I assume that there is no mention in this bill of passing any of the savings back to consumers?

Yet another chapter in the race to the bottom.

I assume their is no mention of what exactly is the least that needs to be covered? I assume that costs of treatment and what actually is charged is nowhere in the bill.
I assume that any savings from having to insure everyone like the young and healthy will be passed on as profit to insurance companies rather than used to help lower rates for older and sicker Americans.
I assume the insurance bare minimum is nowhere near the plan these senators have.

when will these three and their co-hort of crooks ever stop trying to ruin our lives?

I suppose they are selling this with the fine Gooper talking point that it would open up the free market and allow anyone in the country to buy any insurance policy, instead of restricting people to buying only what is sold in their state.

Well, I dont want to live under Utah or LA or Maine law, I want to live under CA law.

I suppose some smart Senator could attach an amendment to this that allows it but removes the anti-trust protection from insurance companies, restricts non-medical spending to 8 cents on the dollar, and requires guarantee issue at stable rates for all.

Is the Senate going to allow these amendments to be posted online? Cause if so Snowe, Lincoln and Landrieu might be looking at their last terms in the Senate.

These three Senators want to take away states’ rights to regulate health insurance, and gut many states’ insurance regulations.

I hope there are plenty of state insurance commissioners and governors calling their senators behind the scenes.

Would you really want to be a governor and wake up in February to discover that your state can’t regulate insurance?

But hey, if these three want to antagonize a host of governors and insurance commissioners, why stand in their way, eh?

There are some days it’s just not worth getting out of bed. We are repeatedly subjected to the idiocy of people in the Congress and it get tiresome. These 3 Senators – along with Nelson and Lieberman – are determined to destroy any sort of health care reform.
A pox on them.

Can anyone doubt that lobbying money does buy Senators?

Once upon a time bribery was done in private – now it’s right out in the open for all to see and they are not even ashamed of it. They are so arrogant that they have lost their ability to feel ashamed.

I wonder how many people with minimum insurance will get their claims denied and end up being treated by the State? Its not like the insurance companies have not denied claims they should have paid to save money before.
This bill will push up hospital costs and state health spending. That will result in higher state taxes but higher insurance company profits.

True they are so obvious they don’t even bother to come up with good lies anymore.

um. The McCarran Act, which rethugs and conservadems refuse to repeal, PREVENTS Federal interference with state regulation and the Snowe-Lincoln-Landrieu Amendment effectively takes away state powers of regulation. WTF? Are we sure these people are even sane?

Of course, they will insist on doing this without the slightest study in advance of what the consequences might be.

This plan would save insurance companies tens of millions of dollars a year, allowing them to refocus a laser-like beam on lobbying Congress instead of fifty state legislatures, state regulatory bodies, DC and Congress. They would save billions when Congress regulates their way, principally by not regulating, its current forte.

State regulation is not just an outgrowth of a state-oriented regulatory system. The medical needs of Vermonters do not match those of Kentuckians or West Virginians, nor do those of urban Boston or Chicago match the needs of those in Oklahoma or Montana. That said, this plan is being proposed because insuresters think they have Congress made, and will get absolutely positively what they want from it. So far, they’re right. But that doesn’t mean any of these three Senators should win their next election.

Just for once I’d like to see one of the pundits on tv ask any of these cretins about lobbying $$$$.

I just read that they want to extend Cobra for those of us unemployed. I passed on Cobra because its way too much money.

Definitely. But some senators are cheaper and more for sale than others. Landrieu seems to always be on the market (or just on the take?).

Something is just wrong with these Senators: this small group of people who seriously just seem to be over their heads. They seem to be fabricating more and more ridiculous foolishness out of thin air just to say they did something. It doesn’t seem to matter what it is or how counter productive it is, just do something to ensure that they are viewed are real power players.

I live in New York. I am satisfied with my insurance. In fact, I think it would be a good bar to set for basic coverage. Now these people want to disrupt that just to prove they can, and I can’t even vote against them.

I’m so glad us women have broken into the senators’ club.

Skilled labor does leave countries and goes to the places with the most jobs and higher wages. Sooner or later somebody will offer higher wages and or benefits than us and need a lot of workers.
Finance follows jobs with bills like this the best we can hope for is to be England.

Thank goodness the Republicans are standing up for States’ Rights.

We are experiencing a rolling coup! The ladies have been given a green light by this singularly pro unregulated capitalism administration, and Democrats better take account of this reality!

Here’s some help from Matt Taibbi:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4it-Fs8RLw&feature=player_embedded

Bush was a Yale cheerleader and his Tonto was/is a paranoid psychopath – pretty destructive combination, but they had nothing on this current one. Harvard educated scum of the earth bent on enriching their Class!

Doesn’t this need 60 votes? I guess the question is if the Republicans are willing to line up behind a partially Democratic amendment.

The problem–the senate term is way too long and Americans’ memories way too short.

And the Press won’t ever ask them about any benefits or challenge their numbers. Only Real Democrats get challenged by the Press on their ideas.
Tim Russert Pumpkinhead interviewing Darth is the perfect example of the Press Kneeling to Power.

I said yesterday that Lincoln, HoJo, Landrieu and Nelson represent approximately 13 million so if you add the population of Maine, it’s about 15 million – out of 304 Million Americans. That is outrageous. These small states (in numbers) get to decide how the rest of us live. And we can’t stop it?

To help big business yes but only if they think they can’t kill healthcare.

Were Russert’s slacks checked for stains?

I don’t blame women. I blame greed and stupidity.

It is looking like it is time to kill this bill altogether. This is absolutely pathetic. Goodbye Dems in 2010 and 2012.

We can its just Obama and Harry don’t want to they both think they can get reelected if the Dem base doesn’t show up.
They both think that African American votes can save them given African American unemployment numbers I don’t think Obama can say that much longer.

That’s the effects of our glorious constitution. The protection of minority interests(originally: landholding slave owners).

“They both think that African American votes can save them given African American unemployment numbers I don’t think Obama can say that much longer.”

not, according to Maxine Waters!

Yes, kyeo.

Based on yesterday’s Unanimous Consent Agreement (for 4 roll-call votes on amendments today, all needing 60 votes even absent any actual filibuster or cloture vote), the remaining “debate” in the Senate will apparently be a sham, providing Party point-scoring opportunities and/or cover, via votes sticking mostly to the Party line, but zero, or close-to-zero substantive impact on the underlying legislation.

As I elaborated here.

I know. But for awhile there was the meme that once women got positions of power things would change. Hunh uh. Once women get power they behave just like men with power.

ahh, iron bloomers Thatcher.

Really and For Sure. Did you just hear me scream?
Oh, for Pete’s Sake. Also, I could just vomit.
(I have to go and run some errands, so I thought I’d let it all out now.)

What somebody check the Press for stains or accuracy? We have a free press Fox News went to court for the freedom to lie!
We have possibly the only free press that has a court ruling proving their freedom from the truth.
Of course without truth just what good is news if you can’t tell the difference?
And without a fact optional news just where would the Lefty Blogs be?

She thinks what? Obama can last longer or his support is gone?

I’ve been eying the brandy jug since Bernanke’s testimony this morning. I haven’t tippled yet, but am getting closer.

How do we make our voices heard? This would be a disaster for those of us with individual coverage who rely on the state insurance departments to make sure benefits remain adequate and keep the premiums under some sort of control. I read at TPM that polls still show the majority favoring a public option and Senator Rockefeller talking about another compromise. This is maddening!

Caucus is going south on Obama on account of horrific unemployment statistics ravaging their constituents.

Support is gone. Can’t remember the exact issue, but Waters was pretty adament about it.

Sad reality they could get the 60 votes.

If you can wait until I get back, I’ll join you. (Can you imagine if we actually lived near each other?)

I don’t get the impression that governors and state insurance regulators have much interest in or awareness of what insurance companies do. Insurance companies seem to be pretty much unregulated.

Corker gives Helicopter Ben a lap dance.

Oh, I’m not drinking until dinner if then. Today is the first day I feel like a human being, recovering from my cold. So perhaps a celebratory glass of wine tonight.

The CBO scoring of the Senate’s Health Care Bill comes in at $849 Billion over a 10 yr. period that reduces the deficit by over $130 Billion and is paid for.In honor of Veteran’s Day. According to a study released by the Harvard Medical School, 2,266 veterans under the age of 65 died last year as a result of not having health insurance. Researchers emphasize that “that figure is more than 14 times the number of deaths (155) suffered by U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2008, and more than twice as many as have died (911 as of Oct. 31) since the war began in 2001.”It’s time for American Women to Stand-up/Speak-up for your full medical rights. Stop the rabid right-wing from restricting American womens medical choices. Call Congress and demand the “stupak-pitts amendment” be stripped from Health Care Reform. Also, demand that liebermann be stripped of his chairmanship of HSC and kicked out of the Caucus.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. lieberman $12.6M, mcconnell $7.8M, baucus $7.7M, cornyn $6.7M, kyl $5.6M, grassley $5.4M, ensign $5.2M, conrad $5.1M, cantor $4.9M, nelson $4.9M, burr $4.8M, boehner $4.4M, hatch $4.4M, lincoln $4.1M, vitter $3.9M, carper $3.6M were paid by the Medical Industrial Complex to kill Health Care Reform. (Source: OpenSecrets.org, Aug. 09)Follow the Money: LinkCall Congress and demand, Single-Payer Health Care for All!(Toll Free # House and Senate)1-866-338-1015 _____ 1-866-220-0044 1-866-311-3405Sign Single-Payer, Public Option and Health Care as a Civil Rights Petitions: Link Link Link kucinichpetition 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!

Heh. Bernanke gives the committee the finger: Well, if you’re going to change all the regulators who got it wrong, you wouldn’t have any regulators left. Like O’s snot-nosed supporters said to me: What’s you choice.

Unbelievable. These Senators are serving Big Insurance so very well. Thanks, ladies!

This needs allot more attention.

This is an outrage!

Bernie hammering Bernanke on the floor. Pound ‘im, Bernie, pound ‘im.

Well, if you’re going to change all the regulators who got it wrong, you wouldn’t have any regulators left

I agree with him get rid of all the regulators who got it wrong. Lets leave the Fed and the banks no friends.

Well, Bernanke is getting lap dances at his senate confirmation hearings, except for Bunning.

The really subversive part of me is thinking that we should start a campaign to stop people from voting… how legitimate could any government be, if almost no one showed up to vote? Stuffing the ballot boxes couldn’t begin to cover up for the complete lack of enthusiasm.

But, I’ll probably come around… for one thing, there will be a choice in PA between Sestak and Specter. I’m still undecided.

Man, Bernie is smokin’. This dude’s pissed.

The disgust you heard from Waters was right after Obama’s Afghan speech.

Now this is an example of the Gilded Age.

Thanks. Memory like a steel seive.

Federales and the Treasury of Sierra Madre:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqomZQMZQCQ

America, take a good look at what a modern, repeat modern, social democrat is saying.

The GOP and the Blue Dogs can’t let the Fed get audited and they can’t let Lefties or Tea Baggers score Populist Outrage points with the Public.
Ben either has to resign quick or commit suicide before he answers any more questions or becomes an ever bigger focal point for rage against banks.
I don’t think the Adults who used to run Washington are in charge anymore Karl and Rahm after him have no clue what they are doing.

I come by here everyday and read. And sometimes comment (to the chagrin of others I’m sure) but mostly I come to see a story on FDL titled one or more of the below:

“Health care a RIGHT for all”
“Congress passes landmark healthcare legislation guaranteeing universal, free at point of service, health care for all!”
“Corporations Stripped of Personhood Rights, Open to more Regulation”
“Publicly Financed Federal and State Campaigns Now a Reality”
“Congress Outlaws Lobbyists, Ends ‘Revolving Door’”

*sigh*

Probably pretty silly of me, huh? Oh well, not holding my breath. Instead of screaming and throwing more bricks at my teevee, I’ve turned to a new friend. OldFatGuy meet Jack Daniels. Jack, meet OldFatGuy. Happy trails…..

*sigh*

DeMint is one confused motherfucker.

ehman Brothers until its collapse last year, goes on to claim that the teacher told his son John Edward’s 11th-grade class “that somehow both Lehman and Barclays made a bunch of money on the Lehman bankruptcy, and that all investment bankers were ‘sleazeballs’ and dishonest”.
His son, apparently with “tears in his eyes” went on to defend his father, saying he had been “working around the clock trying to save 11,000 jobs and that she had absolutely no idea what she was talking about”.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/6712738/Barclays-banker-Hugh-McGee-wants-sons-teacher-fired-for-sleazeball-comment.html

Even Private Schools are not safe from reality anymore? Bwahahaha!

Oh my,

yet another day in the life of the sleezy, konniving, filibustering life we call the republican party of the united states. Gee why cant we all just get along and come to ONE consensus instead of a thousand.

Boy, if I didn’t know better, I think we are being side swiped as a nation. Interesting how so much is going on this week that the ladies three decided to slip this through.

Shameful.

Blue Texan has his regularly scheduled post ready: “Eric Cantor (R-VA) Proposes Groundbreaking Ideas for Creating Jobs: Tax Cuts and Deregulation”

Where are you watching this?? I’ve tried both CSPANS and can’t find it. It’s the committee, right?

Nice rant, but I don’t buy this line:

the U.S. is ranked near the bottom of every catagory when ranked next to other modern, industrialized nations

there are 3 of them, ofg.

Believe it!

Didn’t know that. I only see two on my DirecTV Guide. Do you know what channel C-Span3 is on DirecTV?

DT doesn’t offer it, outa luck. Perhaps salient sections later at crooks and liers, or Youtube

The point was that women have finally joined the Old Boys’ Club as full=fledged members without receiving proportionally less than their male counterparts do in the way of legalized bribes, at least that’s the way I read it.

What happened? Did the wild turkey fly the coop? /g

does COX have cspan 2 or 3 idk if they do?

C-SPAN2 online. Debate on the Senate floor. Vote on McSFB and Bennett amendments at 2:45.

Watch this outrage and then call Schumer and the rest of Dem. suckups.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ79Pt2GNJo

Just like his predecessor, all Bernanke seems to know how to do is blow bubbles, for chris’s sake!

State Regulations account for the FEW safeguards the consumer has. If they eliminate these, consumers will loose. Nationalizing insurance will also allows insurance companies to flee to states that have the most lax regulations. Either way, the consumer looses.

Wow. I wish they’d play THAT you-tube on a big screen in the committee room right before they vote to confirm him.

Would Bernie Sanders have the balls to play something like that in front of everyone at the committee? God that’d be awesome. Would pay to see reaction from that. That’s pay tv I could get into.

Link up Rachel, KO, Bubba ED, and whomever else you can think of to this little Bernanke expose!

Usually, they stream it on their website. Just go to CSpan’s website and hopefully you can watch it there. I usually put it up in another window and listen to it so as not to tie up my computer, but I can always toggle back to whatever part I want to watch.

If the length of a Senate seat were based on the memory of Americans it would be, at best, 2 months.

I can see these three hunched over a bubbling cauldron stirring and cackling madly. What a bunch of old crones.

Sadly, these three sleazy females are probably venal & stupid enough to accept LESS in bribes than their male counterpart pigs at the trough. After all, don’t women usually make something like 80cents for every dollar that men do? These 3 look like really cheap dates.

Thanks for nothing, gals.

This news sucks. HCR has opened this giant pandora’s box, and now Big Insurance & Big Pharma are racing foward to rip us off even more. Is there even one adult in congress with a shred of decency, values, ethics or morals these days? Seems like they are, one & all, greedy bastards out for the take.

Between mendacious Rove and despicable Rahm, I don’t see a whit of difference. A pox on them, indeed.

What could these three nitwits have as their rationale? What they are proposing can not arise from any rational political school of thought.

It’s not deregulation exactly because government determines half of the overall regulation. It’s not not designed to cut costs because insurers can charge as much as they like for the uniform minimal coverage they will all charge.

In essence they are advocating for a gruesome distortion of the single payer centralized system. Only now there will be a monopoly of private firms acting as one covering the whole country with uniformly inadequate health insurance.

What colossal stupidity, who could have put such imbecility into their empty skulls.

Well, what you’re referring to is federalism. In modern times, it is essential that small States be given a “check” on majority mob rule (democracy), for two important reasons.

First, we’re not a single, one piece nation of people (unlike say, France or Sweden). Rather, we are a federation of fifty sovereign States, and our federal government is expected to govern the country not as a single, one piece democracy, but as a federation/union of distinct, unique, and separate States, where every State is guaranteed a voice in government that is independent of all of the other States. This is why the Senate was created… to allow the people of small, mostly rural States to prevent the large, heavily urban States from just mowing over them with legislation that goes against the wishes/values of the small States and rural communities.

So now the question that follows is this: “Why should the States be treated as sovereign and separate “member nations” that are part of this great alliance called the USA?”

And that brings us to the second reason. The States are not simply geographic provinces or counties, or cute little shapes on a map. Rather, they are each culturally distinct “nations” of people, with their unique histories, industries, values, priorities, and in some cases, food, music, and accents! More accurately, smaller States like NE, ND, and WY tend to have political views, priorities, and values that are sharply different than those held by people in CA, NJ, or MA. Stark examples of this are guns, government’s role in society, religion’s role in government, and capital punishment. These differences can’t be wished away.

Federalism forces the federal government to respect these unique differences across the federation. It’s what keeps us (relatively) United as a country. If the Senate was abolished (or apportioned, based on population), it would effectively leave Middle and Rural America voiceless, and at the whims of Chicago and the densely populated urban centers up and down the Coasts. This would surely result in division far greater than anything we have seen, as it would create a National government, instead of a federal government. To preserve their values and way of life, smaller and more rural States would attempt to withdraw from the compact (union), which of course would likely result in bloodshed.

In the same spirit of unity, the Electoral College makes sure that the President wins broad geographic support and represents the country as a collection of separate, diverse, and unique STATES, rather than as a single nation of people. This makes it very difficult for a candidate who is hostile to Midwestern and Southern voters to get elected President.

But having said all of that, I have to agree with you that it is truly frustrating that this health care issue continues to drag on. I have desperately been wanting a useful bill to pass.

Completely a race to the bottom. Worse: it’s being gamed that way, and has from the start. It’s amazing all these little bombs coming up late in the game after they were killed in the very committe that Blanch, Mary and President Snowe sat on. Except it’s not amazing. All the ConservaDems are tag teaming this thing into a giant gang rape. Ben-Ben goes off on Stupak, so we need Snowe. Lying Lieb is off in his own world, so we need Collins. We need to keep Mary and Blanche in line, so they can have anything they want. Rahm only cares about a claimed “win” and keeping Big Health funding the Dems. A true win and the second item are mutally exclusive, so he’s angle for a shit sandwhich that they can sell as a “win”.

Just brutal.

John

It’s truly sad indeed. I think a big part of what we’re seeing in the Senate has to do with the fact that the Senators no longer represent their States, or the people within them. Instead, they represent the unions, corporations, rich people, and other special interests who fund their stupid campaigns.

There are only two real solutions to this, but both would require a Constitutional Amendment. One would be to simply repeal the 17th Amendment, which would eliminate campaigns altogether, as the Senators would simply be elected by the State legislators, who in turn are elected by the people of that State. If the Senators don’t represent their State, the State legislature can recall them. This option is my preference, but there is no chance in hell that it would ever happen.

The other option is to abolish the “corporate personhood” clause and then abolish ALL private donations to federal Senate campaigns. In other words all the money for the campaign would come from public funds specifically set aside (from existing State funds) to fund federal Senate campaigns. This option has a better chance than the first one, but would still be a VERY tough sell, due to the word “public” in “publically funded campaigns”, which lots of people interpret as “government takeover” and “scary”.

And this surprises anyone because…?