ConservaDems like Nelson would rather have states "opt in" than "opt out": i.e., an uphill climb for the public option
By John Amato Monday Oct 26, 2009 7:00am
(h/t Heather)
I've been hearing from my sources that the ConservaDems in the House of Lords (The Senate) would rather have states be able to "opt in," rather than "opt out," of the public option in health-care reform. No matter how you feel about these proposals, the one Ben Nelson supports is a far, far worse plan than the other. Here's what he said on CNN's State of The Union:
KING: If there is a vote and Harry Reid needs 60, have you promised him, even if you disagree with the proposal and might vote no on the proposal, you would give him your vote on the procedural issue?
NELSON: I have made no promise. I can't decide about the procedural vote until I see the underlying bill. It would be, I think, reckless to say I'll support the procedure without knowing what the underlying bill consists of. And it's not put together yet. It's a draft -- it will be a draft bill some time next week, submitted the Congressional Budget Office for the review of the cost. And until I've seen a completed draft...
KING: Well, let me -- let me jump in, can you support...
NELSON: ... I'm not going to...
KING: Can you support a public option where states could opt out so there is a public option in the federal legislation, or will you only support a public option where the state would have to opt in, so there is not a national program already created?
NELSON: Well, I certainly am not excited about a public option where states would opt out or a robust, as they call it, robust government-run insurance plan. I'll take a look at the one where states could opt in if they make the decision themselves.
I understand what the other Senators are trying to do with the opt-out proposal -- which comes down to guaranteeing the public option an uphill, state-by-state battle -- but Ben Nelson in particular continually thwarts every effort to include a robust public option in America. I think he uses health insurance payoffs as a form of roughage to keep his bowels clear. And he still won't say if he'll give us an up-or-down vote. Schmuck.
Nelson must be looking to become a health insurance lobbyists once he leaves the Senate and since he takes the most cash from them---I imagine he has a gig already lined up.
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This uphill battle among the Democrats is classic. They just can't get it together and it seems that they haven't learned from their mistakes through the years. The majority of Americans want the public option, why can't they get that point and work towards honoring our wishes? Simply ridiculous, but classic Democratic Party moves.
http://blackpoliticalthought.blogspot.com
When all the Blue Dogs are booted in to their actual party-GOP-we'll have a real Democratic Party. Once the Blue Dogs are forced to run as Republicans, the Wing Nut party will kick them out, too. Get rid of the Blue Dogs & take back the party.
That might have taken 3-4 more elections, at least, if time stood still.
Unfortunately, if Democrat don't have big successes now we'll lose majorities permanently. Cowards get pity, not campaign donations.
Democrats like Senator Nelson don't even understand general procedural tools such as cloture. The Opt In or Opt Out options should not be considered on whether or not to vote for cloture.
All too often, though, cloture votes are used as proxies for whether or not a Senator supports a particular bill. That’s problematic because it sets an unusually-high 60-vote bar for the passage of legislation, instead of the standard 51-vote bar. That isn’t how the Senate is supposed to operate–it was designed so that a simple majority could pass legislation.
There is nothing wrong with voting for cloture then voting against the final bill if one so chooses. Senator Nelson is attempting to hold the majority power of the Democrats hostage by basing cloture on the what the final bill may or may not contain.
We've been witnessing an orgy of DLC dreams come true.
Schumer and Emanuel responded to their corporate donors by stocking just enough Moderate/fake Democrats to block the Left from any progress, just as vindictively as Tom Delay carried out his party orders to do exactly the same thing.
Harry Reid and Obama both damn well knew/know that this 60 vote crap was always an absolute impossibility on issues as divisive as Health Care.
We've been played and bamboozled by those 'implants', big time.
this isn't in competence, it's the fruitition of deliberate and carefully laid plans.
I'm for single-payer but in some ways this doesn't seem like the worst idea. As a New Yorker, I already support the welfare states to the south and west of me. Maybe if us progressive types get a good thing going the folks might wake up and realize that their conservative leaders are leading them astray and vote the con-artists out in favor of leadership in favor of healthy constituents. If not, they can have their representative governance and continue being profit-machines for the insurance industry.
Of course, that's greedy-bastard me talking. Bleeding-heart liberal me wants to see nationwide single-payer.
generous, SG, but I don't think it's possible to wake up some of those people, ever. Sounds like you've reconciled your different selves well.
was a total waste of time. Ben Nelson said nothing and all I was thinking was how can we get rid of these Blue Dogs?
"Democrats have moved to the right, and the right has moved into a mental hospital." - Bill Maher
but, I think there are still a few of us out here on the left, aren't there?
There are still plenty of liberals across this nation of ours. Sadly we're less represented in DC and the media than the Limbaugh/Beck minions, Brimstone & Hellfire-worshippers and black helicopter paranoids.
nelson needs to fucking get out of the way
of the public health option......
he is old school-screw everyone for his personal benefit.
democrat or repug these old assholes are just
bought and paid for corporate whores.
(btw i am 63)
I wish some place like PBS would show Sicko on tv right about now so people could learn or be reminded of how backward our approach to health care is in this country. My husband, who is up to date on political news along with other news, watched it this weekend he was astonished to see the difference in our country and others when it comes to health care.
There are a lot of Americans out there who are clueless and so uninformed. They need to be exposed to the info in that movie.
in its entirety....
NOW on PBS has been doing healthcare specials every week for months. Bill Moyers has had on some great guest regarding it. Newshour with Jim Leher has also had numerous well told reports on healthcare.
The information is out there. The problem is people's willingness to look outside their bubble.
Hoping that the unedcucated and ill informed will watch PBS is like hoping that Dick Cheney will stop being an asshole.
going to go after corrupt Bribe-O-Crats like Nelson and put them behind bars for bribery andfailure of honest service fraud? These guys have got to be some of the most corrupt politicians this country has ever seen. If the anti-corruption laws weren't written to protect us from the likes of these slimey charcters, what good are they?
Nelsom belongs in prison.
It's only bribery if you name a boat after yourself - being a bought and paid for politician is just business as usual until somehow we get them to change the rules away from their own favor.
The odds of that happening are the same odds that Wall Street will actually regulate itself or health insurance companies will voluntarily bring down costs to consumers.
"roughage to keep his bowels clear"
Assuming he has clear bowels - an unproven hypothesis?
I think he has more than just bowel issues. . .
Getting a closeted gay Republican to admit his or her sexual preference, or;
Getting a Democratic Senator to just admit outright they oppose a public option?
I saw a nose like that, it was on a circus clown. That would be a better occupation for the likes of Ben Nelson, and I hope he gets booted out on his ass the next time he's up for election.
Can't wait to rid the party of these GOPer's in drag! Even if they do vote for the public option, I hope they all get their asses kicked out of office. I want to see those consession speeches go viral on the interwebs!
He said nothing as usual. He's from a red state, trying to keep his senate position. fuck him! And the horse he rode in on. And besides that, he was probably sitting in one of offices of Omaha's many insurance companies.
I like the whole opt-in/opt-out thing. When states finally do opt-in it's the same as saying "uncle". States which don't say 'uncle' will continue to suffer the way the whole nation does currently.
Also, the sparsely populated red states will likely be the later opt-ins, which won't overwhelm the system once it's properly in place. Heavily populated states will be the early adopters, allowing for the numbers needed for that competitive leverage that the system is intended to create.
More misdirection. This is NOT insurance reform, and it is not health care reform. It is 1500 pages of legislation written by insurance lobbyists.
LA Times: Insurers poised to reap benefits from healthcare overhaul
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-health-...
I would think Democrats would rejoice in an opt-in option. I can think of nothing more lucrative for Democratic votes. Just like the tax cuts ushered in under Bush had an expiration in order to use it as an election issue, if any state run by Republicans decides to not opt-in, the GOP runs the risk of losing seats, control, and possibly being driven out of town by an angry mob carrying pitch forks and torches.
Cloture is a procedural vote, nothing more. It signals that a Senator believes that there has been sufficient debate on a piece of legislation and that it’s time to bring it up for a floor vote. Voting for cloture is not an indication of support for the final bill, nor should it be seen that way.
All too often, though, cloture votes are used as proxies for whether or not a Senator supports a particular bill. That’s problematic because it sets an unusually-high 60-vote bar for the passage of legislation, instead of the standard 51-vote bar. That isn’t how the Senate is supposed to operate–it was designed so that a simple majority could pass legislation.
Any Democrat voting against cloture is voting against it's own party's majority power which has been awarded to it by the will of the People.
A Democrat who votes against cloture on the health care legislation should be stripped of any leadership roles and opposed for re-election.
I think that a massive letter-writing and threatening of donations with-holding needs to come to pass. Imagine how strapped the insurance companies are going to get to be when people in every state are yelling at their legislatures to allow the opt-in? Unless the public option really sucks, this is going to happen. Sure as hell. The state legislatures aren't going to be happy if it's written that way, trust me.
In repsonse to Nelson's statement:
NELSON: I have made no promise. I can't decide about the procedural vote until I see the underlying bill. It would be, I think, reckless to say I'll support the procedure without knowing what the underlying bill consists of. And it's not put together yet. It's a draft -- it will be a draft bill some time next week, submitted the Congressional Budget Office for the review of the cost. And until I've seen a completed draft...
Let's see what Nelson said in a Senate floor speech 5/7/2009:
"In my view, meaningful healthcare reforms are within reach and should be achieved in a bipartisan fashion without stifling minority views or using reconciliation."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s14kz1vT9MY&fe...
If Senator Nelson votes against cloture, he will help push the process into reconciliation!
Yeah, and my cat is an Einsteinian relativist.
What a buffoon. (Nelson, not my cat -- my cat knows her limitations. More or less...she's cat fergawdsakes! Give her a break.)
belongs on the other side of the aisle.
A trade proposal
Nelson for (oh crap, there isn't anyone over there I want)...
... a bag of used hockey pucks.
I admit I am still fairly ignorant on opt in/out public option. But my brain tells me that if they can just get the public option passed it doesn't matter if my state (Nebraska) opts out initially. Many states will adopt it and people in those states will hopefully thrive if the public option is any good -- whereby, states like Nebraska will be forced to adopt it in the same way that they would if Medicare were not available here.
Senators Lincoln, Landrieu and Nelson. Who exactly are they serving? If any of the Conservadems help the repugs filibuster a public option there should be some painful political consequences for them.
My God, will this old fart grow a set of balls? Hey, Nelson, how would you like to "opt into" a nice hot cup of go fuck yourself?
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