Is It Game Over If The Senate Passes Health Care Reform? No.

Other than a bunch of unhappy health insurance companies, what's the downside of of killing this bill?

Someone (basically you, Mr. President) has to explain that without the public option, and without the Medicare buy-in.. where is the pressure for bending the cost curve going to come from?

Otherwise you're spending $900 billion to give poor people subsidy money to turn over to the Insurance Company middlemen. (As opposed to actual healthcare providers). The Health Insurance 'oligarhy' will just continue to find loopholes around any legislation you can write, even assuming the best intentions of lawmakers.

Of course I suppose if someone explained how the current Senate bill actually worked for taxpayers benefit, that would only give Lieberman something new to demand be removed.

"But time will be of the essence. Democrats are already hoping the momentum behind this bill outweighs the nervousness vulnerable members feel about voting for the legislation..."

The momentum behind this bill? This is a parody, right?

The fact that the headline at the top of the page reads "IF the Senate passes the bill..." (emphasis mine) demonstrates that there is no momentum here. Hell, Reid still doesn't have sixty votes.

Why no discussion of the "ping pong" option -- sending the identical Senate bill to the House for passage, unaltered, and then to the President's desk? Thus skipping conference committee and any further cloture votes (and, accordingly, any further potential for defection or additional demands from the fragile 60-vote majority).

I am going to be optimistic and think that the polling people on the White House staff are still as smart as they were during the primaries and the election campaign. That said, the polling people should realize that the Obama's popularity will suffer whether or not this health care (ex-)reform bill is passed. I believe that polling drop will be more catastrophic if the bill fails, and even if it passes Obama will still be perceived as not being able to get a good bill passed.

I do wish that the White House staff would not insult the intelligence of those who most strongly sacrificed to back Obama in the primaries and the election. What we have now is no longer Health Care Reform, but it is the Health Insurance Company Overhead Protection Act of 2009.

Let's say that in conference the Public Option is put back into the bill (as well as other measures), against the wishes of some senators. Can the resulting bill exiting conference then be passed by reconciliation?

Shorter - can reconciliation still be used?

It's no wonder that legitimate health care reform isn't going to pass. People actually believe the garbage that people like Chuck Norris say...

http://progressnotcongress.org/?p=3412

If the current health care bill does not pass, I will place a big bet on President Obama's dropping the health care issue like a hot potato and not returning to advocate wholesale health care reform during his time as president. He will think he has been badly burned on this issue by the left and right of the Democratic party and he will only hurt himself by continuing to push the issue. Therefore, there will be no attempt at using reconciliation or anything like that. Rather, he will change his focus to jobs and concentrate on smaller initiatives like Bill Clinton after 1994. I bet he will also begin developing a plan to deal with the increasing likelihood of a Republican-run Congress in 2011-12 and seeking reelection in that environment. If health care does not pass, Obama will see the writing on the wall and know he needs to get ready for dealing with the Republicans and fighting their policies. He may well conclude that it is not possible for him to get big initiatives through the present Congress, which will quite possibly change parties in 2010. He will also be privately be very angry at the Democrats in Congress who oppose his health care bill and start thinking that his reelection in
2012 is separate from what happens to the congressional Democrats in 2010.

All of this should not surprise progressives because throughout US history when presidents get badly burned on an issue, they drop it and move on to other issues and begin to focus more on positioning themselves for reelection.

I gotta say, if all I was watching was MSNBC and FOX and listening the radio, I would have thought for sure the bill was dead.

But I'm proud to see as a Democrat, that these Dems are doing anything to have some kind of Bill. And it will happen.

Sure it may be a slight advantage to the insurance companies now, but as long as something gets passed, in the yrs ahead, the law can and will be improved. I think its a good day to be a Democrat actually.

Read dailykos' "20 Answers" for why we shouldn't pass this bill based on what we do know of it.

Amazing how quickly this article became outdated, given the news of Nelson's no on cloture and his statements indicating the Christmas dead line is arbitrary and ridiculous.

"I belong to no organized party. I am a Democrat." -Will Rogers.

To the Blue Dog Democrats and to those in opposition to real health care reform, what are you afraid of?

Throughout the history of the Democratic party(Progressives) in the 20th century it has fallen to you to be the enactors of real societal change. From the introduction of the 19th amendment to the creation of social security, G.I. Bill, civil rights act, voting rights act, and medicare, these are all pieces of legislation that the American citizenry living today cannot truly fathom of the time of not having them. These items reinforce the reciprocity of government and its people, creating a “more perfect union”.

Today, citizens may fight for their nation and come home knowing that they can afford to continue their education. Today, citizens after spending their entire adult working lives paying into the government system that if their retirement funds suddenly evaporate in some Wall street Ponzi scheme there will still be some form of income provided by social security. Today, because of medicare, an elderly citizen can at least get the health care they need. Today, we as a nation can finally say that opportunity is truly available to all and every citizen has the right to effectuate their government regardless of sex or race.

The time has come again for Democrats (Progressives) to be the steadying hand to the invisible hand. It is neither mere accident nor divine providence that the legislative items mentioned above; all came about after a long uninterrupted term of conservative hegemony. It is the realignment of democratic principles with economic and social realities. History has taught us that those who heed the cry “socialism” in these times of change in our nation are regarded as persons with limited foresight by the generations to come. Those that were against the voting rights of 1965 could not imagine a day like November 4th 2008.

So the time has fallen unto us to establish once and for all, a citizen’s right to health care- a human right; if it were not a human right, than man should be considered no more than a pack of rapacious narcissistic jackals motivated by the hunger for profit. Capitalism does not stipulate that government can not be an equal player in the market place. Is it not competition that drives capitalism and innovation? Citizens have more choice in shipping companies to include the United States Post Office, than they have in how to pay for health care. How is that big insurance will not be able to stay competitive if they are truly providing a better service to the people than government?

Democrats(Progessives) be moved by your conscience and ideals, not by your ego and benefactors.