The Washington Monthly has a very good article about the health insurance reform debate over whether or not to scuttle the House and Senate bills and start over. They characterize it as a battle within the battle between the Left activists and the Left policy wonks. A really good read:

The Fight Over the Fight

The conclusion of the WM is that we should not start over, but remain focused on future legislation, and they use past legislative history to remind us it ia a process. I’ll repost my history of Social Security here, because it is a kind of revelation.

The Social Security Act was passed by Congress as part of the New Deal and signed by Roosevelt on August 14, 1935. Most women and minorities were excluded from the benefits. Jobs that were not covered by the act included workers in agricultural, domestic service, government employees, and many teachers, nurses, hospital employees, librarians, and social workers. The act also denied coverage to individuals who worked intermittently.

__1950  After years of debates about the inclusion of domestic labor, household employees working at least two days a week for the same person were added in, along with nonprofit workers and the self-employed.

__1954   Hotel workers, laundry workers, all agricultural workers, and state and local government employees were added in.

__ 1956   Disability benefits were added; women were allowed to retire at 62 with benefits reduced by 25%. Widows of covered workers were allowed to retire at 62 without the reduction in benefits.

__1961 Retirement at age 62 was extended to men.

__1962   Benefits of covered women could be collected by dependent husbands, widowers, and children.

—1965 MEDICARE was added, part of President Johnson’s Great Society program. The age at which widows could begin collecting benefits was reduced to 60. Widowers were not included in this change. When divorce became the major cause of marriages ending, divorcées were added to the list of recipients.

__1972   The bill also set up a cost of living adjustment (COLA) to take effect in 1975. Amendments also established the Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Immigrants who had never paid into the system became eligible for SSI benefits when they reached age 65. SSI is not a Social Security benefit, but a welfare program, because the elderly and disabled poor are entitled to SSI regardless of work history.

__1977-1990’s Amendments regarding the indexing of payments and dealing with the Trust Fund were enacted.

And here’s a short few paragraphs in The New Republic trying to cheer we progressives:

What Public Option Supporters Won

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bito
Member

FYI: Bernie Saunders is on C-Span2. Wow great speech!
Oops! sorry

bito
Member

FYI: Bernie Saunders speech is on and it is GREAT! C-Span 2, (he was forced to remove his amendt.)

cognoggin
Member
cognoggin

FYI: Just called Maria Cantwells office in my state of Washington today to ask how are the 30,000 million people who have no health insurance are going to be covered if there is no public option. He said that they are trying to figure this out now. He said they are thinking of doing something like the Basic Health program in WA. state. My family of four was on this program four about five years when we had a struggling business. We were paying anywhere from $30 to $90 a month for good health insurance. It is based on income. The staffer said that people within %300 possibly %400 of the poverty level could be covered. Right now the program is struggling because of the economy. We were very grateful for Basic Health when we needed it. We never would have had health insurance otherwise.
Who Knows what will come of this. I think we need to demand affordable health coverage for everyone.

bito
Member

This is legislating, this is the making of the sausage. Have many here watched many bills this long this much with such intensity?

Right now Coburn is making the clerk read the whole 336 page amendt. of Bernie Saunders (medicare for all). What an ass!

Edit: the estimate by the clerks office this maneuver by Coburn is going to take 8 hrs. to read the whole thing. This is the GOP’s idea of governing! Constuctive, Eh?

javaz
Member

Morning, b’ito.
Hope you are feeling better today.

Here’s a little health care story that hopefully brightens everyone’s day.

A Nurse’s Tale

“Of course I won’t laugh,” said the nurse. “I’m a professional. In over twenty years I’ve never laughed at a patient.”

“Okay then.” said Fred, and he proceeded to drop his trousers, revealing the tiniest bit of goods the nurse had ever seen. Length and width, it couldn’t have been bigger than a AAA battery.

Unable to control herself, the nurse started giggling, then fell to the floor laughing. Ten minutes later, she was able to struggle to her feet and regain her composure.

“I am so sorry,” she said. “I don’t know what came over me. On my honor as a nurse and a lady, I promise it won’t happen again. Now, tell me, what seems to be the problem?”

“It’s swollen.” Fred replied.

bito
Member

Morning j’avaz, good joke! After spending the last few days not doing much, I need to get some chores done today. Need to make to the Groc. store. Hope all is well with you.

javaz
Member

The husband and I are getting ready to jump on our bicycles and ride off into the desert.
Lots of horse trails out here, so it’s not too bad a ride except for the hills.
My head hurts from trying to follow all this politics.
Hope you have a good afternoon and hope to see you later.

nellie
Member

I’m changing my vote.

I was thinking we should go with reconciliation or go back to the drawing board, but after listening to some very sensible arguments, I don’t think we should kill this bill. I’m asking a different question, which is, “Is this a good start?” And I have to say, yes, this is a good start.

This bill will help a lot of people, and that’s a good start. It won’t do everything we need or everything we want, but it will put a stop to some of the most egregious practices of our insurance industry. Policies we’ve been trying to stop for decades. And that’s a good start.

Once we have something on the books, we can add to it.

We need to channel progressive anger into making sure we throw out all remaining obstructionists so that we can ensure reform continues in the coming years.

javaz
Member

Sorry to disagree, nellie, but if Howard Dean is correct, the bill will hurt some of the most vulnerable – the elderly – by charging higher premiums.
Plus, according to Dean, it will not stop insurance companies from canceling insurance for pre-existing conditions.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/HealthCare/howard-dean-health-care-bill-bigger-bailout-insurance/story?id=9349392

nellie
Member

We seem to need a list of pros and cons on this bill — that’s what I feel like right now. Like the lists people make when they’re trying to make a decision. We don’t have access to any copy of this bill yet, do we?

escribacat
Member

I’m tending in your direction also. Last night I watched Howard Dean and thought, Dump the bill. Then I watched Wyden and thought, Don’t dump the bill. Gawd do I feel like a teeter-totter. Am I the only person who is exhausted?

On second wind, there STILL isn’t a final bill. They STILL have to pass something, go to committee and come up with the final bill. What I don’t get is why they aren’t talking about regulation of premium prices.

FeedUp
Guest

Good Morning Friends,

Just finished watching Washington Journal this morning. One of their guests was Senator Kay Hagan “DEM” from North Carolina.

Who is she ????

She has a big “D” behind her name. She just stated she was a fiscal conservative. Then stated that the European Union has problems with counterfeit drug importation and people are dying
from taking these so called “illegal” drugs.

I have two very close friends that live in the European Union and they have never heard of people dying from these drugs. Let alone of a illegal prescription drug problem in their countries.

The two countries my friends are in are Ireland and Germany.

Has anyone else heard of this ? Or is this just another sack of lies, the mantra of tell Americans anything (the dumbing down continues).

javaz
Member

I’m disgusted with the Democrats.
So many promises made, so many broken.
I feel betrayed.

I am hoping that President Obama doesn’t break his promise on providing affordable health care for all.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i7pIgy2ugWrNRwWJXRsdLjuMiwwgD9CK2L6O2

nellie
Member

She’s in North Carolina — so it’s not too surprising she’s a conservative in Dem’s clothing. Progressives have a lot of work to do, getting people to see the truth of how their representatives don’t represent their interests.

We have a lot of work to do developing good progressive candidates, too. And getting them elected. Ned Lamont should have won in CT.

Good morning javaz! I hope your morning is starting off with some sunshine.

Morning, FeedUp!

Thanks for the link, javaz. The more I read this kind of thing, the more I think the filibuster has outlived its usefulness. Dems never use it, anyway. It has devolved into a GOP obstruction machine.

FeedUp
Guest

Nellie,

You are so right another “fiscal conservative” disguised as a DEM.

javaz
Member

I’m not giving up hope yet, but if by chance the Democrats and President Obama fail to deliver on their promise of affordable health care for all, and if they instead pass legislation that is a bonanza for the insurance and pharmaceutical companies, then all of them deserve to be voted out.

If the Democrats are going to act like Republicans in rewarding corporations, then what difference is there between the 2 parties?

FeedUp
Guest

Javaz,

Other than a small handful of Dems, there is no difference.

FlipFlop Lieberman, was a democrat, then had his head up McCain’s arse, now an independent.

A true patriot and champion for the American people. He is a FRAUD.

bito
Member

C’mon people, Kay Hagan is not the demon many of you make her out to be. Is she a rabid progressive? No. Is she a rabid blue dog? No. Neither of the drug importation amendts. passed and she was not a leader pro or con on them. she is not standing in the way for a good HCR bill. Is she a fiscal conserv? She has to represent North Carolina. She has to get elected. Do you think Bernie Sanders could get elected there?

Gretel1or2
Member
Gretel1or2

Okay something about this health care debate has become amiss in the last few days, and I’m not sure who to believe about anything. The series of events listed below have been puzzling.

1. First the senate dems come up with a medicare buy-in plan, and they state that they have sent it to the CBO for scoring.
2. Lieberman comes out and says he doesn’t support any public option
3. The WH supposedly tells Reid to cut a deal with Lieberman, then WH denied it.
4. Senate is poised to remove the medicare buy-in before the CBO comes in. WHY?
5. Wyden now seems to change his tune about what’s in the bill and seems resigned to not have a public option.
6. Lieberman is out there grinning on every news station, claiming that he is concerned about costs (but the medicare buy-in has not even been scored)!!
7. Lieberman has the audacity to publicly state that he doesn’t support the mecdicare buy-in because Weiner & Dean seemed to happy about it????
8. Obama comes out and claims he’s excited that all his guidelines have been met in the senate bill?
9. Dean comes out and says to “kill the bill” and wait until two years down (when there will be even fewer democrats in the house/senate) to put in the more progressive amendments?

Is this a trick? What is going on? Are we being kept in the dark about something?

kesmarn
Admin

I’m beginning to suspect that we may have a game of Good Cop/Bad Cop going on.

But I’m so tired right at the moment, that I’m going to have to take a page from Scarlett O’Hara’s book and “think about that tomorrow…”

Good night, friends!

Gretel1or2
Member
Gretel1or2

Night night…I think I’m going to bed too.

escribacat
Member

Gretel … Is there method to this madness? Your list is an excellent description of what seems to me like mayhem and sheer looniness. Lieberman sure is making it easy to hate him…almost too easy. I posted yesterday, “He is looking almost too bad to be true.”

But then again, sometimes an asshole is just an asshole. We shall see.

Khirad
Member

So did we get to the teabagger “Die In” on Rachel? Sorry. I just thought that was super classy, yet again.

Speaking of, I remember bringing up how there was all this tempest in a teapot over Specter how many months ago? He hasn’t been one of the problem senators in this, and was on Rachel. Just sayin’. Read into that what you will.

bito
Member

Wish I could read some more but….
Good Night all.
Keep the Planet Spinning….correctly!

kesmarn
Admin

Good night, b’ito. Sleep well.

Kalima
Admin

Good night bito, rest well, stay strong.

Here at the Planet, we always spin to please. 🙂

Khirad
Member

Night.

FeedUp
Guest

The argument that the importation of drugs isn’t going on in this country is a not true. I have noticed that many prescription drugs are now made in many other countries.

The vote was 51-48, short of the 60 required. In the complicated politics of the moment, that was counted as a victory for the health care bill, since the drug industry opposes importation but is working with the White House to pass the overhaul effort.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who had pushed the change, said it was a loss for consumers. “This is not over and it’s never going to be over as long as American pay the highest prices in the world” for drugs, he said.

Importation of drugs by the mega-pharmaceuticals manufactured in foreign countries is okay ? ? Then ramping up the price to Americans. Why is this okay ?

This isn’t change, it is just more people talking out of both sides of their mouth.

At least Sen. Dorgan is being honest.

AdLib
Admin

Excellent points. It is a joke, the excuses Pharma gives for not importing drugs.

How many people have died from taking pharms in Canada? Shouldn’t even ask the question, it’s validating the obvious bullshit excuses.

How could the Repubs pass so many horrible bills and the Dems can’t pass anything without it being hugely corrupted?

Khirad
Member

Well said. I wish I could add more, but I’m just not feeling very focused tonight. Heck, people are even taking their chances with La Farmacia.

choicelady
Member

Cher – it’s 7:44 in Sacramento. Nice to know we’re in the same time zone!

I find all of your arguments against killing the bill very persuasive, and I do agree.

I would like us ALL to take up the mantra about one thing, however – if there is no public option by which premiums etc. are truly made more affordable, then THERE MUST BE NO MANDATE TO HAVE INSURANCE. Forcing people to buy the excresences out there and incur god-know what costs is utterly immoral!The Schwarzenegger effort and the Mass Connector both planned and do have pretty low, subsidized premiums. However, to keep the premiums low, the deductibles are $5000 with out of pocket up to $10,000 – PER PERSON PER YEAR. That is outrageous! It makes YOU pay that, not the insurance company! It’s a total gift to Aetna and Hartford!!!! People in MA who have it are using it as catastrophic insurance because they do not HAVE the $5000, so they are paying for insuranc they can’t afford to USE.

So – here’s my rap: No public plan, no mandate. Simple as that.

Do you know that government-mandated purchases of commodities in the private market has no TERM in modern economics??? The closest I can come is feudal tribute. I don’t think that’s progress, do you?