Obama must have known this for a while. He is not stupid, unless people are not providing good information.

The only ones being negotiated with are Baucus and Conrad, Nelseon and Lincoln.

Via Think Progress

During his “great talk” on health care this morning with MSNBC host Joe Scarborough, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) observed that the insurance lobby “has done a pretty good job somehow getting people standing up in town meetings defending the poor downtrodden insurance industries. It’s a pretty remarkable thing.”
“I have yet to hear that,” Scarborough responded. “Well why are people against the public plan?” Weiner asked. Scarborough responded with this astonishing admission:

SCARBOROUGH: Because they’ve seen over the past six months government grow, they believe at too rapid of a rate and they’re skeptical. I don’t think there has been an explanation of how the government plan is not equal to the government takeover of health care — which we all know it’s not a government takeover of health care but that’s how it sounds to people.

I take Grassley's and Kyl's comments as evidence that the Circus Baucus is about to be shut down

If it weren't they wouldn't be making public confessions of their true intent

Thank you for your candor, Kyl. Now, if you Republicans are through jerking everyone else around, let's get this bill moving along. It'll have the public option in it, because you weren't going to vote for it anyway. You'll filibuster. There will be just enough votes for cloture. And then it goes to the floor vote, where the blue dogs can be frightened little jerks and vote against it, but it will still pass by a thin margin. How does that sound?

Conrad will vote against it, of course. Using his astounding circular logic, he'll reason that it didn't have enough votes to pass. That's why he'll vote against it. You see, you shouldn't support something if there isn't enough support for it. Get it?

There's a method to the madness
The Right Wing's K Streeters' launch makes the 2004 Swift Boats look like bath tub toys

Via Pollster.com

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Since the RWJF Index was introduced in the spring of 2009, seniors who are eligible for Medicare have reported the highest confidence levels. While this group again reported the highest confidence level in July (106.8), their confidence dropped 10.4 points since the previous month. Individuals age 50-64 have consistently had the lowest confidence levels since the survey began. Last month, the confidence level for that group fell just 4.4 points from 95.1 points in June to 90.7 in July.

"Over the past few months, Americans have been increasingly bombarded with conflicting information about their health care, and some of it has probably been misinformation about health reform," said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A., president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. "It is no surprise that consumer confidence in health care is erratic right now. People are confused about all of the different information they are hearing and not sure whom to trust."

Like someone is going to listen to him...

Trillion dollar tax cuts for the have-mores and a long discretionary war that didn't pay for itself as promised. No problem for the GOP budget hawks.
"Reagan proved deficits don't matter. This is our due" -DIck Cheney, 2003
Not a peep from the GOP then.

Expect another incendiary Facebook post soon from Sarah Palin, possibly ghostwritten by Newt Gingrich, to poke the lizard brains of the 23%ers and hijack the debate once again.

The interesting thing is that the republicans do have an alternative. It's roughly the Whole Foods plan and it is a radical remaking of what people would now experience. Tax employer benefits pushing everyone into a individual market where they will be free to buy plans from any insurance company without respect to state boundaries. They will be encouraged to sign up for high deductible plans with Health savings accounts. And tort reform--caps on payouts-- I guess.

It's basically taking everyone and putting them into a defined contribution plan where they have to shop for the best deal in an unfettered free market. Throw some subsidies in there for the poor. too.

Ironically, they are running a campaign based on fear of chance when their proposal is off the charts different.

I'm glad the GOP are dispellign any illusion that the GOP would support any HCR.

I've been saying for some time, usually in all caps, that NO GOP WILL FOR FOR THIS!!!

This really reveals the duplicity of the blue dogs and people like Conrad and Baucus. They aren't "negtiating" with Grasshole etc. They are holding out for themselves.

Indeed this is a good question:
"By is this process allowed to continue if it's destined to fail--why not just try to snatch up one or two moderate Republicans and call it a day?"

If the GOP does not want to bargain, why are they wasting the taxpayer's dollars on a Health-care bill they refuse to participate in? Which party is being more wasteful right now? The one that uses the rhetoric against the bail out, against health-care reform and generally against Obama or the one that is working to get health-care done, continues to fine tune the bailout (and its many tentacles) and generally supports the presidents efforts to put this country on a more sustainable future.

I mean fuck its as if the GOP is really a libertarian party while out of power, even though most GOP don't vote for candidates like Ron Paul, but while in power push agenda's that make government bigger our national debt bigger!