Are Pro-Public Option Senators Mourning The Loss Of The Medicare Buy In?

Once again, the progressives get screwed. The public option--the one thing that the progressives managed to keep in the bill that was even remotely close to what they wanted, i.e. single-payer--gets whittled down to practically nothing, and then is thrown overboard for this medicare buy-in thing. And then, when people start getting on board (reluctantly or not), that is taken away because Holy Joe throws another snit.

I have been thinking that dibgy has been exaggerating by presuming that the only real reason to throw out even such a weak, terrible public option that we keep hearing is "meaningless" (If it's meaningless, why not keep it in?) is to poke a stick in the eye of the left-wing; to show the left that no, they still have no pull in Washington, even with overwhelming control of the House, the Senate, and the White House. I didn't want to believe her. But it's pretty hard to set aside her assessment now, isn't it?

When these clowns start talking about how much else is in the bill, you know they've caved. This bill does nothing to reduce costs, does nothing to put pressure on the insurance industry, and will only be funneling millions of new customers their way. What a damn travesty.

IMO take what you can get now. This simplifies things considerably. The next step is to add a robust public option to a budget reconciliation bill later on and stick it to these bastards.

If there's no robust public option and no Medicare buy-in, then Progressives should band together to trim this bill further. Cut out the mandate and simply regulate the insurance industry. That would show some incremental gain without forcing citizens to hand over our money to those who resist real reform.

If something is better than nothing, make sure it's something the base supports. Don't couple it with a major giveaway to corporate obstructionists.

The Democrats should have just rolled over and accepted the health insurance dream sheet without all this posturing and play acting. But I suppose this way they got more than they expected

Don't cave. Let the obstructionists filibuster. It will enable the American people to see what this debate is all about.

Will they lose the Sanders vote?

I'm unregistering as a Democrat if this bill has no real reform in it. I AM YOUR BASE. You are losing me you FUCKING IDIOTS.

Let me get this straight. There is no public option but everyone legally has to buy insurance from the same insurance companies that overcharge now and get their drugs from the same companies that have jumped prices up by 9.6% this year, and the government is going to subsidize the poor, .... how is this going to cost everyone less and reduce the deficit?

I can't help thinking that Democrats could've played hardball on health care and produced a lot better bill. If a principled no nonsense hardass like Russ Feingold or Sherrod Brown were shepherding this bill through the Senate there would have been a more effective outcome. There is no fear of opposing the leadership.Caving to Joe Lieberman is like a stick in the eye.

Lieberman's ego trip is great news for the GOP. They get to watch the Dems produce a bill that sucks and voters will hold the Dems responsible for it. Not that the GOP will have anything to offer anyway. They'd like the whole issue to go away.
I don't blame Obama. Rahmbo if he's all for caving to Lieberman. But most of the blame goes to Reid.
Neither party cares about the people they represent.

David Rockefeller is the one you'd want. I read his book, "Memoirs." Lousy read, even lousier dude. The genocide technology goes back to him. He's close to 80 years old!

Now we will have individual mandates with no PO, no medicare buy-in plan, no 90% Medical loss ratio.

The End. Change we can believe in??? How about "no choice for you, fool." How about "open up your wallets and give us money, or we'll just take it".

Oh well. The body stinks from the head down. Always has. Always will.

It takes a LOT to make me say this, but screw the Democrats. This did it for me. I am done, no more donations.

This bill, without a public option or medicare buy in, but with a mandate is a pile of garbage and all the perfume the dems spray on it doesn't make it smell better. I'm a 60 year old smoker; under the Reid bill, my premium will be 4 1/2 times as much as a younger person; under the Baucus will, which they're talking about reinstating, my premium will be 6 1/2 times as much as a younger one. When you take that ratio and add on the base increase for covering preX, which will all happen now, there is no way to afford it. Small employers will either drop coverage or drop older employers.

And this group of dems can actually act like they've done something good!!!!!! They are guaranteeing that I won't have insurance so pardon me if I can't celebrate with them.