Reid Orders Dems: Stop Chasing GOP Votes On Health Care

Roll Call:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Tuesday ordered Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) to drop a proposal to tax health benefits and stop chasing Republican votes on a massive health care reform bill.

Read the whole story: Roll Call

Comments

[NoBlueDogs]

Reid is right. The GOP is totally falling apart and the Democrats are better off concentrating their efforts on dealing with the darned Blue Dog Democrats... or, more specifically, the constituents who make them Blue Dogs.

Conservatism is a demon spirit that can't be killed... it must be exorcised.

[WindySailor]

Harry Reid ordered something besides lunch?

[Ramirez]

This is not from the Onion:
********

Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Democratic Leader Laughs at Idea That House Members Would Actually Read Health-Care Bill Before Voting On It

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Tuesday that the health-care reform bill now pending in Congress would garner very few votes if lawmakers actually had to read the entire bill before voting on it.

“If every member pledged to not vote for it if they hadn’t read it in its entirety, I think we would have very few votes,” Hoyer told CNSNews.com at his regular weekly news conference.

Hoyer was responding to a question from CNSNews.com on whether he supported a pledge that asks members of the Congress to read the entire bill before voting on it and also make the full text of the bill available to the public for 72 hours before a vote.

In fact, Hoyer found the idea of the pledge humorous, laughing as he responded to the question. “I’m laughing because I don’t know how long this bill is going to be, but it’s going to be a very long bill,” he said. ...

http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=50677

[kitkatborn]

It's about time Reid showed some backbone.

[JanSP1971]

Stand up Mr. Reid just the way Speaker Pelosi has. The democratic party has to stand behind President Obama and the American people. True healthcare reform for every American NOW.

[Bude]

I'm sure the Dems are afraid of this guy.

[IndelibleVoice]

Regardless of the fear conservatives try to spread, meaningful and sweeping health-care reform is coming. The people will ultimately win out on this one because the desire for reform with single payer/public option is so strong and unmovable. And something tells me it will be more "socialized" then the right can handle. But that's very good for us, the poor and middle class, and more than likely a blow to big insurance. Their days of profit-driven deny, refuse, repeat are over.

People are coming to understand that some things just shouldn't be privatized--health-care being one of them. And they're beginning to think: if we can spend billions of our own money on war, if we can "socialize" Congress' health-benefits; why can't we have our own low-cost competitive health-care plan?

[HurryUp1212009]

Harry Reid is a WEAK Senate Majority Leader; Obama deserves better leadership and less game-playing.

[MNmommy]

Obama needs to mind his own dang house on the subject.

[JanSP1971]

What?????????????

[COPerez]

Rethugs were all for steamrolling the minority when it was their turn. Turn-about is fair play, and all that.

Ram it thru, Harry. It's vital to get health care/insurance reform through NOW!

[wdw505]

try it and watch the backlash

[clutchkill]

Say it with me people. " Lose the Public Option... lose my vote"... All together now..

[houseafire]

I've said it as loud and clear as I can...in snail mail letters, in emails and with phone calls...
I've even written Thank You notes to the tiny amount of Reps who are working for the people instead of their own pockets...the post office loves me :)

[drbillybob]

I've posted this before, but it is such an amazing statistic that it bears repeating.

A man in the USA has a 50% better chance at surviving cancer than a man in the UK. Wow!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1560849/UK-cancer-survival-rate-lowest-in-Europe.html

Be very careful what you wish for ... you just might get it.

[DavidL88]

drbillybob.. who's paying you to skew the facts?
The problem with the salaried right-wing debaters like you and Hannity is they lie about a facts and then create a debate around falsehoods.
From your own article:
"A second article, which looked at 2.7 million patients diagnosed between 1995 and 1999, found that countries that spent the most on health per capita per year had better survival rates"

Turns out the US is in the top 10 for death from cancer, and leads France, Canada and Britain on a per capita basis.
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_dea_fro_can-health-death-from-cancer

[Belisarius]

Have you ever thought of running for congress?

I think that it has become clear that we need more independents in congress. If we do not get a single payer option in the reform bill, then I think that it will be a great time to fund and support independents for congress.

If you care about this country, why not consider a new career? I'll vote for you.

[NoWMDs]

Put Howard Dean in there. He's the perfect guy to counter all those nay-sayers and BS artists of the right.

[drbillybob]

The ones who claim that 85% of all insured Americans are satisfied with their current coverage? Those "BS artists"?

http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1295.xml?ReleaseID=1344

[COPerez]

They are only satisfied as long as they don't lose their jobs... and their coverage.

And it's not like we're in a bad jobs market right now, or that lots of people are out of work and can't afford ANY insurance, or that more people are likely to lose their jobs before this "jobless recovery" really takes hold...

[humorgazette]

Surgeon general warns:
Prolonged exposure to health-care reform rhetoric may be hazardous to your health.
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-281556

[houseafire]

LOL

[MNTom]

Ried is one of the weakest leaders in history. He has 60 votes now and still can't anything done. What if the GOP had 60 votes? The GOp would run wild and ram everything they wanted down the Den's throats. Wait they did it with 55 votes. Sorry Ried, you need to go as leader. Perhaps give someone else a try.

[vesaversa1]

I think with a super majority the democrats should show the republicans who's in charge in this country and their obstructing progress want work any more .

[lunaticphilosopher]

Progress towards what?

[clutchkill]

A better life.