Health Care: Too Much to Stomach!

He did it again, as we knew.  And the Nevada Leg Hound humped the LIEberleg and caved-in.

Senate Democrats have ceded yet more crucial components of President Obama's health reforms, dropping proposals for both a public option and Medicare buy-in, apparently caving to push-back from Republicans and centrist Democrats, according to a published report.

"The general consensus was that [...] we shouldn’t make the perfect the enemy of the good and in order to get all the insurance reforms accomplished and a number of other good things in the bill,” Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) told reporters, according to Bloomberg News. Dropping the Medicare expansion “would be necessary to get the 60 votes,” he said.

Asked whether Democrats had truly dropped both provisions, Senator Max Baucus (D-) said, "It's looking like that's the case," according to Reuters.

Democrats had wanted to see Medicare expanded so that people aged 55 and over can buy in to the government-run plan, which currently covers senior citizens aged 65 or older. A public insurance option would have offered competition to high priced private insurers and allowed citizens to purchase low-cost policies through government markets…

Inserted from <Raw Story>

It is clear that the Senate leadership is determined to get a deal done by Christmas, no matter what, and the only way to meet that timeline is through Traitor Joe.  Rachel Maddow discussed the issue with my Senator, Ron Wyden, a long time champion of progressive health care reform.

 

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I have followed Ron for years and I know his moods and gestures.  I have never seen him do the beltway sidestep the way he did last night.  I have never seen him hate what he was saying as he did last night.  This is the first time ever that I have felt ashamed of him.

So what’s next?  I don’t know, but I have a pretty good guess.  After everyone in the Senate is settled on the deal, Traitor Joe LIEberman will announce that he will join the Republican filibuster, unless the Democrats strip the 90% loss ratio that limits Big Insurance profit.  Then what?

The one hope left comes from the HPC.

House liberals have fired off a letter to the President demanding a meeting to discuss health care reform and reiterating their insistence that the bill include core liberal priorities — another sign that if the bill is watered down enough in the Senate, it could face a headwind in in the House.

A source sends over the letter from the two co-chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus to Obama:

Dear Mr. President:

On behalf of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, we write to request a meeting with you to discuss health care reform legislation. We have attached the Congressional Progressive Caucus’ Principles that we expect to be included in the health care reform bill conference report.

We look forward to meeting with you soon to discuss how we can work together to ensure these provisions are included in the final bill.

Sincerely,

Rep Raul M. Grijalva

Rep Lynn Woolsey

The CPC represents at least 80 House Dems. The attached principles that the liberals want included, of course, include a robust public option. Obviously, liberals supported the House bill without a robust public plan, so this may not be all that worrisome to the White House… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <The Plumline>

I feel so frustrated over this that I could scream.  There are two things, however, about which I have no doubt.  When the Senate reconvenes in January 2010, I want Joe LIEberman out of the caucus.  He is a Republican, and the damage he has caused is incalculable.  When the Senate reconvenes in January 2011, I want a new Democratic Senator from Nevada.  It was Harry Reid’s job to get this passed.  Instead, he humped the GOP leg every time there was a problem.  We need a Majority Leader with courage and conviction.  The Nevada Leg Hound has neither.