The August recess shows, yet again, that the sole agenda of the GOP is to bring down the administration of President Obama. It is time for the rest of us (everyone to the left of Attila the Hun) to wish them “goodbye and good luck”, close ranks, and pass Government-sponsored single-payer health coverage — for every American.
I sincerely hope that this is the message that President Obama chooses to articulate in his coming address.
The Democrats have been bending over backwards to accommodate the opposition, and have completely lost track of the vision and mission that they set out to accomplish. It’s time to put a stop to it.
I think President Obama should say, forcefully:
- Every American is entitled to quality health care.
- A government-sponsored single-payer program is the only workable (and therefore the best) strategy for delivering this.
- The approach taken to public education is the best starting point for how to structure the new program
- Funding for the new program should come from taxes designed to redirect existing health care and health-insurance spending from private companies to the federal and local governments.
- Existing health insurance companies should be nationalized. Whatever of their infrastructure that is useful for distributing payments to providers should be transferred to public ownership.
The GOP and right-wing opposition is going to oppose whatever the Democrats suggest. The best approach is, therefore, to leave them and their teabaggers behind. We’ve made a genuine effort to work with them, and gotten nothing but hostility, lies, and obstructionism from them.
It’s time to stop farting around with half-assed “incremental” approaches and solve the problem.
It’s a new season.
the blue dog Democrats who are currently against the public option will jump right over it and support single payer? Seriously? What evidence do you have that would suggest this could possibly happen?
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p>I think you are being too partisan by saying “The GOP and right-wing opposition is going to oppose whatever the Democrats suggest.” since I have heard many Republicans comment that they agree on aspects of the House bill and have provided alternatives on their own. The problem is the President, the Hosue, the Senate and the MSM refuse to even report on the Republican bills being proposed.
It’s time for the Democratic leadership to have a series of candid, frank, hard-nosed conversations with the “blue dog” Democrats. This is a with-us-or-against-us time. If they aren’t willing to back the President’s plan, it’s time to stop treating them as “Democrats”.
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p>Single-payer is the strategy of choice. It’s time for the Democrats to go back on offense.
And lose control of the House and Senate. Please, keep on being your totalitarian selves, please keep demanding single-payer, please keep stamping your feet in a national political snit, at least until November 2010. Or, better still, until 2012.
That’s hilarious! When Republicans do it, it’s Right-Thinking Righteousness. When Democrats even talk about doing it, they’re totalitarians!
this is demonstrably false: “We’ve made a genuine effort to work with them.”
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p>The Republican leadership in the House has been entirely excluded from all discussion and bill drafting. Period. Republican contribution to HR 3200?
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p>Zero.
manure? I smell manure. No cows in this pasture; just bulls. It has to be bullshit.
What was that old “Group of Six” thing, then?
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p>The Republican contribution to the health care debate has everything to do with the nihilism of the Republicans — who have swallowed the Luntz memo whole, ie. health care legislation => Democratic votes.
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p>Zero contribution? True. The GOP should be ashamed it has no more to offer.
It sounds to me like nothing has changed since they started talking. Meaning, the Democrats have not removed anything and the Republicans have not added anything. I will climb on the Republican-beating bandwagon IF the Democrats remove the public option and then the Republicans simply move tot he next thing and oppose that. But I haven’t seen this yet other than the heavy partisan remarks from pundits saying Republicans will oppose ANYTHING.
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p>There are a few proposals from Republicans (one of which I have in my sig line) which won’t even be discussed by Democrats. My impression of the House Democrats is they have a bill which they want and if they don’t get EXACTLY that bill then the Republicans are not cooperating (Obstructionist).
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p>It would be good for everyone if there was a summary sheet of the bill which both sides could comment on “line-by-line” and then we could all know if either side is willing to “compromise” or it is a take-it-or-leave-it scenario.
wishing for stuff that’s never going to happen: Single-payer.
I understand that single-payer might not be possible this fall. I don’t think that means that we should therefore not strive for it.
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p>I think we should push — hard — for single-payer. If, while doing that, we find ourselves at fourth and long from the 40, then — and only then — we can try for a field-goal (followed, of course, by an onside-kick attempt).
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p>The public option should be our “field goal”. First-downs help only to the extent that they expand our options for single payer.
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p>I think we’ve lost momentum because we’ve lost sight of our goal — SINGLE PAYER. First downs aren’t enough. Field goals aren’t enough.
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p>This nation needs quality government-funded health care for every American.
From Rasmussen today –
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p>Generic Congressional Ballot
Republicans Widen Lead Over Democrats on Generic Ballot
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p>How will Passage of Health Care Reform effect the Deficit
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p>Should Democrats pass their Healthcare Reform bill without Republicans?
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p>On a brighter note for Dems…
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p>Seventy-four percent (74%) of Republican voters say their party’s representatives in Congress have lost touch with GOP voters nationwide over the past several years.
Like this…
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I hate questions like the second one you cite (regarding deficit). Just because voters believe it doesn’t make it true. Those questions contribute next to nothing to the debate unless they are being used in reconsidering the message.
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p>The 58% who think they need to change the bill to accomodate reasonable Republicans (oxymoron?) should know this: been there, done that, that ship has sailed.
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p>No truer words were ever spoken… when I look at our public officials, local, state and national I think of how stupid the American public is when we elect. We elect on so many “irrelevant” factors it’s a wonder we even get to the low level of who we do have. Do they have straight teeth, are they attractive, do they have a good voice, how much money can they raise… and then the incomprehensible “let’s replace the person with their wife/husband since they were close”… huh? Does it really make ANY sense to replace a politician with their spouse? WHY? If anything, I think the majority of couples I know aren’t anything like their spouses. Does this mean we should be scrutinizing a candidate’s spouse during an election since they may be their replacement?
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p>Ok, so you don’t like polls.
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p>On the brighter side (and trying to be rational and mentioning a poll which I didn’t like the results of)… what did you think of this poll
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p>”Seventy-four percent (74%) of Republican voters say their party’s representatives in Congress have lost touch with GOP voters nationwide over the past several years.”
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p>Unlike you, I do agree with the results of all these polls, including the 74%!!!!
The Republicans have made it imminently clear, since the November election, that there is NO BILL that will “win support” from more than a handful of Republicans. The Republicans have clearly staked out an oppositional, no-holds-barred posture explicitly aimed at taking down the Obama administration.
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p>Those who persist in the delusion that changes to the bill (other than a complete capitulation) will bring Republicans on board are mired in fantasy-land wishful thinking. There are no “reasonable Republicans” left in the GOP (other than the two or three already on board).
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p>This poll is meaningless, there are all sorts of reasons why people who care passionately about fixing our health care system will not be identifiable from this poll.
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p>The “generic ballot” question is meaningless.
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p>A fair number of folks share my belief that we need government-sponsored single-payer health-care even if it increases the deficit. The second question is therefore moot.
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p>As Christopher and I have pointed out, the third question measures wishful-thinking levels more than anything else.
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p>This is a time for those who want our health-care system fixed — really fixed — to step forward and lead the way.
I do have a feeling that if these poll results were flipped in your favor they would be hoisted as proof of the public supporting your bill. But we’ll never know.
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p>Then I suggest you proceed full speed ahead with the reconciliation efforts to go against the “will of the people” and let the chips fall where they land.
I for one “trust” the poll in the statistical sense that I assume it used sound methods and accurately reflects the current public mood. I just don’t like questions that essentially ask people’s opinion as to what the facts are (or at least the implication that if the people believe it it’s true). On this issue we’ve seen a variety of polls and am perfectly happy to follow your suggestion in the second paragraph of your above comment.
The President may oppose reconciliation since he may need GOP from time to time and reconciliation will surely sour the GOP. Just on example from the NYTs today…
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I read this today
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