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Mike Lux

Mike Lux

Posted: July 30, 2009 05:09 PM

No Deal


Here's Mike Enzi:

We still have several areas where we haven't been able to come to a consensus. No deal is at hand and substantive issues, big and small, remain under discussion and need to be resolved. We need to keep working together.

I will need to see complete language and a final estimate from the Congressional Budget Office before I can agree to any health care reform bill.

I also need commitments from Senator Reid and Speaker Pelosi, as well as the Administration, that the bipartisan agreements reached in the Finance Committee will survive in a final bill that goes to the President.

With this arrogant and laughably absurd statement (we will only consider exactly what I agree to and no more), Mike Enzi has finally made clear what a lot of us have been saying to Max Baucus all along: the Republicans are never going to deal in good faith, and this idea of a bipartisan bill is not going to happen. Democrats should move quickly now to pass a bill out of committee, and then go to the floor with a Democratic bill, and bone-crunching party discipline should be applied to get us past a filibuster attempt. It is time to move forward with a bill, end of story.

 
 
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HUFFPOST PUNDIT
jmpurser
See My micro-bio
11:25 AM on 08/01/2009
Obama gave away health care reform when he took single payer off the table. Arguing over who gets what scraps at this late date is pointless.
08:21 AM on 08/01/2009
How the heck cannot agree to a bill without final CBO costs when there is no bill? Doesn't the CBO need a finished bill to calculate the actual costs?
11:09 PM on 07/31/2009
"Democrats should move quickly now to pass a [HC] bill ... and bone-crunching party discipline should be applied". From your lips to G-d's ears.
08:29 PM on 07/31/2009
"I will need to see complete language and a final estimate from the Congressional Budget Office before I can agree"

This is a sign of great progress, obviously these guys have Learned The Lesson about NOT reading things before they sign off on it (ie. The Patriot Act).

Glad to finally see these people take a "real" interest in doing their jobs, this sort of "in-depth" approach sure would have made a difference in the Bush years.
04:30 PM on 07/31/2009
"the Republicans are never going to deal in good faith,"

Well said.

This must be repeated till the voters get it.

The conservatives are for the elite dominating the 99%.

Always have been, always will be.

Any conservative noises to the contrary are deception.
02:54 PM on 07/31/2009
Don't get mad, get even. Invest in long term progressive infrastructure--think tanks, media, training...http://www.practicalprogress.org/
04:26 PM on 07/31/2009
We cannot outspend the big money conservatives.
02:51 PM on 07/31/2009
No one should be surprised. The Repubs proved beyond any doubt during the fight to get a stimulus package passed that they have no interest in working with Democrats to get things done that will be for the good of the American people. They're only interested in political game-playing designed (in their dreams) to help the Repub party return to power.
02:41 PM on 07/31/2009
That would be the way that this administration and democrat congress operate. Cut your back room deals to get the votes, then pass a bill that no one has read, that has not been shared with the public (formerly known as constituents). Not to mention a bill that most reasonable people understand will be distasterous. It's all about higher taxes and more government control. We're liberals and we know best. Just ask California.
02:58 PM on 07/31/2009
When did Gov.Arnold switch parties and become a Democrat?
And after the disasterous and incompetent job performance of Repub prez Bush and a Repub controlled Congress up until mere months ago, who ran the country and economy into the ground and caused the worst recession since the Great Depression, I'd say that it's been proved that conservatives don't know best.
It will take more than 7 months to determine whether what the Dems are doing is considered successful.
03:16 PM on 07/31/2009
No question that Arnold has been a major disappointment, but it is liberal democrat policies and programs that doomed the state, well before he took the helm. And I will grant that Bush spent way too much on discretionary progams, just like liberals. But nothing, nothing compares to what is happening now in terms of motgaging our (kids) future, disemboweling the Constitution, and siezing power from the states and individuals. Nothing. And the sleazy way in which they are doing it, as I described, is undeniable. You should be alarmed by them and ashamed of them. Conservatism is the only answer, and the only path to increasing standards of living, for all, wealthy, middle class, and poor.
04:14 PM on 07/31/2009
Sorry, but it was Repub policies that doomed the U.S. well before Obama took the helm.
You should be ashamed by what your party did to our country during the Bush administration.
What conservatism did is the PROBLEM, not the solution.
07:44 PM on 07/31/2009
Oh yes...personal responsibility doomed this country. Bush's legacy will be that he kept this country safe from Muslim terrorists. Obama's will be bankrupting the country and the taking of personal freedom. You must prefer the latter.
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HUFFPOST PUNDIT
Gidster
Not so much Liberal as I am anti evil.
02:13 PM on 07/31/2009
Once again showing that they are serving the interests of their corporate masters, and their party rather than fulfilling their Oaths of Office, and working for the citizens of the United States!
03:26 PM on 07/31/2009
You mean Pelosi, Reid, Rangel, Dodd, Obama, and their ilk. I agree, and well said.
mamalisa38
I love you Thomas and I miss you like crazy RIP
09:34 PM on 07/31/2009
The top ten drug company executives earned $199.4 million in 2008. The top three:

Miles White - Abbott - $17,395.00 per hour
Fred Hassan - Schering-Plough - $15,677.00 per hour
Bill Weldon - Johnson & Johnson - $13,022.00 per hour

The top ten insurance executives earned $85.6 million in 2008. The top three:

Ron Williams - Aetna - $12,656.00 per hour
H. Edward Hanway - CIGNA - $6,373.00 per hour
Angela Braly - WellPoint - $5,127.00
02:09 AM on 07/31/2009
According to the CBS/New York Times poll, survey respondents get nervous about the low quality after the reform.

In case you are a doctor, and your pay is dependent upon your patient's outcome, you will more likely strive to prescribe the best medicine for your patient, let alone avoiding unnecessary cares, and hope your patient will feel better as quickly as possible.

I share the opinion that only a strong public option will be capable of getting the premium inflation under control.


Thank You !
09:58 PM on 07/30/2009
Remember the old days, when Enzi could ram a $1 trillion tax cut for the wealthy down our throats, deregulate the financial industry to the point they crashed the global financial system, rammed Bush's $1 trillion dollar going away present down our throats, left Obama with a $2 trillion dollar deficit, proclaimed on September 19, 2008, the Republican Party would henceforth be known as The Party of Corporate Welfare?
05:22 PM on 07/30/2009
Mike Enzi represents less than 1/4 of 1% of the country.

Should he be able to dictate healthcare for the whole country?
06:21 PM on 07/30/2009
This goes all the way back to the Conneticut Compromise which arranged for there to be a fixed number of Senators in each state regardless of the population of the state. It could be argued that the Conneticut Compromise is no longer useful, but right now Congressional Reform isn't on the table, so yes, he can do such things. There's also been talk of getting rid of the Electoral College (which is also impacted by the Connectecut Compromise), but that isn't on the table either. As things are now, Senators are by their very nature very powerful unless and until something is done to weaken the power of senators.
05:18 PM on 07/30/2009
Max is not a Democrat, he is an Insuracrat. He does not want a bill that is good for the people of this country. He wants a bill that is great to the insurance industry. Why do you think he turned over the committe to Grassley? There will be no health care reform in my lifetime. Not with the current sorry crop of Democrats and the current lying, stealing, cheating, criminal crop of Republicans.