being sent to the WH to be studied.

Glenn Beck is hoping that this bill fails. If Gijalva votes against the bill, he’ll be showing that he listens to Beck more than anyone else.

I’m a little confused here. How is defeating a bill without a public option listening to Beck?

Thanks for doing so. I think now Raul knows we’ve got his back, that he will be even more assertive for the public option.

It is time for us to reach out to other members of the Progressive Caucus as well, to let them know we are behind them.

Peace.

That’s not true. She was caught lying to an investigator at a time when many people didn’t know that was illegal. It had not always been the law.

I believe Martha was persecuted because she gave money to Democratic candidates.

PW, organize an email firestorm of Kerry. You are right! Hell, we all donated to his campaign.

I have to insure my car to mitigate another party’s damages in the event there is an accident. I do not have to insure myself so that society does not suffer if I become sick.

That’s not entirely true. We have to pay for folks in emergency rooms whether they’re insured or not.

Beck doesn’t want a health reform bill, even without a public option. So if Grijalva votes down the bill, he’s doing what Beck wants and is more like him than any other Democrat.

One might make that argument for contagious diseases…but generally you are correct unless one is talking about using social services without recompense. My view is that the Society has a responsibility to protect itself, and the best way to do that in a free society is by offering free health checkups and treatment for the contagions (infectious disease). But these are also packaged cheaply with other basic preventative care that reduces the burden overall on society. There’s also the cost of having injured and sick people in the economy, they are not as productive, and tend to get other illnesses due to reduced immune systems.

There’s another issue with the auto insurance analogy…and that’s the fact that driving is a privilege and there are other options to getting from point a >b without driving your own vehicle (taxi, bus, walking, bike, friend, etc.). But those options don’t occur with ones health. One either foregoes obtaining the benefit (health care) or buys private insurance or pays the physician or hospital directly (unless one falls into certain classes, of course). Unlike the auto analogy the latter options are not cheaper.

Former insurance person here, and a Progressive. Let’s do some math-pay for an ER visit($300) OR pay for someone’s heart surgery that never had healthcare before?($75k) THEN MULTIPLY IT TIMES A HALF A MILLION.

It’s more moral to do that,right? We will pay one way, maybe two. Forced to pay higher premiums is one way, maybe higher taxes to cover the out of control health care costs. It is clear to me people better organize and fight back before we are trussed and skewered as Biden’s Thanksgiving turkey of a bill is rammed thru.