The Commonwealth Fund just came out with a State Scorecard on healthcare performance (at the following link):

://www.commonwealthfund.org/Charts-and-Maps/State-Scorecard-2009.aspx

This is something the public and the Administration might want to give some thought to before they put a mote of fucking credence in anything Blanche Lincoln, Mary Landrieu or Harry Reid have to say on the subject of healthcare. I somehow doubt any one of them really minds that much about quality affordable healthcare, and, based on their home state records, we might want to keep them at arm's length in designing a strong public option. Why should it matter what the fuck a Senator whose State comes in 4th from last among the 50 States (Mary Landrieu's Louisiana is 3rd from last) has to say on the issue, is thinking about it, would like to see done about it? They're a pox on their contituents; please keep them away from the rest of us!

Corporate Blanche and her junior colleague, Mark the Bible Thumper, have recently presided over a significant improvement in the health status of Arkansans. The prestigious Commonwealth Fund now reports that Arkansas has moved up from 49th to 48th in nation, ahead of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma.

Woooooo Pig!

With accomplishments like that under her belt, it's no wonder Corporate Blanche doesn't want to rock the health care boat. Why fix it if it ain't broke?

The Senate may not really matter. If the Senate puts out a bill, it will probably have the mandate in it that requires everyone to buy health insurance, and maybe a weak public option. When the bill goes into conference committee, it will be merged with the House bill, which should have a strong public option. The mandate is fine if there is a strong public option that gives Americans a choice for cost-effective health insurance.

The real leadership is in the House. Alan Grayson (D-FL) gave a fantastic speech on the House floor today. The whole speech was run on Countdown today (hosted by Lawrence O'Donnell). Grayson is showing real leadership, and raking in the campaign contributions to boot.The Progressive Caucus has 60-65 votes, enough to block any bill without the public option.

So in conference, the public option gets tacked on, and maybe some other things are cleaned up. When the bill goes back to both houses, the Senate needs only 50 votes to pass it; Biden will be the 51st. So Blanche Lincoln, Kent Conrad, Ben Nelson, Max Baucus, Joe Lieberman, can go to hell. Hopefully the voters will throw throw the scumbags out when they come up for re-election.

Everyone in Congress knows full well that if they don't pass health care reform this year, they will have to face the wrath of the voters in the midterm elections. So the Senate will pass something. This may be an overly optimistic scenario, but keep the pressure up on your representatives in Congress.