Well, that may be but Snowe just voted aye for schumer’s white bread version of the PO. So maybe they don’t need lieberman.

Good luck with that one, Jane.

With Hapless Harry controlling the floor we’ll be lucky to see anything happen at all. I’m still wondering why Tom Harkin was so enthusiastic about the PO’s chances.

To me it’s all kabuki. In the end the Medical Industrial Complex wins no matter what. Rahm has already seen to it.

I seemed to have missed that. Did Schumer have an even weaker PO that got voted on after the already weak one?

Aides to the majority leader, Senator Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, say that he will not include a provision for the public option when he combines the measures coming out of the finance and health committees.

Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Schumer and other supporters of a government-run plan will bring floor amendments trying once again to add it to the legislation

.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09…..lth.html?h

“Party treason?” What’s that? Do you mean like Lieberman still holding his Homeland Security Chair? That kind of treason?

The Democratic party is not serving its members and that’s not surprising when its members insist on begging for compromises and crumbs rather than assigning clear goals to its representatives. With the PO near death, it is time to kill this bill altogether and start demanding Medicare for All/HR 676.

Here here.

just kill it in committee… two votes’ll do it, if only we can make sure that the gentlemen from NY and WV will oblige.

Is Kyl one of the smarmiest concern trolls ever — or what?

Technically Bernie Sanders and Joe Lieberman aren’t Democrats. We know Bernie Sanders won’t back a GOP filibuster, so…

I thought the okey-doke was going to come in with cloture – in that they had 60 for cloture (and I still doubt shortride will do it) and the usual suspects voting against the final bill.

that distinction goes to the Gentleman from Connecticut

Well I believe I heard her say aye during the vote but that was during my 3rd glass of wine so…
….and the 2nd Schumer amendment was as tasty as jailhouse coffee.

that last one was the “level playing field” one – the weaker of the 2 Schumer amendments, he has another, slightly less weak – Schumer/Cantwell

and Snowe did exactly what her Corporate Masters wanted her to – voted no

What’s Robert Byrd’s status? Is he well enough to be back on the floor to vote? That could be crucial to stop a filibuster.

Since when do Democrats vote down their own party’s amendments because of a perception that the bill won’t get 60 votes for cloture? Surely nobody can believe that. The Dems, including Baucus, that voted against public option amendments did so because they are against a public option. It’s as simple as that.

One other thing, if the Dems have 60 and the GOP has 40 and there are not 60 votes for cloture, then the filibuster should be referred to as a Democratic filibuster not a GOP filibuster. IMHO.

Of course, lmao,
see my comment @ 1

That the Democratic Party is not serving it’s members, but it’s contributors is not a surprise anymore. The failure of the Rockefeller Amendment shows just how deeply the DLC has dug it’s heels into the party appartus…and the DLC doesn’t even exist as it once did.

The characterization of the republicans as the party of “No” and Democrats as the party of “Yes, but…” is dead on accurate.

I guess if we could donate $3,000,000-plus to Max Baucus to buy his vote we’d have what we needed, a healthcare system that works. But all we have is one vote each, and Baucus from a state with a population of slightly more than Charlotte, NC is using his industry-supplied bill with appropriate talking points to hold the nation hostage on behalf of his corporate masters, not even the 640,000 voters in his state.

Lincoln, Bayh, Conrad, Carper, Nelson – NE, Landreiu, Lieberweasel, all could vote with Repubs – against cloture, and against the Bill

He’ll be wheeled in for the vote I would imagine. Thing is, we don’t know which way he’ll vote. He’s not always on our side, though I would think Jay would bring him along.

Schumer and Baucus need to say who these members are immediately.

if the reid et al don’t force a cloture vote so the public can see who votes with the gop, that means the party leadership want to protect those would vote against cloture from citizen action.

p.s. great live blogging earlier. thanks to all.

Wont matter if Harry never allows a PO vote to hit the floor. See comment #4 above.

We may not know how Byrd would vote, but I can’t see him ever voting against his party on a filibuster threat from the GOP. He’s too much of a parliamentarian for that.

I guess we need to also suspect Specter, but he’s in an increasingly desperate reelection situation.

*ding*

why, ES, doncha know, the Majority Leader walked that back yesterday – again, don’t know if it was just a clusterfuck or workin’ the yo-yo

but he’s not a PO supporter. If he does so it’s only because Sestak is nipping at his heels. Whether or not you like or support Joe, he’s having a beneficial effect for us.

Well.. I trust Harry about as much as I trust Arlen to do the right thing.

Seriously.. when is the last time Harry stood up for the right thing in the final stretch?

ok, now I haz a confusion. thought cloture was the kabuki – where Blanche, Mary, et al could vote for cloture, but against the final bill ??

thinking . . . . . . . . . thinking . . . . . . . . . thinking . . . . . . . . . . . . . uh, . . . . . . .

since cloture is what counts there’s no way their corpo masters will let them get away with that.

Reconciliation, on the other hand, though not ideal could work if the wusses would let it.

This AM when he peeed

completely within character or lack thereof, he blasted a fundraising email right after the Schumer vote …

it’s the Republican’s fault !, help me stop the republicans !!

whatever, bitch

Interesting Huffpro analysis
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..03518.html

and this about the Unions’ response
http://www.workdayminnesota.or…..ews_6_4189

Speaking o’ pee, looks like baucus gotta go now too.
Recess time @ the Finance Committee . -u betcha

thanks, have been trolling for a Trumka quote – anyone ?

This is rich

Harry’s got a question. Go read.

ah, i bet you are thinking so something like the alito vote — where the good votes were the ones that were AGAINST cloture because you want the nomiation to fail. if you want to block a bill (or nomination), cloture is the place to do it because it takes 60 to pass. (short ride’s alito kabuki was to vote for cloture to permit the nomination to come up for a vote, and then he voted against the nomination when it needed only a majority and his “no” vote didn’t help).

in this case, when you want the legislation (the po) to pass, again the place to most easily block it is the cloture vote so that is where the gop (and possibly some dems) will try to block it if reid et al. let it come up for a vote.

the kabuki is when a senator votes yes on the cloture and no on the measure in order to pretend to be against the measure when indeed they have helped to pass it.

…. does that help? or was i incomprehensible? if so, i could try again.

he blasted a fundraising email right after the Schumer vote

i’m going to send a few $$ to the pnhp every time he does that. pisses me off.

thanks ! been sitting in this chair all day and things started mashin’ together :D

things started mashin’ together

lol, welcome to my world!

Tom Harkin is still bullish on the PO. He’s on Ed right now.

Jane, you are great. No kidding.

You try to work within the system, which is noble.
The system is broken.

Give it up.

I guess if we could donate $3,000,000-plus to Max Baucus to buy his vote we’d have what we needed, a healthcare system that works.

Well there you have it, the net-roots has solved another political puzzle with ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking.

I say we go for it.

Who knew it would be that simple?

All we have to do is raise $3,000,000.99 and we can buy Baucus back from the Insurance companies.

When we’re done, do we get to dispose of him?

She voted aye because she knew it was going down anyway. If there was a chance it could have passed, she’d have voted nay just to make sure it didn’t. Pure kabuki, in other words.

Jane knew all along that the Senate was a long shot, and that the real fight would be to get enough House members to hold the line and say “No public option, no deal”. That’s why she’s put so much time into The Pledge.

Faucus/Betraeus 2010!

I want to see actual filibustering. On prime time teevee. With all the filibusterers making impassioned speeches about why we can’t have healthcare.

Then I want some virulent primary-ing of the BD “Democrats”.

I missed that too. what was reported was that snowe voted against both amendments

Well if they vote in mandates, don’t regulate the insurance industry, and no public option, then we have to urge a presidential veto. If not, the Democrats will be the biggest losers ever in the next election(s).

It’s not gonna matter, people. They’re gonna stage a coup, check it out:

Newsmax columnist: Military coup “to resolve the ‘Obama problem’ ” is not “unrealistic”

Each person has so much energy to protest.

I say, focus available energy.

Focus it where it matters.

Focus it on House races in the general election where a bad Dem faces a Repub.

Vote against the bad Dem.

I digress.

mee too. i want to see john mcain reciting mary had a little lamb and joe lieberman speaking in tongues. of course, thats not the kind of fillibuster they have anymore. they have a special fillibuster where they dont even have to be there. which seems unconstituional and against the whole point of the fillibuster to begin with.the senate should just be eliminated. we dont need an american house of lords

she voted no both times. I watched.

Odds are, one of them is MaxTax Baucus himself and the rest of the gang, including Blanche Walmart, who voted “No” on Rockefeller’s amendment this morning. Their constituents, Blanche’s in Arkansas among them, will want to know why these purportedly Democratic Senators rank corporate welfare ahead of the general welfare.

This debate isn’t legitimately about the cost of health insurance or care, or about federal deficits. It could be, but it’s not. It’s about whether consumers get a fair shake for the money they spend on insurance, credit cards and the like, or whether federal laws are meant to benefit only corporations.

Yeah, and give money to act blue to advertise against any yellow dog dems.

This bill needs to die.

A simple, universal, non-profit system is the obvious answer.

It would be far more expedient to simply REPLACE the members of congress who continue to shill for the pharma-insurance than to work out some half-measure BS that goes into effect 5 years from now. Is that really the best way to get to single payer? I think not.

Getting out of Iraq is not simple. But this issue is. All that is needed are politicians WILLING to do it. It’s time to start replacing our “Senators for life” gumming up our democracy. The elections are already scheduled, you know!

It’s by far the fastest way to real change.

And to those who claim killing this bill will hurt Obama: who cares? Then he’ll get what he deserves.

Jesus Christ.

JoeLie speaking in tongues! Ha!

Snowe is a Republican.
The only Democrat that I know has said that he would vote against a public option is Senator Ben Nelson from Nebraska.

Yeah.

More and worse Dems.

Realize, please, that the following question isn’t directed at any contributor/member of the Firedoglake community.

WHERE THE FUCK IS DNC CHAIR TIM KAINE?????

What a useless sack of shit. Seriously. What does he do for the money we are paying him? Can we honestly believe if Howard Dean were still chair that Dean wouldn’t be doing something to “encourage” party discipline on this vote?

There are more people responsible for what’s happening than just the joker DINOs we see in the Senate. Kaine is just one example.

” Schumer and Baucus need to say who these members are immediately.”

The Republicans may just flip the 2010 races

Mike Lux is not interesting. People who believe in the public option here and Open Left are believing in a Unicorn. It doesn’t exist and neither does Obama’s support for it. Kill the bill and move to HB676.

Never. Give. Up.

Can’t do it anymore. Can’t live for the next election and “electing Democrats”. I won’t play football with Lucy anymore.

Kayne’s a neo confederate. Whadja expect? The DLC was bound and determined that another Howard Dean not chair the DNC.

yellow dogs Dems are the good guys – it’s the blue dogs that are Republicans lite.

Goddammed.

This shit is really starting to get crazy.

I’ve been saying for some time now that this is literally war for the Republicans, and when are we going to realize that.

You can almost sense it in the populace, on the airwaves, and even in person at times.

I, for one, welcome it. These right wing fuckers have always been the biggest threat to what the United States of America stands for IMO, a bigger threat than AQ or the Taliban ever will be. And when they’re openly talking about staging a military coup that shows just how much respect they have for the U.S. Constitution.

I really wonder if the real shit is about to hit the real fan. Goddammed motherfuckers.

This is going to be a years long struggle. We’re not gonna undo 30 years of neoconservative and conservative entrenchment over 1 or 2 cycles. Elections are just 1 facet of the struggle.

Yeah, I know the drill. DLC decided they got punked when the people of the party decided they’d pick their own leader in 2005. And this time, they picked the perfect, soft-handed slacker to do their work, which consists of sitting on his hands with his mouth shut.

But since I know these comment threads are monitored by certain individuals who take the temperature of the people, I thought I’d make sure they realized we are perfectly aware of the power vacuum in our party and what the gaping hole is doing to the party rank and file, and what it’s doing to our country.

Yeah, we see you. And for some of you, we see right through you.

sorry correction to my earlier post I meant to say that Ben Nelson has said that he would not vote to stop a filibuster. I just have option on the brain after today.

Sen. Ben Nelson, (D-Neb.) has definitively stated that he opposes the use of reconciliation to pass health care reform, it’s worth noting that on at least two previous occasions the Nebraska Democrat had no qualms supporting the budgetary procedure as a means of passing legislation.

“Party Treason”?? What is that, exactly?

Is that like voting for one fucked-up health care insurance financing scheme, as opposed to a marginally different fucked-up health care insurance financing scheme?

And what’s your option? Green Party? Constitution Party?

The real choice is to find, recruit, groom and elect the right people and replace the useless corporate whores in the Democratic Party.

Jane: We need a petition signed by thousands of activists vowing to work against blue dogs who vote against the PO even if it means that those seats go to rethugs and to send a message Rahm FUCK YOU!

You have subscribed to mind control.

You will think X. The system will tell your mind to think Y.

You must think Y. It is what the system instructs you.

End of message.

I got $10 bucks, who’s vote do we have to buy?

(Am I speaking the right language yet? I mean we’ve tried commense sense and logic

Never Give up.
Never, Never Give up.
Never, Never, Never Give up.

I’d like to see the Health Insurance Support Bill pass without the Public Option. The blow back might just break the venality in Washington, and get us single payer.

We need a theme to unite the non-moneyed on the left & the right, and this might just be the topic.

Don’t worry if you don’t understand. It’s a bit complex. It has to do with procedure.

if it’s going to take lots of loses before we win, then no point putting off the losing battles. they are when more people are paying attentnion and interested in the issue… so, it’s possible to make greater progress in spreading the word and building a movement.

my take anyway. ymmv.

What fuckin’ nonsense.

Yup. The trick is to stay on the path.

Selise, I think you’re absolutely right that Senators hide behind cloture votes. I suspect most voters have no idea what cloture is, so they can get away with faking their position. Kabuki. We have the next level of Kabuki when they claim they have to vote against it in committee because there won’t be enough votes for cloture. Baucus has been claimed repeatedly that he favors a public option, while doing everything to defeat it. Jane is right on top of it, calling them out. The MSM never seem to bother explaining this stuff, as it it didn’t happen. I guess it’s too boring, so they pretend it doesn’t happen.

WAIT! We haven’t tried any enhanced interrogation techniques…

Oh Joe! Could you come over here for a moment? Relax! Lay back on this table here and maybe we could give you a nice warm bath to ease your tensions too. Doesn’t that sound nice?

Hi, selise. You’ll get no argument from me.

I really don’t have the words to articulate my contempt for these blue dogs. Repugs? One expects it from them, but so-called “Dems?” Very bad people…

hey mm! i see that you and ralphbon and lets are meeting up in dc with the mad as hell docs! awesome!

They are saying that there are Democrats who would vote with the GOP to block a vote on something that the President says he supports — a public option.

Let’s just call it out; they would rather screw their party (and country) vs. disappoint their corporate insurance company masters.

Positively disgusting.

Never. Give. Up.

Emphasis.

WHY THE FUCK can Republicans can stick together but Democrats can’t?
WHY THE FUCK can Republicans can stick together but Democrats can’t?
WHY THE FUCK can Republicans can stick together but Democrats can’t?
WHY THE FUCK can Republicans can stick together but Democrats can’t?

good comment

White House: Obama still believes in public option

looks like another Lucy with the football / Charlie Brown set-up

The MSM never seem to bother explaining this stuff, as it it didn’t happen. I guess it’s too boring, so they pretend it doesn’t happen.

i don’t think the msm understand it and quite frankly, i think they are too lazy to try. it is complicated — in my entire life i tried to pay close attention to exactly one legislative battle (fisa) and it seriously made my head hurt. but that’s their fucking job and it would be nice if they gave it a try.

Never. Give. Up.

thanks SD. it helps to be reminded when the going gets tough.

These right wing fuckers have always been the biggest threat to what the United States of America stands for IMO, a bigger threat than AQ or the Taliban ever will be

You know, when I think about it, you’re right.

More people will die because of GOP obstruction and war mongering than anything external threats will ever do.

Sad, but true.

This is going to be an implosion the likes of which the D party has never seen. New circumstances may arise.

Kaine is still a sitting governor who is about to lose the Virginia governorship to the GOP because of the hamhanded way Creigh Deeds has run his campaign.

LOL Great post. One of the funniest I’ve read in a while. GREAT ATTITUDE.

Read your Will Rogers. He tells you why.

cause they are Putzes?

Schumer said he doesn’t like our ads and wishes the left would knock it off.

Tragic news about Blanche Dubois.

Voting against cloture??? That would be really suicidal, wouldn’t it? I can’t imagine anyone other than Lieberman doing that. Am I wrong?

Citizen SouthernDragon:

It’s time to hit the streets and ORGANIZE…the Democratic Party is gunna be in the minority in 2011 unless Obama gets his troops in line.

Schumer the Wall Street schmoozer? It would be remarkable if he liked ads that promoted consumer and citizen interests over those of Wall Street. The puzzle is that so many listen to him, not that some listen to Act Blue.

His opinion is not worth the energy to even think about it. I wish he would knock off being such a stooge.

obombya’s secured his place as the reincarnation of bill and george: more warmongering, more destruction of the us citizenry.

the nixonian paradigm for us presidents persists.

Well, I was liking him a few hours ago, but when he said that I remembered how pissed off I was with him over Mukasey.

Scarecrow’s diary is upstairs!
Should the Public Option Use Medicare Payment Rates?

Squashing treasonous criminals like bugs may be necessary to wash the roots of the tree of Liberty with their slimy blood. But, it’s just a theoretical possibility and nobody is suggesting we should do that.

How is it possible such a group of nuts could arise in a society which allows so much diversity of opinion…uh oh okay. Nevermind.

tis a shame that HR676 doesn’t work then. Politically, economically, etc. If y’all want to convince me (and many other Dems) you’ll have to show us the numbers and the mechanism (I’ve expressed my concerns in detail here but no one has presented a counterpoint that actually makes sense). I’m sorry to be blunt about this, but right now the only feasible option is the strong PO (either as an end goal or, if that’s what you want, as a transitional first toward single payer), and it’s what I believe we have to work with here. Overnight transition to the type of single payer system proposed in HR676 prior to the successful implementation of measures to control underlying cost growth is a recipe for disaster, not only for the envisioned single-payer system but also for Medicare as it exists today.

Charley and progressive Dems need someone else to hold the football. Obama’s Rahma keeps doing the one step forward, two steps backward routine.

Kent Conrad, Max Baucus, Blanche Lincoln, Joe Lieberman would be my guess.

- Tom

do you think schumer is acting as surrogate for obamaco when he says that? not that i expect he doesn’t agree.

Because they’re all really on the same side (and it’s not with us). And I think we should all realize that Harry Reid is an excellent leader. Look how effective he is at maintaining the status quo. We just misunderstood his agenda.

It’s gonna get rougher. Armour up and ready yer rhetorical and activist skills.

Yeah. Rahm/Schumer= Rumer.

Hey, Norske

The citizens are gonna be in an even bigger minority if we don’t get OUR troops on the line. We can’t depend on the majority of the local Dem parties to be of any significant help. We’re gonna have to work harder than we did in 08. Face to face is gonna be very important, something I could never get the local Dem party to understand. They want to play that DCCC/DSCC shit and that ain’t cuttin’ it.

hehe. which is why he needs lotsa calls. NYkers?

Fuck Schumer.

yeah schumer does not really want to hear from the peasants. Does not want to hear from those who really need the playing field leveled.

He wants to shut down the indy media silence bloggers like EW and Jane.

Wonder if any of the Dems will make it to hear the Mad as Hell Doctors when they arrive in D.C. tomorrow?

Will Chris Matthews or any of the MSM have them on? Will they get covered? Too bad they were not arriving in Iran…they would get all the coverage that they deserve from our MSM

.. which is exactly what the GOP wants: to embarrass the Dems anyway they can.

BTW, did anyone else see that (ahem) jaw-dropping survey the RNC sent out today? It was a .pdf.

Questions like:
“Are you in favor of the expanded welfare benefits and unlimited eligibility (no time, education or work requirements) that Democrats in Congress are pushing to pass?
[ ] Yes [ ] No [ ] No opinion. ”

Note to Jane: I forwarded this *.pdf to you a bit ago. I know you’re busy. Yes, I trust the source; I’ll re-send it with header data, if you’d like? Or post it as an FDL-only-shared google doc? Tweet me or whatever’s convenient?

If Rahm is now toothless, who else can weigh in, seriously? I haven’t checked today, but last I’d heard, Sen Byrd’s mishap last week sounded like he’d be back this week.
Who of the FDLers is from WV?

Or do NOW we need to suss out just how much $$ each of Blue Dogs pocketed from the lobbyists and just embarrass em all? Hello SunlightFoundation, OpenSecrets, Maplight and diving deeper in to FEC data?

See? this is why I hang out at the Lake. The authors here can decipher the arcane procedural BS and still it like they see it. It really cuts the crap so i can understand what the hey is going on sometimes.

Thanks.

fine, but Schumer is generally quite responsive to his constituents’ badgering however much he wishes they would simply go away… so keep calling him ;-) If he gets enough calls, there’s a good chance he’ll vote no on the finance committee bill, even if he has to hold his nose while doing it.

rougher and tougher.

Vote them all down. The dogs had no problem voting down public health insurance, at least in this panel, our people who supposedly outnumber them should have no problem voting against the insurance industry mutts.

If the legislation goes forward it will only start pathetic and get weaker the insurance industry will have tens of millions of new victims and no a single reason whatsover to control prices. They will rape the country just like the oil industry has and the banking industry has and every person in congress and plenty of rank and file Americans know it. If Democrats in this committee vote for the watered-down options it is all a con.

sara robinson was on ian masters last week and she said that obama had threatened progressive activists, think tanks and media with loss of funding if they pushed for single payer or went after blue dogs. she works for one of the think tanks, so i guess she’s in a position to know.

You can spend a lifetime on that (trying to get just the right people in Congress) and still fail because other people have more money.

We NOW have the biggest advantage in gov’t that we’re gonna have for some time. What I want to hear is the answer to Sen. Ensign’s question (paraphrasing “If the public option is so popular then why are you on your side [Dems] having so much trouble getting the votes.”)

Would these few Dems to derail this 1st plank of the Democratic party and a major plank of Pres. Obama’s campaign? The Republicans could laugh at Dems and I wouldn’t blame them.

But, rather than just kvetch, what we need is some serious compromise and deal-making and then a vote where we can see if any Dems vote against cloture.

We DON’T need this thing to die, so we have to come back again and soak the health care industry for more campaign money. If that’s all this is about for the Blue Dogs, then we’re sunk. If they’re never going to support the party, then we would have to have about 80 Dems in the Senate to get 60 to vote for reform. Impossible.

Do we have to be on the verge of a huge budgetary catastrophe in every state and city and nationally for the Blue Dogs to accept reform as a necessity? What does it take for them to give in to it? How many of their constituents would have to complain about going bankrupt over health costs to get their attention? How many have to complain about going bankrupt over mortgages and credit cards before they realize financial reform is necessary? How bad does our federal debt have to get before they realize we can’t spend so much on “Defense”? What does it take to get these people to get off the dime and do their job?

Anybody that complains about ‘cost cutting’ and votes for war in Afghanistan or Iran and more “Defense” spending should be run out of town.

Selise !

PLEASE HELP.

My representative and both my senators are Republican. (Well, maybe there’s no quick way to help with that!)

Anyway, I want to email the following letter to each of them this evening. I hope it’s clear what I’m trying to do in this letter. Please tell me what you think and give me suggestions to make it better before I send it.

September 29, 2009
Dear Senator Alexander,

I am very unhappy to learn that the Senate Finance Committee today voted down both Senator Jay Rockefeller’s “Robust” Public Option Amendment and Chuck Schumer’s “Level Playing Field” Public Option Amendment.

I want you to know that, since August 2009, I have ignored party lines, contributing to Health Care for America NOW!, to FDL Action’s ad to tell Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln & Representative Mike Ross to stop doing the bidding of the insurance companies, and to Democracy for America and Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) for their ad to pressure Montana Senator Max Baucus to support real health care reform.

Real Americans do not see health care reform as a partisan issue. At issue is the need of the American people to have access to quality health care.

The best way to lower health care costs and to make insurance companies treat their customers fairly is to create a public health care insurance option. Even if only a small fraction of Americans choose such a public option, the benefits for us all will quickly appear!

The media pushes the notion that the failure of health care reform may be President Obama’s Waterloo. That is not true, and most Americans know it. The truth is that we are seeing Democrats debate various solutions to a problem that has been with us for decades and has only gotten worse and worse. At the same time, we are seeing Republicans offer nothing that will fix the problems in our health care system and, in fact, we see many of you obstructing serious efforts to improve our health care.

This is not a partisan issue, sir. Republicans will lose again in 2010, will see the numbers of Republicans in the House and Senate shrink even more, and will lose the ability to advance their policy initiatives for a decade of more as a result.

After decades of letting private sector interests create huge problems in our health care system, we need real reform.

THIS REFORM – OR FAILURE OF REFORM – WILL AFFECT US FOR DECADES TO COME.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Brc

Petro!

howdy

If Rahm is now toothless, who else can weigh in, seriously?

Obama! He could tell the blue dogs to not fillibuster a PO or he’ll kick their blue dog balls to the fuckin’ moon.

I am afraid you have Obama confused with LBJ.

emptywheel is upstairs!
The Lack of Discipline Is Spelled R-A-H-M

Now let’s get over being pissed off and think…yes, I would like to dump all the Blue Dogs but not vote for a GOP asshole, that is cutting off your nose to spite your face!
Why are we not thinking…or does anyone/everyone really believe that there is only ONE or TWO qualified Democrat allocated to each state? Not all the Blue Dogs are up for re-election…their votes will be on the record. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas is the only Dem on this committee that is up for re-election in 2010…she should be targeted…find another DEM and replace her. Her last campaign only cost $6M. We just need to send a really BIG Message…that we do have a group of progressives that mean business and votes against the public have consequences!

I doubt it will take more than one Senator and Congressional Member or two to show Legislators that we are serious. If we don’t do this, then I am open to other real suggestions!

I think we have the votes in the Senate to defeat a filibuster and then we have at least 51 votes in the Senate in favor of a public option. I just don’t know what flavor of option that will be.

Quite so, Jane. I shouldn’t try to be sarcastic online.

I’m still 100 percent behind you and the PO — even if I don’t really believe in the concept of party treason.

Hi Knoxvile!

This is a great letter. To the point and sincere. Two minor suggestions :
Fix the oopsie: ‘decade of more as a result.’ s/b ‘decade or more as a result.’
And though I know you are just as angry as the rest of us, using all caps at the end takes away from the power of your words. IMHO.. If you want to emphasize that last graph, consider inserting a second blank line between the graphs. Like a pause before a ka-pow?

And Knoxville? Thank YOU for putting your anger into words. Now go do it. Get it in the mail, k? Oh I wish everyone would do the same. And make as appt and visit his/her Senators’ offices.

I have to believe we not all tilting at windmills being blown to bits by the lobbyists..

Oops! talk about typo! Sorry Knoxville! (my bad)

If Harry Reid, et al, don’t force a cloture vote so the public can see who votes with the GOP, that means the party leadership want to protect those who would vote against cloture from citizen action.

Absolutely bang-on, selise – your point and Jane’s, both.

Baucus’s transparently bad faith excuse for keeping a public option out of the Senate Finance Committee bill (which has been his unstated objective for months now) is called a self-fulfilling prophecy.

What Max Baucus just explicitly did with his No! votes on the public option amendments, and with his accompanying incredible explanations for those votes, mirrors what he’s been doing for Obama, the Emanuel Brothers, fellow corporatist Democrats, and private industry throughout this fraudulent process: Baucus today deliberately provided cover for those in Congress and the White House opposed to what Baucus professes to support (a cost-saving public option), which Baucus is instead clearly actually attempting to prevent by trying to keep it out of a final bill.

Thus, Baucus just helped a bipartisan public-option filibuster to succeed – before it even began – by, he hopes (and expects), obviating the need for Senators to launch an actual on-the-record filibuster against that provision, on the Senate floor.

Further exposing the deceit in Baucus’s claimed 60-votes-for-cloture objective is the fact that the preemptively-successful bipartisan filibuster of the public option, that Baucus just ensured his committee supported, will simply be substituted for with different filibusters, using the excuse of other provisions of the merged Senate bill. Because, as has become too obvious for words, the sole purpose of Congressional Republicans at this point is to prevent a final vote on any health insurance reform legislation for which a Democratic President (or Party) could claim credit, regardless of its content.

So Baucus, to use selise’s word, just tried to protect every Republican, and particularly every wayward Democrat, who would be exposed and held accountable on the public record for their support of filibusters aimed at preventing the Senate from moving health insurance legislation containing a public option, at least – first to the floor for debate, after months of committee work, and then, after ample floor debate and amendment, to a final simple majority vote, without the reconciliation process.

All this while Baucus continues to profess to be in favor of a critical cost-cutting public insurance option which he, however, voted against (acting on the courage of your convictions is for other, lesser beings); the failure of which will likely not convince one Republican vote to change to support moving the question/ending the guaranteed filibuster-to-come on this legislation, regardless of its final content. As a result, those Democrats who oppose what Baucus (like Obama) claims to support, if Reid follows the lead of Baucus, may avoid acccountability for their opposition to even a figurehead public option – accountability that Lincoln and Conrad were unable to avoid in committee thanks to Rockefeller and Schumer, despite the best efforts of Baucus.

Considering that Baucus has been successfully lying to the American public for months, with impunity, he obviously assumes that he can keep right on doing it, penalty-free, with the full (backroom) support of Harry Reid and Barack Obama, aided by the helpful obfuscation of conglomerate profit-dedicated corporate media subsidiaries, and their obedient employees.

As a progressive Arkansan, Blanche Lincoln can kiss my campaign contributions goodbye. I’ll never give her another dime. I’d love to primary her out and will contribute to and work hard for any REAL Democrat who challenges her.

the effort that goes into avoiding accountability really pisses me off. if some of the dems want to join with the gop to kill the po, they have to be accountable to the public for that. otherwise we’re just playing at representative gov.

and i say this as someone who thinks, as a matter of healthcare reform policy, that a bad po is worse, much worse than no po (and i think all the pos now in play look bad). ymmv.

p.s. pow wow, we could use your help in eli’s thread on the reconciliation process — thanks (as always!)

Don’t call him a Gentleman–he’s pond scum.

I’ll correct that–don’t insult pond scum with the comparison.

I support Joe (though I don’t live in PA so my support can only go so far) specifically because he does nip at Specter’s heels. The establishment dems and the WH need to get a message about trying to micromanage the politics instead of managing to represent the people who voted for them. More important to me than Specter’s turncoat status is the establishment’s assumption that if they bless Specter, he’s in.

We are. I’ll be looking for them.

The plural is putzim.

yeah, and then he said that public opinion was overwhelmingly favorable to the PO. He sees no connection between advertising defending the PO and maintenance of heavy majority support for it.

Suggesting that there is such a thing as ‘party treason’ is tantamount to actual treason.

Criminally corrupt politicians are the reason the U.S. is ranked near the bottom of every catagory when ranked next to other modern, industrialized nations. Time for publically funded elections.

The Congress is back in session and doing the dirty work for the Medical Industrial Complex.

mcconnell $3.3M, hatch $2.9M, baucus $2.8M, grassley $2.7M,
lieberman $2.6M, burr $2.4M, ensign $2.4M, cornyn $2.2M, kyl $2.1M,
conrad $2.1M, cantor $1.8M, boehner $1.7M, coburn $1.2M, j wilson 800K
were paid by the Medical Industrial Complex to kill Health Care Reform.
(Source: OpenSecrets.org)

Co-Author Dr. Steffie Woolhandler of a Recent Harvard Study on Annual Deaths of America’s Uninsured, says the lack of coverage can be tied to about 45,000 deaths a year in the United States. The only way to affordably cover all Americans is through a Medicare-for-All, Single-Payer System. A Single-Payer System would generate $300-$400 billion in administrative savings annually, enough to cover all of the uninsured, and to plug the gaps in coverage for Americans with only partial coverage. Obviously, Medicare-for-all is anathema to the insurance industry. What politicians are doing is saving insurance industry profits, by sacrificing American lives.

12 Million Americans were denied health care coverage by the Medical Industrial Complex because they had a pre-existing medical condition. 12K Americans are denied insurance coverage everyday by a for-profit Insurance bureaucrat. (Source: WaPo Article 05′ by Harvard Prof. E. Warren)

Medical malpractice lawsuits are a hot topic but, are they? Tort Reform is such a “Red Herring” and is easily disproved. A 2004 report by the Congressional Budget Office said medical malpractice makes up only 2 percent of U.S. health spending. Even “significant reductions” would do little to curb health-care expenses, it concluded.

bush(43) economic speech writer david frum, at least, is willing to admit the idea about selling insurance across state lines is a crock:

New Jersey health policies cost more in large part because New Jersey hospitals and doctors charge more. If I buy a cheaper Kentucky policy that reimburses my providers at Kentucky rates, leaving me to pay the balance, how much good does that do me? And if the Kentucky policy is made to pay New Jersey rates, there vanishes my low Kentucky price.

These are some of the easily refuted arguments bought and paid for by the Medical Industrial Complex to derail any chance of their criminally massive profits being reduced.

Follow the Money: Link

Call Congress and demand, Single-Payer Health Care for All!

(Toll Free # House and Senate)
1-866-338-1015 _____ 1-866-220-0044
1-800-473-6711 _____ 1-866-311-3405

Sign Single-Payer Petition: Link

Don’t let the Medical Industrial Complex steal your Health Care from you and your family by donating huge sums of money to Crooked Politicians in order to maintain the Status Quo. Keep up the good fight.

SEMPER FI!