We have been pretty disappointed here for most of the heatlhcare debate. I mean, we lost single-payer before sitting down to bargain, and now barring a Christmas miracle from sixty or so House members we have lost the public option while being mandated to buy coverage. Folks like myself with a pre-existing condition in my case Type 1 Diabetes can still be discriminated against for five long years. Now in retrospect we lost another battle that shows nicely just how bought and paid for our Congress really is.
In my email in-box today, was the weekly message from the White House with the video of the President's weekly address. This week, he focused on why I should support the Senate's "health care reform" (i.e., the Insurance Company Revitalization and Stimulus Act of 2009). Without noting that the address was recorded before the Senate bill was finalized, Mr. Obama gave all the now tried-and-true reasons: historic opportunity, better than status quo, yada yada yada.
Populist Caucus Chairman Bruce Braley (IA-01) and House Trade Working Group Chairman Mike Michaud (ME-02) wrote to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer today, urging them to make sure the upcoming jobs bill contains a strong "Buy American" provision.
From a press release Braley's office issued:
"Recently, as America has suffered the worst economic recession since the Great Depression, unemployment has risen and is now around 10 percent," the letter reads. "We believe that the shipment of American jobs overseas is a factor in this rising unemployment. If we are going to pass a strong job creation bill then it only makes sense to include strong Buy American provisions, to further ensure that the jobs created as a result of this legislation are created within the United States.
"We have an obligation to create jobs in America. While some would argue that Buy American is nothing more than a trade protectionist label, it is clear that these provisions would equate to greater investment, and greater job-creation, within the U.S. In addition, Buy American provisions are perfectly legal under current trade agreements and many other nations use similar mechanisms to protect their domestic manufacturers. Therefore, we feel that it is entirely appropriate that this language be included in any upcoming job-creation measure, and we believe that this provision is essential to creating and retaining American jobs.
Members of the House Populist Caucus, chaired by Representative Bruce Braley (IA-01), held a press conference on Thursday to endorse a bill that would "assess a small fee on Wall Street day traders to pay down the national deficit and invest in America's middle class families."
Oh, those poor souls who are crying so hard about the legislation provided for Universal Healthcare in the House. I mean, our "leaders" were so concerned with helping the average working American who do not have and cannot afford to buy private insurance for whatever reason that they just were so very unfair to those who have contributed so much to the problems we now face. My heart just bleeds with sympathy for these groups of people.
The right just loves to fear the dark. After falling for the propoganda of fear constantly pushed during the George W. Bush years, it seems as if they have a new leader to whip them it to paranodic frenzy. Yes Sarah Palin, the Queen of the foolish, and of right wing loons everywhere, has struck yet again.
UPDATE: SAT 2 PM SEE COMMENTS FOR INFO TO OPPOSE ANTI-WOMEN STUPAK AMENDMENT.
That's a big question and one I won't presume to answer, not being prescient or an historian. So, all I have now are questions and a growing unease that we are all about to be handed an abomination and told "it's the best we could do."
I think we've come a long long way (and not in a good direction) from the 2007-08 campaign trail when talk of universal health care coverage meant taking on the health insurance and drug companies. Hell, we've come a long way from the Congressional Progressive Caucus's position at the beginning of the summer. I'm not saying that the Democratic bill in the House isn't ok; there are many aspects of it that are very good. But no one will persuade me that "it's the best we could do" nor that it is the best we should expect. For me, there is a creeping sense that deals are being cut that do not bode well for the public good, and those deals could easily turn an "ok" bill into a truly horrid one very quickly.
Still, as it stands right now, it's the best we've got and a damn sight better than the Senate Finance piece of ....
Also, in the midst of the vote counting for the House bill, a few rocks have been overturned and some of our supposed friends have been found underneath.
Senate Democrats have not given up on passing health care reform through normal procedures requiring at least 60 votes to overcome a Republican filibuster. The problem is, several conservative Senate Democrats are on record opposing a public health insurance option. Meanwhile, a bill with no public option will have trouble passing the House of Representatives, where the overwhelming majority of the Democratic caucus supports a robust public option tied to Medicare rates.
The obvious political solution is to include some watered-down public option in the bill, giving cover to Progressive Democrats who insist on a public option while placating House Blue Dogs and Senate conservatives who want to protect private insurers' market share.
The "triggered" public option favored by many industry allies didn't fly, because most Democrats understand that the trigger would never be pulled. This past week, a new possible compromise emerged:
It was pulled out of an alternative idea, put forth by Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and, prior to him, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, to give states the power to determine whether they want to implement a public insurance option.
But instead of starting with no national public option and giving state governments the right to develop their own, the newest compromise approaches the issue from the opposite direction: beginning with a national public option and giving state governments the right not to have one.
I consider this idea's pros and cons after the jump.
The system in Washington, D.C. is broken, rigged against middle-class Americans. Taking our country back requires more than just changing presidents. It requires changing the whole broken system. [...] if we want real change, you can't just negotiate with these special interests. you have to take their power away and return it to regular people.
Well, the bad news on real Healthcare reform is that no compromise has been reached on the Healthcare Bill in the Senate or the House. The good news is that no compromise has been reached on the Healthcare Bill in the Senate or the House. In the Senate, we have Corporate Democrats negotiating with Republicans to kill real reforms and in the House we have the horribly disgusting and traitorous Blue Dogs who are determined to kill real reforms.
Kudos to the AMA. We were pretty critical of them earlier this year when it appeared that they might stand in the way of Universal Healthcare. However, today our country's largest organization of doctors came out in support of H.R. 3200, or America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009.
