Heck of a job on the waste of time and money, Max.
For the moment, at least, Max Baucus has come up short.
Mr. Baucus, the Montana Democrat and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee who has led a months-long effort to develop bipartisan legislation to overhaul the nation’s health care system, is expected to unveil his plan Wednesday morning with Republicans not yet on board.
The senate Dems, and to a slightly lesser degree, the White House seems to have locked themselves in to the idea that the Republican party has any interest whatsoever in reforming the health care system in America. News alert: They could give a crap.
The GOP has no interest in reform. At best they’d like to scrap the status quo by killing medicare and social security.
Its like we’re in Die Hard and John McClain keeps giving the terrorists one last chance and keeps delaying what he should be doing: Yippie kay yay mother…
Democratics NEED at least a few Republicans on board because this bill has EPIC FAIL written all over it, and they know it. When this bill fails to accomplish a single objective in making health care better/more affordable, Democratics won’t be able to point the finger at anyone else.
The GOP has basically ensured their own irrelevance in this legislation. The Party Of No is making a huge strategic error.
Snowe is guaranteeing that Democrats will shove reform through via the reconciliation process. Moreover, after all the watering-down she did, this raises the chances for the public option. Hell, her stated problems with the Baucus bill are a great argument FOR the public option.
Right Farris…so I’m assuming if we gave you people everything you wanted you wouldn’t blame us when it did no good.
Oh…right (crickets)
Well, I don’t think all those folks with “pre-existing conditions”, or those getting subsidies to buy insurance they couldn’t afford before, will consider it a failure. The public option was one of the few mechanisms in the bill to force insurers to be more competitive and to hold down premium increases–the health insurance exchange was another.
Well, here is a list of all the tax hikes in the Baucus Draft proposal.
Taxes are high enough as it is, and the federal government has its hands more than full; we really need to have more transparency and accountability, before coming up with new spending programs.
Let’s face it, we have a Congress owned by lobbyists and special interests. Unless the public that wants and needs real reform doesn’t start to outshout the naysayers, we are going to end up with just a big gift for the insurance companies.
We need public financing of political campaigns. The Baucusians don’t care if you go bankrupt from medical bills as long as the Cigna checks keep coming into their campaign coffers
Matt, I love the thought process that says, if the minority party doesn’t support a bill, then they will force us to Rahm it down their throats using the new and improved Nuclear option.
“If one small group, won’t play with us, then its their fault that we had to beat them up.” Does this sum up your argument?
-hall monitor
I think Max Baucus is more like PigPen, the stinking, rotten son-of-a-bitch!
If the Senate LibDems are Charlie Brown then Lucy HAS GOT TO BE OBAMA!
the new and improved Nuclear option.
Certainly not new. And the GOP didn’t consider it “nuclear” when they were in control.
NOBODY considered it nuclear when the GOP was in control, Quaker.
Now basically the only way for Obama to save his ass is to improve the bill so the public is behind it. I don’t know if the Dems have it in them to do so. It might mean standing up to their abusive husbands-I mean the GOP.
SaveFarris: because this bill has EPIC FAIL written all over it, and they know it.
You keep saying that but you never give any reasons for it. News flash: Things are hat you say they are just because you say they are.
Impaler: “If one small group, won’t play with us, then its their fault that we had to beat them up.” Does this sum up your argument?
I suspect it’s actually something more like: “If you’re going to insist on doing nothing, then we’ll go ahead and clean up the mess without your help.”
Not beating them up. Rather, ignoring them as irrelevant.
(Don’t Rush to play the victim so fast, Impy.)
joaquin: If the Senate LibDems are Charlie Brown then Lucy HAS GOT TO BE OBAMA!
At your usual standards of relevance and sense, I see.
How is Obama pulling the rug out from under liberal Dems?
Quaker in a B: And the GOP didn’t consider it “nuclear” when they were in control.
Certainly didn’t. It’s how they used it not once, not twice, but THREE times to get tax cuts passed.
Jody: Now basically the only way for Obama to save his ass is to improve the bill so the public is behind it.
Or make it clear to the public that the bill already is largely what they are behind. I.e., cut thru the “death panels” lies and other crap.
Democratics NEED at least a few Republicans on board because this bill has EPIC FAIL written all over it, and they know it.
1. What the hell’s a “Democratic”?
2. You thought NCLB, the Iraq War, and all of Bush’s other failures were good ideas. So why should we trust your judgement on ANYTHING?
How is Obama pulling the rug out from under liberal Dems?
I could come up with a few issues, but health care isn’t one of them.
‘When this bill fails to accomplish a single objective in making health care better/more affordable, Democratics won’t be able to point the finger at anyone else.’
Right; because Republicans have tried so hard over the years to do improve health care, and rejected this opportunity out of hand because it’s better to do nothing than to get something accomplished.
That’s going to be a great campaign slogan for 2010 and 2012;
Vote GOP; we keep things as crappy as you expect us to.