Health Care Relief In 2013 Giving Dems Heartburn

Hahaha concern trolling from a journalist. Thanks but no thanks TPM.

I totally agree with this article and if they don't do something, we're toast.

Is it actually possible to create a nationwide health care exchange covering up to 20% of the U.S. population in three years? What on earth makes you think it is? Do you think that the idea is that they just open an office in DC and suddenly 10 million people are getting insurance through it? At a minimum, things I can think of that would have to happen for the exchange (and the subsidies paid through the exchange) to go online are that deals with providers in every state would have to be struck, funding lines will have to be set up, businesses and individuals would have to be contacted and told how to sign up for the program and given time to send their forms in, and policies will have to be written on how all this works, and tons of people to perform all this work will have to be hired, and buildings to put them all in will have to be found. This is a major undertaking! If the public option somehow survives, it will be an even larger undertaking.

The whole "three years is too long" thing seems to me to be the epitome of blogger types thinking in abstract political terms and never in terms of "okay, but how do we do it?"

Yes, SPEED IT UP! I think they will. They know that not doing so would be suicide.

This is so patently absurd, to pass something that won't actually help anyone for years... of COURSE it will hurt them.

I think the lag in benefits is the mirror of the deficit bullshit--they are taxing early and spending late, so that the 10 year picture fits the *procustean bed that Prez was so eager to jump in(to scramble a metaphor...)

*"not a dime added to the deficit"

U.S. already $292 bln in the red this year - CBO
Fri Dec 4, 2009 6:11pm EST
Related News

"WASHINGTON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. government racked up a gaping shortfall in the first two months of this fiscal year after posting a record budget deficit last year, congressional analysts said on Friday.

In October and November, the government spent $292 billion more than it took in, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said.

That was even worse than the same period last year, when the government was on its way to posting a record $1.4 trillion deficit for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.

The federal budget has been battered by the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s, as tax revenues have plunged and spending on safety-net programs like unemployment insurance have skyrocketed.

The budget deficit was $176.4 billion in October, according to Treasury Department records, and the CBO estimated the deficit for November will have come in at $115 billion.

The CBO gave its figures in billions of dollars and said numbers may not add up to the totals because of rounding.

Receipts totaled $132 billion in November, the CBO estimated, down 9 percent from the same month last year. That was partly due to new legislation that gives increased tax write-offs to corporations."

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0418093920091204

Obama sure loves the big corporations. They come to the WH frequently. Too bad there won't be any money left for health care.

So, what's another 100 years?

It would take a miracle that would make turning water into wine look like child's play for the Republicans to get a majority that could withstand a veto and if they win in 2012, they would have to overcome a filibuster, and I don't think anyone thinks they will have a majority in the Senate, much less sixty one seats.

they killed the public option They just killed themselves.

Oh and they are now fighitng to let John yoo get away with a war crime.

Theya re so fucked I wouldnt be surprized if Sarah palin wins in 2012.

I will never vote, nor give another 7000$ to the democrats again.

Ever.

This is the final straw for me.

This ain't rocket science folks. Give people some real relief and tangible hope and they will support you. Give them smoke and mirrors, dribs and drabs that might happen after you've lost your health and your home...hello Speaker of the House John Boehner.

I worry that people don't get the warning here. If Dems lose the majority the R's will roll back whatever is left of health care reform. I'm more than a little upset with the Dems, but I cannot fathom a world where the Inhoffe's and the likes of Steve King have power.

This is what comes from not doing the right thing. Congress and the WH really don't fathom what bad shape people are in. They think they can squeak by with this do nothing plan. It should be obvious by now that you can't 'fix' something that includes the insurance industry and accomodates hospitals and drug companies. You're trying to fix a system that needs to be extinguished.

I don't care if a bunch of Congress people lose their jobs. I care if myself and millions of others are simply going to survive.

"Chalk up another 500 jobs to the list of jobs President Obama will need to create or save.

A Pittsburgh-based coal company, CONSOL Energy, will lay off nearly 500 of its West Virginia workers next year and its CEO blames environmentalists dead-set against mountaintop mining who have waged “nuisance” lawsuits for the job loss.

But CONSOL Energy’s political problems are not unique to the mining industry, which has suffered under the Obama Administration. The Environmental Protection Agency is already holding 79 surface mining permits in West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee. The EPA says these permits could violate the Clean Water Act and warrant "enhanced" review. And, agency went even further in October, announcing plans to revoke a permit for the Spruce No. 1 Mine in West Virginia.

The latest setback for the coal industry was announced on Tuesday when CONSOL Energy said close to 500 workers would lose jobs at their Fola Operations location near Bickmore, West Virginia in February 2010."

http://www.washingtontimes.com/weblogs/back-story/2009/dec/09/coal-company-cuts-500-jobs-blames-environmentalist/

Oh, those crazy EPA guys. More food stamps on the horizon.

Food or health care, food or health care. It's a tough one! lol

Well DUH!!

If the Dems hadn't thrown single payer under the bus, excluded progressives from the table, threatened progressive organizations about criticizing their "deals" with Big PhARMA and the insurance companies, and caved at every raised eyebrow of the Republicans, they MIGHT have been able to put together something they'd be proud to attach their name to.

Now, instead, they've got a crap bill. The Republicans must be dancing for joy, thinking about how they're going to hang mandates and escalating premiums, combined with continued worthless coverage, around the necks of Dems for decades to come.

No matter how Obama attempts to describe this as a "landmark" and "success" in his Rose Garden signing ceremony, folks will see and experience it for what it really is: complete capitulation to the insurance companies & drug manufacturers.

I wonder if injuries sustained by being run over by these criminals are covered?

Tip to the clueless Dems: take the Repubs & ConservaDems up on their "threats" and "let" this Frankenstein of a bill fail.