"glacial pace of reform efforts."
"glacial" is no longer a good description of a long-drawn-out process since glaciers are melting much faster than the s - l - o - w pace of Congress on health care.

Delay, delay, delay.

John

Well with the frequency Al Qaeda is pumping out messages lately, Republicans feel all their delay tactics are about to pay off...

i'm with victor... this way they can either get this horrible nightmare passed as it is (victory for big pharma/insurance) or they can scuttle health care reform altogether for 2 years (victory for big pharma/insurance - nothing happens in an election year).
I'm staying home next year.

Wonder how much this delay will cost the insurance companies? I'm sure they're paying out, as usual, for any little delay. Business runs this country, policy is based on contributions, and we vote because...............? Beats the mud out of me.

For lack of health care, something like 900 Americans will perish in the days between Oct. 5th - Oct. 12 (that's more than one per hour, based on the latest numbers cited by AlanGrayson); and more than that before whatever benefits MIGHT result from whatever MAY come from a bill seep into the larger culture.

That's a pretty good miniature of things as they stand today, Oct. 5, 2009; right?

How many people are dying, will die, will go into debt due to sickness, while these puppets of the health insurance lobby, twiddle their thumbs. What awful representatives of the people. But we asked for it when we allowed corporations to take over our government and judiciary. I'm not sure how to stop that though. Free speech being what it is these days.

Republicans and conservative Democrats to sick Americans: "drop dead."

How they can delay, obstruct and weaken health care reform when the health care system results in people dying is difficult to fathom. These guys (and gals) have directed all their sympathies toward health insurance companies with none left over for the victims of same.

How about Alan Grayson states every day how many Americans have died from lack of care since the Finance Committee began debating?

TPM: "It would be a huge surprise, and a major upset for Democratic leaders, if the bill failed to squeak out of committee."

It might be a surprise, but not necessarily an upset.

Rockefeller and others are well aware that the H.E.L.P. bill, or some version of it, can proceed to the Senate floor without a bill coming out of finance. The end result being that the Senate gets to vote on a strong public option that hasn't been watered down by Baucus and associates.

What's the HELP Committee version of the public option look like, and are reimbursement rates tied to Medicare? And is it national? Subject to triggers?

Again, answering my own question: http://pnhp.org/blog/2009/09/29/there-is-very-little-difference-between-the-co-ops-and-the-%E2%80%9Cpublic-option%E2%80%9D/
Upshot: unless we get more specific in our demands - "a Medicare plus 5% program as envisioned by Jacob Hacker" - we're likely to get exactly what we're clamoring for. Eek.