Rep. Raul Grijalva says health care is now in President Obama's hands
I've been screaming here and on TV that it's up to the House to change the health-care bill as much as possible, even if it's happening in a conference-lite type setting. Rep. Raul Grijalva has been very vocal lately and now says the President needs to get involved.
"The president is having his listening sessions, right?" Grijalva asked rhetorically. "After all we've been through at some point the administration can not be neutral players in this process."
Noting that the President stands foursquare behind the Senate's proposal to tax so-called "Cadillac" insurance policies to raise money, Grijalva put it to him to weigh in on some of the House's priorities. "How do you weigh in on a national exchange? How do you weigh in on a public option? How do you weigh in on the anti-trust exemption?"
The public option is a non-starter at this point, and House leaders, progressives, and key chairmen are pushing the White House to support other priorities, including organizing insurance exchanges at a national level, moving the implementation date for major reforms forward by one year, and, at least, diminishing the impact of the Cadillac tax.
"Watching the fight is not enough," Grijalva said. "The pressure shifts to the White House now."
I received an email with a wrap up and pdf from Rep. Grijalva. Here's the entire document that the House has put together, called CPC Conference Comparison.
I continue to feel that the House language provides better solutions to a wide range of problems with our health care system, especially regarding the public option and the creation of a national insurance exchange. Those and many other unresolved issues, including affordability mechanisms and insurance company oversight, will be discussed thoroughly over the next few weeks. As those conversations take place, I look forward to promoting the same publicly supported, money-saving progressive agenda that I have championed since this process began.”
The attached list of policy priorities was recently sent to Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Reid and the White House.
I think the bill is not all that certain to pass at this point.
Cons get back in and overturn, void the whole mess.
that depends on which wacko the Republicans pick to run in 2012 and what happens over the next 3 years.
"Hell"
waiting for everyone else including the Government to fix everything it will be.
referred to himself as a "Progressive" in his latest blurb on Health Insurance?
ROFLMAO! Too funny!
Obama doesn't have the cojones to actually get involved in the sausage making... Good Lord, the man campaigned on a public option... yet he gave that up a second or two after saying it... and well, hell, he campaigned for a lot of things he obviously didn't honestly care about.
So, I don't have any real faith he'll stick his cowardly neck out for anything... do you?
according to the posters here yesterday who are obviously more intelligent than you Obama has been active. He is a fifth column corporatist who planned this all along and sought this outcome from the beginning of time when he faked his Hawaiian birth certificate.
Treason. Owned by the rabid dog capitalists who ought to be put down.
And he is not very progressive on human rights either.
"Folks, this is not your father's Republican Party."
Joe Biden
Rahm has not set fire to the bamboo splinters he has already driven under Grijalva's fingernails yet.
"Folks, this is not your father's Republican Party."
Joe Biden
and run for Mayor of Chicago. He doesn't like his new job all that much. Thinks it sucks.
All we can do is hope that he leaves sooner rather than later. The guy's been a disaster.
And Rahm blows, but WHO picked him for that job? Rahm is who he is, but someone allowed him to be on a much larger stage.
The key to stealing is to not get too greedy. Make what you can, then get out and move on to the next con.
Vote GOP and move forward to the 18th Century.
that we're totally screwed if it passes, and totally screwed if it doesn't.
If it passes, it's a hateful monster of a bill that none of us want -- yet we're saddled with it.
If it doesn't pass, then Obama and the democrats are (rightfully) seen as incompetent screw-ups -- and we're saddled with THAT.
Heh. Funny how that works ...
They are falsifying and fraudulently overvaluing everyone's assets and future prospects for the ordinary American while putting money in their own pockets.
These guys suck Fri, 01/08/2010 - 07:21 — Evet
____________________________________________________________
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mc4pHLnMoew
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
This Bill has become such a Frankenstein Fri, 01/08/2010 - 07:15 — Col. Kilgore
___________________________________________________________________
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BKs5FknCVI
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
The same pols who said they'd vote against anything are willing to vote against it still.
No surprise.
Who cares if the bill will actually help people - it just isn't good enough no matter what.
"I know that there are people who do not love their fellow
man, and I hate people like that! " ~ Tom Lehrer (1928 - )
LOL can't wait to see what future historians pen about these two dim bulbs.
... Pelosi and Reid. They can't bend over fast enough.
locked down in an asylum for the insane before they are able to do any more damage.
... who are currently wearing the lab coats.
As the old saying goes, the opposite of PROgress is CONgress.
or should they get their own suite?
"Folks, this is not your father's Republican Party."
Joe Biden
Is it later yet? Pelosi and Reid said the bill would be fixed later.
Pelosi and Reid...the Dark Helmet and Colonel Sanders of American government.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvd3kaupZ60
Vote GOP and move forward to the 18th Century.
at the Four Seasons! You know, just like those AIG outings.
Just like Bush- check
sarcastic “change” reference- check
claiming to speak for the citizenry (hint- you are speaking for yourself)- check
lol
"I know that there are people who do not love their fellow
man, and I hate people like that! " ~ Tom Lehrer (1928 - )
MSNBC shows and Stewart have rightly focused on President's campaign (and other) promises....it's now time for Obama to stand up in this health care debate that could well provide him with a finished product worse than the starting point. For 5 months Congress has gone backwards on this, cost controls have been dropped along with single-payer and public-option. Knee-jerk "vote no" Dean was right; the current form isn't worth supporting. And Olbermann's "it's neither health, nor care, nor reform" rant isn't far from the truth.
All along the pols have made sure the focus was on health INSURANCE reform, not health care ACCESS reform, the real concern. What we have is a nation---our own---on the verge of moral and economic bankruptcy willing to protect the corporate rights to obscene profits of those who are putting us there (just like they've done with the financial institutions who, under the same lack of leadership Great Depression 2 almost occurred, got theirs, still leaving us with a potential catastrophic fall in commercial real estate (see NYT today). "Ship of fools" description is being too kind. Promised C-Span coverage of House-Senate negotiations? Who wants to watch the equivalent of sausage being made?
Today's health care issues are not Clinton-era, like "oops, we failed, see you in 15 yrs."). Alarmists are saying if it doesn't happen now, it won't in our generation..or ever. You mean cascading bankruptcies plundering a nation won't get the continued attention of 544 otherwise-clueless Capitol-bound folks? I'm not ready to buy that. Obama doesn't sign a bill soon, this problem isn't going away. So Congress, don't take your eyes off the "prize"...you goof up now (take note: Ben Nelson and Joe Lieberman), it's coming back next year, whether you like it or not. Your constituents won't let you forget it.
For the first time in your sheltered lives, smarten up and do what's right for the American people on Main St. instead of your Wall St. benefactors. Canada and European nations put this nation to shame. They at least use their intelligence to solve problems; Congresscritters use theirs to contort, distort, and come up with pathetic results that further bankrupt their country so they can keep their campaign coffers full...
nothing really has changed since he surfed into office on a tidal wave of marketing hype but still unfulfilled promises.
are starting to blame Bush and the Reschmucks for everything more and more here recently?
Hilarious . . When in doubt, blame Bush. The old Washington blame game.
to blame Bushit for! How could ANYONE be expected to, in just one year, even begin to clean up the clusterfuck left behind by the WORST admin. in history?!
Well, Obama misled me into thinking he could? And he could have started by throwing out that Congress which got elected by actually taking money from people who want things to go THEIR way.
"Folks, this is not your father's Republican Party."
Joe Biden
other than NAFTA, (and that's a BIG) everything that's wrong with the country today. Someone's been posting lists of all of Obama's accomplishments whle in office. A list of much greater porportions could be made illustrating the destructive force of the Bush presidency - which will probably be felt for generations.
However, Obama did say certain things pertaining to healthcare over and over. It's much of what those who voted for him expected. Rightfully so.
I don't see this bill as anything other than a huge drain on our economy going directly to the insurance industry overlords. Others don't see it that way, fine.
I'd suggest if the President didn't want it to be seen this way he should have been more vocal about what he wanted and expected after he was elected.
Now someone please tell me he has no control over what happens.
Then I'll not have to ever vote again because, after all, our country is just a rudderless ship.
convince the Powers that Be that two brown people halfway around the world would be automatically killed each time that an American gets single payer health insurance for life.
We always got the money for killing brown people...
EWE ESS AYE !
kind of like It's a Wonderful Life in reverse.
Candidate Obama had some impressive things to say about the culture of corruption in Washington.
The entire ad campaign was so impressive that it won the Cannes awards.
One particularly germaine campaign ad is here
This is what Digby says about it, here
Obama seems to have gotten the hang of the culture of corruption thing real fast.
It PAYS BIG BUCKS.
statusquObama, change you can only pretend in
Thanks for the links Alice.
Obama slyly said that he didn't take lobbyist campaign money and it was probably true.
But lobbyists are individuals who like all individuals are limited in the amount they can give.
It sounded very good, but it meant very little.
If he had said he didn't take Corporate PAC money, that really would have meant something.
It also would have cut his totals by hundreds of millions.
For one thing, he would have been imitating Ralph Nader.
statusquObama, change you can only pretend in
... would be different/effective in Washington.
Is it really that simple, putting the right man (or woman) in the job ... or is the whole shebang so broken and corrupt that even putting someone capable there breaks/corrupts them faster than they can fix anything?
That's an interesting question, but I think the answer can only be tested by an actual leader trying to tame the system. I'm afraid Obama has shown absolutley zero ability to "lead," as the policy thoughts that he claims to have are readily replaced by thoughts that are sponsored by vested interests.
A president who believes what they are fighting for can get the craziest stuff to happen. Look at Commander Codpiece and "Dick." They managed to start a war with a country so far removed from the war on terra that it would be laughable in a rational society.
No, Obama needs to step up to the plate and TELL those jellyfish in Congress what he wants and stop letting those nattering nabobs stumble from one lobbyist to the next.
Unless of course, this crap is what Obama really wants...[**shudder**]
Why else would he have gone to the trouble of forging
that Hawaiian birth certificate and then appointed the Rahmster to poke his missing finger in the eye of the base at every term.
"Folks, this is not your father's Republican Party."
Joe Biden
The system is seriously broken.
Nader would do precisely what he said he would do.
The Congress would be bought and paid for, still, they would pass their corrupt legislation, Nader would veto it.
They would override if they could.
Nader would stand up and say this corrupt.
He could also say that he would not enforce corrupt legislation.
He could also enforce the laws and regulations that already exist.
There is no perfect solution.
My original point, if you watched the campaign ad and read the Digby link, is that Obama put a message out that he was going to be different.
He isn't different. It is the same culture of corruption.
People believed him, in as far as they go back to check what they were told, what they believed at the time, and what comes to pass, then many will be disillusioned.
I got the message with FISA, I am not disillusioned, I knew he would not fight, even if he said he would.
statusquObama, change you can only pretend in
That sounds like fun.
Wait, it sounds like Dennis the Menace's one term as Mayor of Cleveland. Who was it that unseated him? Starts with a "V" doesn't it?
"Folks, this is not your father's Republican Party."
Joe Biden
You need to grow up.
I know it is difficult for some.
statusquObama, change you can only pretend in
when by birth as an American I accepted my complicity
in this genocidal act of westgern civilization.
"Folks, this is not your father's Republican Party."
Joe Biden
Gandhi, when asked about his feelings about Western Civilization is reported to have said something like:
When you find this Western Civilization let me know.
statusquObama, change you can only pretend in
and John Nance Garner, I may have more luck locating a pitcher of warm piss.
"Folks, this is not your father's Republican Party."
Joe Biden
My reference to Nader is that he took no Corporate PAC money.
Read my argument without the reference to Nader but instead that Obama took no Corporate PAC money.
Then consider his chances against the other Corporate candidate.
THAT, is the issue.
I can only speculate that Nader would do precisely what he said he would do. My belief is that he would.
Then again, he is not a politician which makes it difficult to win elections. Politicians learn to speak so that two sides to an argument each can have their own take on what is being said.
Nader is not the issue, the issue is CORPORATE CONTROL of the government. Which is complete.
statusquObama, change you can only pretend in
and are consumed by ego. Count Ralphie out on those two counts fer sure.
"Folks, this is not your father's Republican Party."
Joe Biden
I say that Corporate control of the government is the issue, you continue to insist on discussing your perception of Nader's personality.
You still don't get it, when you insist on referring to matters of perceived personality rather than issues, that you are a purveyor of junk politics.
That is precisely what the propagandists have in mind.
Do you consume a great deal of popular culture, may I ask?
statusquObama, change you can only pretend in
My misperception.
"Folks, this is not your father's Republican Party."
Joe Biden
Can you carry on a mature discussion of issues?
statusquObama, change you can only pretend in
?
"Folks, this is not your father's Republican Party."
Joe Biden
A nation attacked without provocation would by necessity, defend itself.
statusquObama, change you can only pretend in
I was interested if you believe it's the overall system that is not only corrupt, but has a corrupting influence.
That would depend entirely on the individual.
There are people who are incorruptible. At least I believe that to be so.
Could they advance in a corrupt system.
If the answer to that question is no, then we are probably doomed.
These are very difficult questions.
All politics is about balancing interests.
When Corporations are held to be persons, then the balance is dramatically skewed and that is our problem today.
Corporations are sociopaths.
statusquObama, change you can only pretend in
"...it was a mistake for the Obama Administration to take on massive health care reforms in 2009, and suggested efforts would have been better spent addressing the economy."
Print up the "No Shit Sherlock" awards! Wonder if they have people living under overpasses in Nebraska?
The Democrats could have done both since effective health care reform does have a huge impact on the economy.
"Overpasses in Nebraska"?
overpasses in Nebraska.
And Kansas and all those places Hollywood likes to portray as barren landscapes void of life.
Minnesota.
"Folks, this is not your father's Republican Party."
Joe Biden
they're still living under the overpasses in Miami.
Right below the text box I am typing in is an ad saying:
It would be hilarious the way these people play with the language, if it weren't so sinister.
Would that we actually talking about government run health care, because that would be the British model, full national health, which has been my proposal going way back.
Obama's mistake was in selling out from day one.
statusquObama, change you can only pretend in
and eat Shave Ice . . while the rest of the country battles the worst winter in 30 years what a guy!
under the overpass at the Kansas-Nebraska border to show sympathy for the recently unemployed, like KU coach Mangino.
"Folks, this is not your father's Republican Party."
Joe Biden
Hope he washed them.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
I'm looking forward to Harry Reid's retirement announcement.
Vote GOP and move forward to the 18th Century.
I posted more than once that when Obama did finally weigh in reform he would stand firmly behind the Senate bill, and he would use his influence to further bully progressives and liberals to fall in line, unlike the approach to the Lieberman's and Nelson's of the world. If progressives and liberals who voted for Obama or who still think Obama is finally going to try and push for a more progressive health care bill, or any other real progressive reforms in finance and climate change, you need to get a fucking clue. This guy is Clinton redux. He is corporatist of the worst sort. I voted for him, but for one reaon only, the Supreme Court.
One reason only, did you get what you wanted?
statusquObama, change you can only pretend in
...Rather it will be to make the final bill as much like the Senate bill as possible. The president is in lockstep with Lieberman and Nelson. If he wanted a more progressive bill, the time for action was in early 2009 (or even right after the election).
This was never about the best bill or even a good bill to Obama. It was about getting any bill passed that he could call "historic" in future elections. Mission Accomplished, Mr. Obama.
had the same opinion about that damn Constitution thing Madison and Hamilton rammed through.
"Folks, this is not your father's Republican Party."
Joe Biden
I know that no one is asking for my opinion, but I say kill the bill. It is an absolute joke and disgrace. How dare Obama require all Americans to purchase crappy insurance, much less require those who are at the bottom to pay for it. The entire premise that the insurance and pharmaceutical companies should have a place at the table was flawed and corrupt from the start.
Yet, I ain't holding my breath, and I am not holding my breath that Obama will realize the only way he can get re-elected is if he stops acting like Bush and starts being the President for those who elected him, and, by the way, notwithstanding Chuck Todd's stupidity, Obama will never get the right to listen to him, let alone agree with him.
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