1

Harry, Barry, and Nan will either have this passed before New Year's or not at all....

 

as every chapter in their ever changing HC reform story goes the more people read past the margin notes the less they'll like it.

2
and..... It's still a PUBLIC OPTION.

The democrats are going to be shocked when this huge stunt, this biggest economic tax-hiking bad idea swindle in American history, (all done before Christmas!) back-fires.

3
I have an Aunt who is on Medicare. She's 64 or 65.   It's pretty dreadful.  She's a former accountant and a huge liberal who likes to scam the system for all she can get.  She's also in very poor health all due to her own making.

Hey folks - we get to pay for more just like her!  Happy days are here again!

4 as every chapter in their ever changing HC reform story goes the more people read past the margin notes the less they'll like it.

Which is exactly why the refuse to publish the plan.

5 BURBERRY Scarf | CD Keys

6
This isn't about me.

This is about a mom in Kansas who was refused health insurance because she has cancer. Agents for the insurance company went to her home and beat her and killed her cats. We need reform now to put an end to the evil ways of Big Insurance.

7 "The democrats are going to be shocked when this huge stunt, this biggest economic tax-hiking bad idea swindle in American history, (all done before Christmas!) back-fires." I'm beginning to believe that they won't get this done by Christmas. Could be wrong of course, but if this is so important and inevitable, then why is Reid jetting off to a fundraiser with only 14 days left before the deadline? If Lieberman, Nelson and the Maine sisters (Lincoln too?) are giving full-throated pushback, then this compromise is probably all but dead. If they were smart, they' pull back, redo this incrementally and give Obama (and them) something to crow about this next year. But as it is, their Quixotic quest to pass something (anything!) is a lose/lose for them. Also, I think that some of them are coming to the realization that all the "we get killed if we pass nothing" talk is a load or horse hockey. They'd be better off not passing anything, blaming the oppos to juice their base and not carry the baggage (and losses) that are sure to come if it reaches Obama's desk.

8

Let's not jump to conclusions.

The NYT is acting stupidly.

9 What the hell is a CD key or a lace wig for that matter? Are they the same thing? Can we sell them to pay for health care for the lazy?

10

Does anybody known ANYONE in the health care professions who thinks Medicare is an efficient, successful program?

My wife is a therapist who works in a major hospital, and my brother is a pharmacist.  I've heard nothing but horror stories from each of them about fraud, bureaucracy, etc...

Why in the world would anyone want to expand this program?  How insane is the current version of the Democratic party? 

More importantly, how in the hell does the GOP manage to lose to these clowns? 

11
May I suggest everyone contact Senators like Ben Nelson, Joe Lieberman and others and kindly (in a nice manner) remind them what their colleagues are saying.

“Extending this successful program to those between 55 and 64 would be the largest expansion of Medicare in 44 years and would perhaps get us on the path to a single-payer model,” said Representative Anthony Weiner, Democrat of New York.

12

Why did the government decide that people over 49 did not need the H1N1 shot? They were less suceptible? Bull shit. The death panels in the midst of a pandemic that killed 10,000 people were already at work.

I had it, it was miserable, and if my 88 year old mother had gotten it--it would have killed her. But yet she CANNOT get a shot. They see her as expendible and want their death tax. Her family lives to be over 100 so they can kiss my right wing ass.

13
Oh yeah, remember how I said the New Public Option would lead to single payer...

You were the one who figured that out?

Wow you're a genius! Is it true Cap & Trade is nothing more than a scheme to destroy the oil, gas, & coal industries?

14 You know, a lot of the criticism of Obamacare we hear coming from unlikely sources is rather a hollow victory. It's essentially being ripped on because it doesn't go far enough. Most of these "surprise" detractors really just want the whole enchilada, with what's currently in place being totally dismantled in favor of a cradle-to-grave, government-backed oligopoly. The left has the patience of a spoiled 3 year-old brat. Let us pray that characteristic eventually becomes their undoing. 

15
#7
We shall see. 
I doubt the democrats understand how unpopular so-called health care reform has become.  It's as if they live in an all praise to Obama echo-chamber.
Because left-wing progressive politics is an act of swindle and desperation, I am never shocked to watch the dems pull out every trick and manipulation.

btw-  Obama telling Republcians to "stop scaring people" is just another way to say "SHUT UP."

16 extending this successful bankrupt program will do what ?

17

Why did the government decide that people over 49 did not need the H1N1 shot?

For the same reason they decided women between the ages of 40 and 49 don't need annual mammograms.   To cut costs and ration care.

18

I sometimes wonder if all this back-and-forth and renegotiation is nothing more than a scheme to confuse people.  Today there's a public option, tomorrow no public option, the next day it's a subsidy for all to buy their own - facilitated by a central "basket" of insurance, then we're back to public option in a different form, etc.  Any time you tell somebody about the horror of the most recent incarnation they respond with info a few days old that contradicts what you're saying and then you have to hash out what's what. 

I think the only way to fight this is to oppose the very concept of government interference and leave it at that.  No alternate plans, no compromises.  Just oppose, obstruct, say "NO" and resist at every turn while hitting the two key truthes over and over - it'll cost us too much and degrade care too much.  If somebody needs more convincing, the true and abundant stories about medicare and medicaid abuse should make a fine ammo pile.

19 Anticipating government take overs,already medical schools are becoming the prized plum of the lazy and mentally disadvantaged seeking 9-5 work and an "adequate" rating necessary to get along.In the 1980's in London, after a brief show in the Govt hospital" supervising" junior surgeons, the professor would scoot across town in his Porsche to Harley street and operate on arabs for huge sums in cash. He even owned part of the block. So it will be here with the government controlling heath rationing. Staying alive will cost big time and be available only to a few. Off shore medical care is here now but will become very important in a decade as a pop off valve for long lines and incompetence. The swine voting for this will suffer not.

20

Kinda OT:

My local rag had a columnist putting a human face on the current state of health insurance the other day.

It seems that this woman, a legal resident, had given up her nursing job at a local hospital to persue a higher degree.  The job had benefits, including health.  Her husband is self employed as a real estate broker and they have a three year old kid.

They chose to enroll in the state funded insurance program for needy families.  I assume they were able to qualify since their income met the criteria when she quit her job. 

In the meantime, Connecticut is facing a severe budget deficit and one of the cost saving measures implemented was to deny coverage to legal residents who have lived here less than 5 years.  This woman has been here for 4 1/2. 

Well, she got sick.  The columnist is tugging at heart strings pointing out how this could all be avoided with government health insurance.  Apparently, he missed the part he wrote about her getting tossed BY government health insurance.

 

21 Now I'm confused. If the New York Times doesn't like it, maybe it's not so bad.

22 Second look at the new public option plan?

23 Anyone else study disinformation with Professor Bitman at BU in the 1980's?

The NYT may simply be floating pseudo opposition to give the the advocates cover; creating a fake deliberative process through which deathcare passes; a wall of worry; fake climate skeptics who "eventually" see that the science should be settled....

24 If this goes through, good luck finding a primary care doctor who will take Medicare. They just about don't exist.  Just ask any senior who has moved to a new city to be closer their children. Most have to go to so called Medicare clinics where there is a different doctor there every day of the week, or go into Medicare Advantage which is on the chopping block for major cuts.

25 PAY NO ATTENTION TO THAT PLAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN, I AM THE GREAT AND POWERFUL WIZARD OBAMA!

26

Possible scenario:

Reid is trying to survive in the crappy position into which he placed himself. He is trying to drag a dying horse (which is also mutating) across a finish line. He is trying to do it with a cadre that sees bad poll numbers now, saw protests for the last six months, and a President who has already proven to have no coat tails whatsoever. Indeed, his Presidency is starting to look like a fad on the downside.

 

So what's a genial fellow like Reid to do? he appeases his base (stupid options, playing the race card), continues to scarf up funds when and where ever possible and continues to press for something. If something is emitted, then he has delivered. If it does not, then it failed because of those pesky Rethuglicans and one hold out. In this scenario, Liberman being the deciding factor would be ideal, since he is no longer 'of the Blood'.

27 Anyone who wants to buy the same health benefits as members of Congress, ... ,should be prepared to fork over a large chunk of cash.

You lie!  The whole point of Obamacare is to make it impossible for the little people to get the same benefits as Congress, anywhere, at any price.