Work (in a bipartisan way, of course) with the National Rifle Association to arm America's 50 million uninsured and give them a ticket to Washington.
Require every senior Wall Street banker to personally cover 1000 uninsured families (cost: just13 million a year!)
If Conan can be paid $30 million not to host The Tonight Show, can't some Democratic billionaire offer Scott Brown $31 million (one dollar for every uninsured American who stands to get covered by the bill) not to take his seat, forcing another special election in Massachusetts?
Ask China to demand health care's passage because we need its deficit reduction to start paying them back all the money we've borrowed.
Pass it with 59 votes as an act of civil disobedience, let Republicans sue, and take the tyranny of the minority to the court of public opinion.
Bring back Hillary to negotiate a deal. She's rested, she's ready, and she learned her lesson in 1994.
Tell Republicans you'll sign any plan they offer that the CBO certifies will cover at least 30 million of the uninsured.
Run wall-to-wall ads featuring Scott Brown's nude centerfold until he says "uncle."
Promise to run wall-to-wall ads featuring Scott Brown's nude centerfold if he signs on.
Ask Congress to put the Bob Dole-Howard Baker-Tom Daschle bipartisan blueprint for universal coverage to an up-or-down vote. Seriously.
Work (in a bipartisan way, of course) with the National Rifle Association to arm America's 50 million uninsured and give them a ticket to Washington.
Require every senior Wall Street banker to person...
Work (in a bipartisan way, of course) with the National Rifle Association to arm America's 50 million uninsured and give them a ticket to Washington.
Require every senior Wall Street banker to person...
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders insist they will push ahead with efforts to overhaul health care despite losing undisputed control of the...
If the financial reform bill doesn't establish an effective and independent consumer protection agency, Congress would be better off passing nothing at all, Elizabeth Warren...
A top Senate Democrat on Friday suggested lawmakers "take a breather for a month, six weeks" from healthcare reform. Sen. Chris Dodd (Conn.) told reporters...
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) is asking his Senate colleagues to join his effort to effectively take away the minority party's power to filibuster legislation. The...
Re: 3. Due to Obama's failures as President and Coakley's failure as a candidate, the GOPers still win. There are still only 59 votes available to Dems, not enough to end debate (slightly different than ending a filibuster but we'll go with the vernacular on this one). The seat is then open and the Senate is split 59-40. A bit of analysis would be nice, please.
Nosybear: Re: 3. Due to Obama's failures as President and Coakley's
One easy thing to do that would provide a major financial benefit to health care is to clamp down hard on Medicaid fraud. According to major media reports $60 Billion per year is being paid out in fraudulent claims for medical supplies , a large part of this in Miami.
This is the WORST FRAUD in history , it has been going on for years ,and the FBI are doing little to shut it down .
Over the next 10 years $600 Billion could be saved by following some basic accounting procedures before handing out the money to the small time criminals making the claims.
Nellybelle: One easy thing to do that would provide a major
Dang that's a big number. Mind putting it in perspective as, say, a percentage of GDP, or maybe a percentage of health expenditures or how about even more telling, a percentage of Medicare expenditures? Throwing big numbers out without context reeks of an attempt to sway the innumerate.
Nosybear: Dang that's a big number. Mind putting it in perspective
According to "60 Minutes" the Medicare/Medicaid fraud of $60 Billion is out of total expenditures of $500 Billion , or 12% .
Another perspective is that $5 Billion a month would just about pay for the war in Iraq.
I heard that Haiti needs $3 Billion to rebuild , this would rebuild Haiti 20 times over .
The same size fraud in one year as Bernie Madoff 's lifetime amount .
Nosybear, it is a LOT of money , and completely unnecessary . On top of this is the
" legal waste " of general inefficiencies and duplicated services. I have heard a total of 30% used as an overall waste factor . It is a national emergency.
Nellybelle: According to "60 Minutes" the Medicare/Medicaid fraud of $60 Billion
Matt Miller offers both insight and a good laugh. I particularly found the humor in his suggestion that Democrats "Bring back Hillary to negotiate a deal. She's rested, she's ready, and she learned her lesson in 1994. " But, is she any more honest, trustworthy, capable of effective diplomacy to secure change? If you want to end the prospect of reform for the next 15 years or so, and assure a Republican takeover of the House and Senate, Hillary can do it.
party-of-one: Matt Miller offers both insight and a good laugh. I
"Pass it with 59 votes as an act of civil disobedience, let Republicans sue, and take the tyranny of the minority to the court of public opinion."
The "court" of public opinion has been saying for some time that the senate and house bills are NOT what the public wants. Start over please only this time invite the cranky Republicans and work with them instead of locking them out and then blaming them for being the party of NO!
Let's work together to put together a package that the peeps will want to pay for and not just what Nancy wants.
Tea-bagged: Number 5 makes no sense at all. "Pass it with
Actually if explained, the tyranny of the majority favor the reforms by a very wide margin. The tactic of saying "take this, it's good for you" is what failed. And it's the Congress we disapprove of, partisan gridlock in particular. It wasn't nice when the Repubs owned the hill and it isn't now. But unfortunately our public believes the either-or props put forward with such relish by the simple-minded getters-of-money-and-votes we elect to office so discussion is dead.
Nosybear: Actually if explained, the tyranny of the majority favor the
I wonder if there's a billionaire out there who can offer obama enough money to vacate the presidency.
Oh, how I wish.
I I know he likes Air Force One, but maybe he could have his own private jet. He could fly around the country pretending he's president just like he's doing now.
Igniter: I wonder if there's a billionaire out there who can
Sounds like a plan to me, although as much as I like nude men, I don't know how many showings of Mr. Brown I can deal with. Other than that, sign me up.
TotallyAmazed: Sounds like a plan to me, although as much as
Here is a winner for Democrats. Up and down vote in both houses. Medicare for all. Period. Whoever votes no, becomes a target in 2010 mid-terms. Democratic Base has something to come out and vote for.
solomon_sez: Here is a winner for Democrats. Up and down vote
Here's a novel idea for advancing health care reform. Let the Republicans filibuster. Let C-SPAN show these doddering old fools for what they are, obstructionists. Heck, let them blather on for weeks if they want. It's not like the government will grind to a halt if the Senate isn't doing anything. The Senate rarely does anything useful anyway. Committees can still meet, hearings can still be held.
To put it another way, Democrats desperately need to get a spine implant and call the Republicans' bluff. You might just find that your progressive base starts paying attention again.
digitalwiz: Here's a novel idea for advancing health care reform. Let
You really want this HCR bill to be pushed through? Even with the special interest concessions, bought votes, special union deals, accounting tricks to pretend it costs nothing? This is progressive? Don't give me this crap about doing anything is better than doing nothing because NO...it's not.. Believe it or not when attempting to solve complex problems it's possible to make things worse. Don't you progressives understand you're not the majority? If the Dems try to push this through they will all be out of work soon.
kahuna20032000: You really want this HCR bill to be pushed through?
The Progressives are NOT the base of the Democratic Party. They are a small minority of it, and if only Progressives voted for Democratic candidates - the Democratic candidates would lose every time. Yes, President Obama and his Administration are Progressives, but look how badly they are doing in the "Court of Public Opinion".
Scott Brown won the Mass. seat because the guy makes sense to people. Poll after poll shows that we do not want this very partisan healthcare passed, but Nancy Pelosi tells us that we are going to get it, whether or not we want it. She, and other Progressives, know what is best for the "great unwashed" of Americans.
How totally elitist of her.
Dianna_RedST: The Progressives are NOT the base of the Democratic Party.
Dems should now fully commit to a fully empowered Independent Bipartisan Commission on Comprehensive Entitlement Reform (Medicare, Social Security, and Corporate Subsidies) and that growing/exploding unsustainable unfunded mandate (currently $55 Trillion on an actuarial basis. Why should the Commission just be related to the Debt Ceiling question. Go Long and hold the Repubs feet to the fire. Medicare impacts the whole Health Care Reform sustainability and all 3 impact the future fiscal sustainability of the nation that weighs down job creation. It would maybe take some political pressure off BOTH parties in Congress, give the BOTH space from the K street Lobbyist onslaught, and get some good solid cogent range of costed out doable options to reign in exploding costs of these entitlement programs (largely due to demographics) that Congress and the Prez could sell to the American public after an up and down vote. The Repubs and Independents would see that the Dems are serious and they may get a better costed out Health Reform Measure out of it and serve as a lead in to solving the big Kahuna nation-buster Entitlements Reform issue.
John_Milligan: Dems should now fully commit to a fully empowered Independent
It's not healthcare it's accounting. Here in Massachusetts we have a similar system to what has been proposed in Washington. What the system does is this. You MUST purchase health insurance or you'll be fined. In order to avoid the fine you may purchase a simple policy that only covers you for major hospitalization with a deductable in the thousands. When someone purchases this plan they are moved from the uninsured list to the insured list. Massachusetts can claim such a great percentage of it's citizens are insured but they aren't really insured. They can't get preventative care, prescriptions, go to their doctor. What these "mandate" systems do is hide the truly uninsured behind these catastrophy policies and don't address the true problem of access to comprehensive, affordable healthcare. The reasoning behind our system was it would keep people from using the emergency room for primary care. The holders of these policies still must do that. and it will never be addressed now because they are politically "insured". Our system is so broken that you can't get in to see your doctor in a timely manner. If you need to be seen you may very well be given an appointment 6-8 weeks later. If you voice concern about your problem they'll tell you to go to the emergency room. Nothing suggested or debated in Congress is real healthcare reform.
kahuna20032000: It's not healthcare it's accounting. Here in Massachusetts we have
This is the WORST FRAUD in history , it has been going on for years ,and the FBI are doing little to shut it down .
Over the next 10 years $600 Billion could be saved by following some basic accounting procedures before handing out the money to the small time criminals making the claims.
Another perspective is that $5 Billion a month would just about pay for the war in Iraq.
I heard that Haiti needs $3 Billion to rebuild , this would rebuild Haiti 20 times over .
The same size fraud in one year as Bernie Madoff 's lifetime amount .
Nosybear, it is a LOT of money , and completely unnecessary . On top of this is the
" legal waste " of general inefficiencies and duplicated services. I have heard a total of 30% used as an overall waste factor . It is a national emergency.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/01/clinton-suggests-shes-a-oneterm-secretary-of-state.html
"Pass it with 59 votes as an act of civil disobedience, let Republicans sue, and take the tyranny of the minority to the court of public opinion."
The "court" of public opinion has been saying for some time that the senate and house bills are NOT what the public wants. Start over please only this time invite the cranky Republicans and work with them instead of locking them out and then blaming them for being the party of NO!
Let's work together to put together a package that the peeps will want to pay for and not just what Nancy wants.
Oh, how I wish.
I I know he likes Air Force One, but maybe he could have his own private jet. He could fly around the country pretending he's president just like he's doing now.
50 votes plus Biden.
That's all it takes.
To put it another way, Democrats desperately need to get a spine implant and call the Republicans' bluff. You might just find that your progressive base starts paying attention again.
Scott Brown won the Mass. seat because the guy makes sense to people. Poll after poll shows that we do not want this very partisan healthcare passed, but Nancy Pelosi tells us that we are going to get it, whether or not we want it. She, and other Progressives, know what is best for the "great unwashed" of Americans.
How totally elitist of her.