WASHINGTON - Democrats at both ends of the Capitol yesterday accelerated their drive to enact sweeping healthcare legislation, outlining proposals to extend coverage to uninsured millions but omitting most details on plans for raising more than $1 trillion needed to cover costs.
A first-ever tax on employer-provided health benefits also figures prominently among options under consideration, but President Obama campaigned against that last year and its inclusion in the bill would require him to reverse course....
Both bills would require individuals to purchase insurance if they could afford it. Subsidies to families with incomes as high as about $88,000 a year would help them pay for insurance, and waivers would be available in hardship cases. The Senate measure provides for an unspecified penalty for anyone refusing to obey the mandate, and House Democrats are considering a similar approach, which would be similar to the 2006 Massachusetts healthcare law.
Related:
Why the Nation Doesn't Need Massachusetts Health Care
Massachusetts Health Care Takes a Seat on the S***ter
The Massachusetts Model
The Universal Health Care Rip-Off
Swapping Partners Good For Health
The Business of Health Care
And HOW MANY TIMES I gotta LINK Sicko, anyway?
Also see: What Your National Health Plan Will Look Like
How You Will Pay For Your Medicine
Why You Are Getting National Health Care
Taxing the American Public's Health
Boston Globe Omissions: Hiding Health Care Failure
Are you sure you want our style, America?
On another contentious point, the emerging House plan would give individuals the option of buying insurance provided by the federal government. Democrats on the Senate committee embraced a similar provision last week, but omitted it from the draft released yesterday in what Senator Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat who is taking the lead while Senator Edward M. Kennedy undergoes treatment for brain cancer, said was a gesture to Republicans who oppose it....
The White House's goal of a bipartisan bill was growing more distant. But after months of preliminary effort, Democrats made clear they intend to move ahead on their own timetable, one that calls for passage of legislation in the House and Senate by early August. A final compromise would wait for September or later in the fall, according to a schedule the party's leadership established weeks ago.
"This is the year we have to do it," said Representative Henry Waxman of California, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee....
--more--"And get this:
"Dems' health care plan stumbles but keeps moving
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-- Your friends at Boston.com --"NOT AGAIN!!!!!!!
See:
What was CUT(?):
House Democrats say they won't reveal how they intend to pay for their plan until later. Higher taxes on upper-income households appear likely, but broad levies -- even a federal sales tax -- are also under discussion. Democrats are aiming to raise about $600 billion in new taxes over 10 years.
Gee, we spend that on war in a year!
Representative Henry Waxman of California, chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, said drug makers reaped a "windfall of billions of dollars" from the prescription benefit and Congress wants some of it back."
Then WHY DID YOU GIVE IT TO THEM in the first place!!!?
Btw, they apparently claim they didn't do so good:
"Medicare drug plan nets savings for seniors" by Alicia Chang, Associated Press | July 23, 2009
LOS ANGELES - Medicare’s three-year-old prescription drug plan has largely met its main goal of making lifesaving medicines more affordable for seniors, a new report found.
The analysis by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation examined government data and past studies.
I love self-serving studies, don't you?
Government spending on the Medicare drug benefit has also been lower than expected and is one of the rare federal programs to come in under budget....
I guess when you tell lie after lie after lie every day it becomes easier to tell whoppers.
--more--"
"Kennedy, Dodd unveil trimmer Senate healthcare bill" by Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Associated Press | July 3, 2009
WASHINGTON - Americans who refuse to buy medical coverage could be hit with fines of more than $1,000 under a healthcare overhaul bill unveiled yesterday by key Senate Democrats looking to fulfill President Obama’s top domestic priority.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated the fines would raise around $36 billion over 10 years. Senate aides said the penalties would be modeled on the approach taken by Massachusetts, which imposes a fine of about $1,000 a year on individuals who refuse to get coverage. Under the federal legislation, families would pay higher penalties than individuals.
Trust me, America, you don't want what we have.
People would be required to carry health insurance just like motorists must get auto coverage....
Which means the rates will rocket up because THEY KNOW you will HAVE to PAY!!!! Don't even get me started on the insurance laws around here.
Those who still refuse to sign up would face penalties, called “shared responsibility payments.’’
In a statement, Obama welcomed the revised legislation....
--more--"
WASHINGTON - President Obama is pushing for an Aug. 8 deadline for the Senate and House to vote on proposals that would reduce medical costs and provide coverage for the nearly 50 million Americans who are uninsured. Obama says he wants to sign a bill by October....
Related: Why Obama Wants A Health Care Bill This Year
And it has nothing to do with your health, readers.
--more--"
"Healthcare overhaul bill stalls in Congress; Cost concerns raise doubts on August goal" by Lisa Wangsness and Susan Milligan, Globe Staff | July 9, 2009
"That’s funny, congress didn’t balk at giving ten trillion dollars for a war based on lies and another ten trillion to the banks who promptly absconded with it"
WASHINGTON - The race in Congress to pass bipartisan healthcare legislation this summer hit a rough spot yesterday as key senators raised doubts about whether they could sort out complex policy disagreements in time.
Democratic leaders sounded decidedly less confident about speedy approval amid festering divisions. Moderate Democrats and Republicans are balking at the idea of creating a government insurance option, which more liberal Democrats insist is crucial if insurance will be affordable. Moderates in both parties are also worried about the costs of expanded healthcare coverage - it is likely to exceed $1 trillion - at a time when deficits are soaring and the economy is weak....
The Obama administration and Democratic leaders have pursued their legislative agenda at hyper speed this year, eager to get their proposals passed and signed into law while voters are still eager for sweeping change.
Then how come we ain't getting any?
In just the last six months, Democrats have pushed through a children’s health bill, an equal pay law, and a credit cardholders’ bill of rights.
Pffft!
Some victories!
See: Banks Betray Obama
Late last month, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, pushed through a climate change bill that would impose historic new limits on pollutants tied to global warming. While Pelosi did not have the votes in hand even a few hours before the pre-Independence Day recess vote, she and the White House conducted an 11th-hour lobbying blitz and won its passage.
See: Fart Cloud Forms Over Congress
Democrats are approaching the healthcare overhaul with a similar sense of urgency....
Honestly, I AM SICK of the FEAR YO-YO being PLAYED on EVERY DAMN ISSUE, 'kay?
But stretching out the schedule may risk the votes of fence-sitting lawmakers if they lose their nerve over the August recess, when interest groups are poised to run millions of dollars worth of TV ads and organize ground campaigns on an unprecedented scale.
Sort of like the largest-ever protest before a war in Febuary 2003, huh, MSM?
Further, two key Democratic senators, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Robert Byrd of West Virginia, are seriously ill, and leaders want to schedule key votes when the two legendary lawmakers are well enough to show up for session....
That's where I start believing in the life-extension technology we serfs can't have. Kennedy should be dead by now.
The Ted Kennedy Memorial Health Act?
Not all Democrats are necessarily on board....
--more--"
"Congress foresees no healthcare bill by August recess
WASHINGTON - President Obama’s overhaul of the nation’s health systems is unlikely to be completed by the White House’s August deadline, lawmakers said yesterday as Congress turns its attention to other priorities.
Democrats and Republicans alike said the administration’s sweeping healthcare proposals are moving forward on Capitol Hill but they cautioned against rushing into a spending plan that could costs trillions over the next decade.
Of course, when it comes to rushing into tyranny and wars, no problem!
Obama’s health and human services secretary said she remains optimistic Congress would send the White House legislation before the year ends....
Republicans, seizing on an issue that affects all Americans and has shown a glimmer for hope for an out-of-power political party, also see the issue as a way to win House and Senate seats in the 2010 midterm elections.
Related: The Bias of the Boston Globe
--more--"
WASHINGTON - Senate Democratic leaders yesterday abandoned plans for a vote on a healthcare overhaul before Congress goes on recess next month, dealing a blow to President Obama’s ambitious timetable to revamp the nation’s $2.4 trillion system of medical care.
The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, delivered the official pronouncement, saying, “It’s better to have a product based on quality and thoughtfulness rather than try to jam something through.’’
So WHERE WERE YOU when it came to the SPYING, the LYING, and the WARS, s***ter!?
His words were a near-echo of Republicans who have criticized what they have called a rush to act on complex legislation that affects every American....
Ha-ha-ha!!! Of course, when Repugs criticize it is an ATTACK!
Obama had pushed for votes in the House and Senate before the August recess. Obama has made nearly daily appeals for the overhaul in the past two weeks and has staked much of his political credibility on its success.
At the town hall, Obama likened his healthcare effort to the race to put a man on the moon 40 years ago, saying that some dismissed President Kennedy’s effort as “foolish, even impossible’’ and were proved wrong....
Seeing as the liar-in-chief cites it, I'm starting to doubt even that!
--more--"
Also see:
Health Bill Loaded With Pork
Obama's SicKo Sequel
No Choice But Single Payer
No Need For Single-Payer
Update:
"House Democrats clear health hurdle; Medicare pact reached, but obstacles loom" by David Espo, Associated Press | July 25, 2009
WASHINGTON - House Democrats announced agreement yesterday on far-reaching steps designed to rein in the relentless growth of Medicare, part of a concerted effort to counter the impression that President Obama’s healthcare legislation is in deep trouble.
We aren't fooled by the s*** fooleys no more!!!!!
Speaker Nancy Pelosi hailed the agreement as a “giant step forward’’ for the bill that Obama has made a test of his leadership. Advocates said it eventually would turn Medicare toward a program that rewards quality, rather than volume, as well as alter a system that pays doctors and other providers more in some regions of the country than others. Yet the leadership all but abandoned a pledge to approve legislation before lawmakers are scheduled to begin a monthlong vacation next Friday....
Good!
When they are DOING NOTHING and OUT of TOWN it is a GOOD THING!!!
"Special legislative sessions to cut budget are costing states; Expense adds up when calling lawmakers back" by Greg Bluestein, Associated Press | July 25, 2009
States are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on special legislative sessions whose chief purpose is to trim more funding from their eroding budgets. Analysts expect the number of special sessions, usually a rarity in many states, to soar as governors are left with little choice but to herd lawmakers back to state houses to balance the books....
Put locks on the door then! Just keep 'em out!
See?
Separately, talks between the leadership and rebellious conservative and moderate Democrats demanding changes in the bill remained deadlocked, so much so that they briefly collapsed during the day before being revived....
Republicans have grown more emboldened as efforts in Congress stall, and some have suggested that defeat of the drive to remake healthcare could cripple his presidency, now in its sixth month....
They NEVER described Democrats treating Bush that way; of course, they bent over when he barked, so....
Pelosi virtually ordered a small group of Democrats from rural and urban areas to thrash out differences Thursday night on Medicare issues that sound arcane, but matter enormously to individual lawmakers and will probably also lead to cuts in spending growth....
Madame Fuhrer, 'er, Speaker....
Lawmakers said the agreement would lead to changes in Medicare to try to reward doctors, hospitals and other providers for high-quality care. Critics argue the current system simply pays by volume - compensating providers regardless of whether additional medical procedures contribute to better healthcare....
TRILLIONS for WARS and BAN.... whatever, American suckers!
