Related: Pelosi's Pressure Beginning to Turn Tide on Health Tax
Anyone else really ticked off that they wrote a bill for 60 s***-puke senators when they only needed 51?
All that bull-oney about filibusters, blah, blah, was just so they could write a s*** bill that hands tax loot to insurance companies.
"Democrats ready to go it alone on health bill; Leaning toward reconciliation, Obama aide says" by Anne E. Kornblut, Washington Post | March 1, 2010
WASHINGTON - Increasingly, the White House appears to favor having the House pass a version of the measure that cleared the Senate with 60 votes in December. The Senate would then pass changes to the bill to satisfy some demands of House Democrats. That Senate vote would take place under a parliamentary procedure known as reconciliation, which requires 51 votes rather than 60....
Exactly what the legislation would look like remained a matter of negotiation within Democratic ranks.
Oh, yeah, that's the other thing. Like the Patriot Act and everything else down there, no one gets to read the bills. It's all politics. Pelosi says vote for it -- or else.
That's how things are done in the House, and the evidence is clear:
"Some House foes consider ‘yes’ on health care" by Associated Press | March 2, 2010
Nine House Democrats indicated yesterday they have not ruled out switching their “no’’ votes to “yes’’ on President Obama’s health care overhaul, brightening the party’s hopes in the face of unyielding Republican opposition....
In the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi is struggling to secure enough Democratic votes for approval - thus the effort to attract former foes.
In interviews, at least nine of the 39 Democrats - or their spokesmen - either declined to state their positions or said they were undecided about the revised legislation, making them likely targets for intense wooing by Pelosi and Obama. Three of them - Brian Baird of Washington, and Bart Gordon and John Tanner, both of Tennessee - are not seeking reelection this fall. The others are Rick Boucher of Virginia, Suzanne Kosmas of Florida, Frank Kratovil of Maryland, Michael McMahon of New York, Scott Murphy of New York, and Glenn Nye of Virginia....
Vote for it or you will get no campaign help and she will demote you on the committees you serve.
--more--"
Still printing the same old s*** fooleys, 'eh, MSM?
"Obama’s announcement is not likely to win any votes from Republicans. Nor is there any guarantee that Democratic leaders will incorporate the administration’s suggestions in revised legislation. But it could give wavering Democrats political cover by showing the White House has been willing to compromise.
No such thing anymore.
--more--"
And that must have been bulls***:
"Obama steps up health care pressure; Tells Democrats it’s time to bypass GOP objections" by Susan Milligan, Globe Staff | March 4, 2010
One day he says one thing, the next day another?
WASHINGTON - President Obama increased the pressure on Congress yesterday to take an up-or-down vote on his health care package, calling on Senate Democrats to bypass a Senate filibuster and revive the stalled legislation....
He sounds more like George W. Bush every day.
Despite polls that signal that strategy holds dangers for Democrats, the president is gambling that the voters who sent him to office want action on health care and share his impatience with inaction in Washington.
Yeah, but we DO NOT WANT a HEALTH TAX BILL with a PILE of TAX LOOT delivered the the vary same profit-gouging insurance companies that have created the problem.
And now you say you ONLY NEED 51 VOTES after STRIPPING OUT the PUBLIC OPTION and MEDICARE EXPANSION!?
And you don't mind the president gambling your political future away for his benefit, do you, Democrats?
“I do not know how this plays politically, but I know it’s right,’’ Obama said, adding that he would leave it to pundits and others to speculate on how muscling through a bill would affect Democratic fortunes in the fall congressional elections.
Yeah, he'll still be in office.
The president did not utter the words “budget reconciliation,’’ shorthand for the parliamentary tactic used to attach legislation to a budget bill that can pass by a simple majority of 51 votes, rather than the 60 needed to overcome an expected GOP filibuster. But his demand for the controversial option was clear, and many Democrats consider it their only hope to pass a sweeping health care overhaul....
So pisses me off.
Despite precedent, it remained unclear yesterday if leaders in Congress have the will or the votes needed to push a bill through either chamber, or if leaders were ready to risk the potential wrath of voters in their home states.
That's the same crap cover we were sold before they passed what they did.
It's a done deal; otherwise, the agenda-pushing MSM wouldn't be working the issue so hard.
Obama’s comments, the strongest public tactical direction he has offered in the 15-month battle over health care overhaul, were welcomed by Democrats, some of whom have been grousing privately that Obama needed to show more leadership....
Some Democrats are worried about being portrayed as abusers of the rules, a charge they used successfully against Republicans in previous elections. But they are equally concerned about going home empty-handed, with no health care bill to show for their work.
And if you show up with that in your hand it will be even worse.
Many want to focus on jobs, which Democrats believe will be the critical issue in the fall election campaigns.
Well, WhereTF you been after two years and more than 8 million jobs flushed?
Another ELECTION YEAR ENLIGHTENMENT?
To proceed on health care, Democrats in the House and Senate must untangle a political and procedural knot. Senate Democrats passed a health care bill Christmas Eve, but it is different from the package the House had approved earlier.
Lawmakers in January had been working on a compromise measure that would have merged the two bills, then have to be passed by both chambers. But because Republican Scott Brown’s victory in the election to fill the seat vacated by Senator Edward M. Kennedy denied Democrats a crucial 60th vote they would need to overcome a Republican filibuster, the House is now being asked to pass the Senate’s bill whole, with a promise that the Senate will then pass corrective legislation using reconciliation.
The House majority leader, Maryland Democrat Steny Hoyer, acknowledged that it would take a leap of faith for House Democrats to vote in favor of the previously approved Senate bill, based on a promise of a successful simple-majority budget vote in the Senate.
“We’re working on having that faith verified,’’ he said, when asked if he had the votes.
Translation: They are bending people over for the votes.
Further aggravating the negotiations is a growing resentment of the Senate by House members, who feel they passed controversial pieces of legislation last year - a climate bill, a Wall Street regulatory overhaul, and health care - only to have them languish in the Senate.
“We’ve passed about 290 bills here on spec. We’re about done with that,’’ said Representative Anthony Weiner, Democrat of New York, referring to the stack of House-passed measures the Senate has yet to approve. Members of the Senate should “get off their high horse and pass some of these bills,’’ Weiner said....
Actually, I would rather they didn't. The less they do down there the better. Unless they want to end some wars, I would rather they do nothing.
Obama is planning to wage an intense battle in coming weeks, with health care speeches scheduled in Philadelphia and St. Louis, both in states with contested Senate seats.
I had enough of the public relations pitches when Bush was around.
Representative John Tierney, Democrat of Salem, said Obama needs to continue using his bully pulpit to explain to the American people why the procedural tactic is necessary. Otherwise, Democrats may indeed suffer politically, he said....
They are going to anyway because in four years they didn't do one damn thing we wanted.
But, hey, they have lost Congress before and neither party seems to care very much.
Besides, the same interests get their concerns passed no matter which party is in power.
So let the shoveling begin:
"Obama presses 16 Democrats wavering on health care; House moderates report his vow to improve bill later" by Alan Fram, Associated Press | March 5, 2010
WASHINGTON - Support from his own party in doubt, President Obama summoned more than a dozen House Democrats to the White House yesterday, pleading that they put aside their qualms, seize a historic moment, and vote for his massive health care overhaul.
It’s the opportunity of a generation, he told them - and a chance to revive the party’s agenda after his rough first year as president.
In back-to-back meetings in the Oval Office and Roosevelt Room, Obama urged uneasy rank-and-file moderates and progressives to focus on the positives rather than their deep disappointment with parts of the bill....
Yeah, smell that perfume coming off the turd?
Cranking up the pressure, congressional leaders said they are hoping for votes on the legislation in two or three weeks.
I heard this week (keep reading).
Robert Gibbs, White House spokesman, told reporters he believes the House is on schedule to approve the landmark legislation by March 18, when the president leaves for an Asian trip.
Oh, now we have a deadline? Look out, America!
Concerned about fellow Democrats’ trepidation about a legislative drive that has garnered only modest public support, House leaders expressed optimism but hardly certainty that they would nail down enough support by then.
That's a nice way of saying the public despises the piece of crap and the way it has been handled.
Democrats have repeatedly missed self-imposed deadlines for moving the legislation.
Obama’s revved-up personal involvement, along with the cautious tone of congressional leaders’ forecasts, illustrated the uncertainty still facing the president’s yearlong drive to push his signature initiative through Congress.
They would not be pushing and talking about it if they were not getting close, so stop shoveling already, MSM.
The outcome will affect all Americans, because the changes touch on the ways nearly everyone receives and pays for health care.
Yes, it is a VERY IMPORTANT ITEM and the leadership wants it passed without being read and filled with promises (after getting a bill written for 60 when they only needed 51).
Not passing an overhaul would leave in place a system that many find lacking.
So let's make the system worse with a s*** piece of legislation.
Under the current strategy, Democratic leaders want Congress to send Obama the nearly $1 trillion health overhaul the Senate passed in December, plus a separate bill making changes that House Democrats want. There is no decision yet on what that second measure will look like....
But you better vote for whatever it is -- or else!
WASHINGTON - President Obama is trying to persuade a weary public and wavering Democrats to get behind his late-stage push on health care.... underscor[ing] the urgency behind Obama’s last-ditch push for immediate health care reform.
That's when you reach for your wallet, Americans.
Without a victory - and quickly - Democrats move into a fast-approaching election season without a major, tangible accomplishment that affects voters’ pocketbooks.
Seems to me like it is already here. It is already 2010, and less than eight months to go until voting day.
And with a chasm remaining between the two parties, Democrats considered passing the overhaul with votes just from their party. That would let the 59 Senate Democrats declare victory with a simple majority instead of a 60-vote count.
Are they REALLY THAT STOO-PID!?
They think that is going to look like a VICTORY to ANY OF US?
It would also allow Obama’s team to get back to talking about the economy.
No one is stopping them, and they can drop the health tax to do it.
Smells like an agenda-pushing excuse, doesn't it?
--more--"
And every day they get a bit closer:
"Leading House Democrat expects health bill to pass
Three House Democrats who voted against the bill - Representative Brian Baird of Washington, Representative Jason Altmire of Pennsylvania, and Representative John Adler of New Jersey - appeared open yesterday to changing their votes....
Altmire sounded the most optimistic. He said the Senate bill was better legislation overall....
Sigh.
--more--"
And Obama must be sensing blood:
PHILADELPHIA - President Obama challenged wavering members of his party yesterday not to give in to political fears about supporting health care legislation, asserting that the urgency of getting a bill through Congress should trump any concern about the consequences for Democrats in November.
Easy for him to say; he'll still have two more years after it's over (and a Repuglican Congress to blame for everything).
In a high-octane appearance that harkened back to his “yes we can’’ campaign days, Obama jettisoned the professorial demeanor that has cloaked many of his public pronouncements on the issue, instead making an emotional pitch for public support as he tries to push the legislation through a final series of votes in Congress in the next several weeks.
Appearing before 1,800 students and other members of the public at Arcadia University, just outside of Philadelphia, Obama cast himself almost as an outsider in Washington, expressing disdain for “the sport of politics’’ and saying the time for endless debates is over....
Boiling down his proposal to a few sentences, Obama asked, “How many people would like a proposal that holds insurance companies more accountable? How many people would like to give Americans the same insurance choices that members of Congress get? And how many would like a proposal that brings down costs for everyone? That’s our proposal.’’
It MOST CERTAINLY IS NOT, liar!!!
Related: A Healthy Insult For the American People
No, you are NOT GETTING the HEALTH CARE THEY GET even though YOU PAY for it all, Americans!
“Americans don’t want this bill. They’re telling us to start over. The only people who don’t seem to be getting the message are Democrat leaders in Washington,’’ the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said in a floor speech yesterday.
He SURE is RIGHT about THAT!
Obama also took direct aim at those who have warned that the health push could cost the Democrats their majority in the November elections. He alluded to letters he has received from cancer survivors and others who have been priced out of the health care market.
“What should I tell these Americans?’’ Obama said, to raucous cheering. “That Washington’s not sure how it will play in November? That we should walk away from this fight?’’
You did on ending the wars, so WTF?
At this point I realize the article is a rewritten PoS from what is in my printed paper, and I'm really sick of it.
What you won't find anywhere on the web (I looked):
Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for the America's Health Insurance Plans, said insurance industry workers "do not deserve to be vilified for political purposes.... For every dollar spent on health care in America, less than one penny goes toward health plan profits. The focus needs to be on the other 99 cents."
Just proves that liars are shameless.
In casting the health care debate now as a fight between what is right versus what is politically expedient, Obama is trying to appeal directly to struggling Americans who have become disgusted with Washington's inability to tackle a health care overhaul.
Did they write this with a straight face as Obama pushes the urgency button?
If he wanted to do what was right we would have a decent single-payer system like the rest of the industrialized world.
But the president is also taking a big risk that could backfire within his own party....
He will be keeping his office so he's not risking himself (he'll have to wait two more years for that comeuppance).
That is a tall order under any circumstance, but it is made even taller in an election year hen Democrats are facing the possibility of heavy losses that could affect their majorities in both the House and Senate.
What majorities?
See: Buying a Change of Congress
It's already been decided, America -- and the rigged voting machines will make it so.
But the White House is also seeking to recapture some of the campaign fire of 2008, and hoping to harness public support for a health overhaul in an effort to regain the high ground.
It's too late for that, you self-deluded fools!
If Obama succeeds, he could then make the argument on the stump for congressional Democrats that the Democratic Party, with Obama at the helm, made a giant step on an issue that has bedeviled presidents for 100 years.
Oh, we have been WAITING THAT LONG for NATIONAL HEALTH CARE?
We could have been a WORLD LEADER instead of a LAGGARD?
And stumping for a bill we didn't want and do not like isn't going to help.
See if you can find any of that hand-type in here:
--more--"
And they really are not getting the message:
Supporters of national health care legislation demonstrated yesterday outside the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Washington, D.C., where the annual policy conference of America’s Health Insurance Plans was taking place. (Win Mcnamee/Getty Images)
What, no printed article covering a protest, Glob?
And maybe Obama is working the wrong side of the Capitol:
WASHINGTON — Democrats are bickering over the policy details of a final package. Many House members are fed up with the Senate, annoyed that the chamber known as the world’s Greatest Deliberative Body can’t seem to move on hundreds of bills the House has approved, never mind health care.
And leaders in both chambers are irritated that the White House imposed a deadline of March 18 for a House vote on the Senate version — a demand lawmakers see as not only unrealistic but inappropriate to make of a separate and equal branch of government.
“They were told to knock it off, on the deadline,’’ said a senior Senate Democratic aide familiar with private discussions between congressional leaders and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
Related: Obama's Political Axel
Just so you know who is in charge over at the White House.
The Republicans? They are just happy to sit by and watch members of the majority party fight among themselves, confident that voters will punish both House and Senate Democrats in the fall elections if the Senate passes a bill with a straight majority....
Related: Buying a Change of Congress
You can't win either way, Americans.
Democrats have resigned themselves to using a process known as reconciliation in the Senate, attaching provisions of the measure to a budget bill that cannot be filibustered. While the process is controversial, it has been used by both parties to pass major legislation with an up-or-down vote....
Of course, the bill was written for 60, including dickheads like Joe Lieberman.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said yesterday that “we’re pretty close, actually’’ to figuring out how to proceed.
That's why votes are being scheduled.
But the way forward is complicated and uncertain.
Whatever, deceiving MSM.
Democratic leaders need every vote they can get to pass a second version of a health care bill and are still adding up the votes.
Once the bill’s language is worked out — and the measure’s cost assessed by the Congressional Budget Office — Democrats must deal with another thorny problem: How do they pass it without leaving one chamber holding the bag?
The easiest way to pass the bill under reconciliation is to have the House pass the Senate bill, then have both chambers approve “fixes.’’
House Democrats, whose bill included a public option allowing consumers to buy insurance from a government-run operation, don’t like the Senate bill, which does not include a public option.
And some are fearful the Senate won’t get around to passing the so-called fixes, and they will end up being snookered into passing a Senate bill they don’t want.
That is what I EXPECT TO HAPPEN!
After all, Obama said this was the bill he wanted!
Yeah, the only ones getting snookered are the American people.
Another idea is to structure the “fixer’’ bill so that the Senate-approved measure is deemed already passed by the House — a parliamentary trick that protects House Democrats....
And you thought DemocraPs were better and more transparent than Repuglicans?
Related: House Democrats appear set to pass Senate bill without voting on it
Pelosi we have to pass the health care bill so that you can find out what is in it
It’s not as though the Senate doesn’t have a suspect history, House Democrats grouse. After all, the House has approved some 300 measures — ranging from noncontroversial items to the climate change bill and financial industry regulation — that the Senate has yet to consider on the floor.
This week’s meetings, then, have been as much about political marriage counseling between House and Senate Democrats as they have been about policy, with House members wondering how they can be expected to trust their Senate colleagues....
I don't trust any of them.
--more--"
And like I said, we have been building to a fait accompli:
WASHINGTON — In a sign of renewed determination and increased momentum, House leaders said yesterday that they are nearing an agreement on health care and could vote within the next week after a year of debate and months of delays.
President Obama postponed an overseas trip yesterday to try to rally both the public and Congress down the final stretch after House and Senate leaders responded to his call for a swift up-or-down vote. He is planning to make another campaign-style appearance next week, this time in Ohio, to continue pitching his proposal.
“I’m delighted that the president will be here for the passage of the bill,’’ House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said at a news conference yesterday. “It’s going to be historic.’’
Pelosi said votes on health care could be scheduled within the next week.
And they don't schedule votes like this when they are going to lose, readers.
Although it remained unclear whether Democrats had enough votes, the House would be attempting to pass the version that the Senate approved several months ago. The House and Senate would then attempt to approve negotiated changes in a separate bill....
This stinks.
I'll bet I know what decided the issue.
Also see:
"Adam Green, of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, told Ed Schultz yesterday that he counts 51 votes in the senate for the public option, and cites details on senators who have not yet signed the letter, but who have clearly publicly stated that they will vote FOR the public option if they get that bill from the house. Nancy Pelosi has said the votes aren't there, so she won't include the public option in the House legislation. Read this and try not to be angry.
It's not just me, folks.
Update:
"Health care bill still lacks House votes, congressman says; But Clyburn is confident it will be passed" by Libby Quaid, Associated Press | March 15, 2010
WASHINGTON — Representative James Clyburn, the chief Democratic vote counter in the House, said yesterday he hadn’t rounded up enough votes to pass President Obama’s health care overhaul heading into a make-or-break week, but the White House’s top political adviser said he was “absolutely confident’’ in its prospects.
The administration gave signs of retreating on its demands that senators jettison special home-state deals sought by individual lawmakers that have angered the public....
That means deals sought by senators from Montana and Connecticut would be fine....
There was resistance from two powerful committee chairmen, Democratic senators Max Baucus of Montana and Chris Dodd of Connecticut, and the White House has apparently backed down....
See: Obama Bribes Massachusetts With Medicaid Money
Clyburn, Democrat of South Carolina, said House leaders were working overtime to round up the needed voters....
Clyburn said on NBC’s “Meet the Press’’ that he was confident the measure would pass, echoing comments from Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, on Saturday.
Political strategist David Axelrod said Democrats will persuade enough lawmakers to vote “yes.’’ He conceded that it will be a struggle, taking aim at insurance industry lobbyists who “have landed on Capitol Hill like locusts’’ and Republicans who see being on the losing side of the vote as a political victory.
“I am absolutely confident that we are going to be successful. I believe that there is a sense of urgency on the part of members of Congress,’’ given recent news about insurance plan rate increases, Axelrod said. He appeared on ABC’s “This Week’’ and CNN’s “State of the Union,’’ as well as the NBC program....
Related: Obama's Political Axel
The process of moving the health care legislation through the House and Senate is expected to begin today in the House Budget Committee. The goal is to put the bill on the floor for a final vote on Friday or Saturday.
Yup, in the DEAD of NIGHT on a WEEKEND in the hope that YOU WON'T NOTICE, Americans.
The bill needs 216 votes to clear the House.
Aides said the president wants to be present for the final push on the bill so he will delay his trip to Guam, Indonesia, and Australia until Sunday.
What is the carbon footprint on that taxpayer-funded excursion?
I'd rather my tax dough was used for something else, thank you.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs predicted House passage before Obama’s trip....
