Yep.

It was back in 1993, as the Clintons prepared to roll out their new universal healthcare plan, that Bill Kristol wrote a memo to fellow conservatives and Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill warning them that their goal must be to "kill," not amend, the Clinton plan. "Healthcare," Kristol wrote, "is not, in fact, just another Democratic initiative ... . It will revive the reputation of the ... Democrats, as the generous protector of middle-class interests."

Can't have people actually getting something for their tax dollars from the other party. Might start voting their rational interests.

Guns!!!

God!!!

Gays!!!

There, that's more like it!
.

"Republicans are finally being forced to agree that, yes, everyone should have access to healthcare coverage." No no no!

Republicans have finally decided to dilute the terms 'everyone' and 'coverage' by writing a status-quo-reinforcing bill full of double-negatives and unnecessary complexities, calling it universal health care, naming it something like the 'Keep America Healthy Act' making sure it comes to a vote just before an election, and decrying all Dems who vote against it as hypocrites and frauds.

Or are we "Patriot Actors" too busy enjoying our "Clear Skies" and "Healthy Forests" to wise up?

They are gaming the debate, Kevin. They will "embrace" health care for all in order to kill it -- they hope, once and for all.

No, it's about them introducing a bill that is neither universal nor healthcare and then declaring Dems unreasonable for not signing on.

It's the strategy of preemption. They know it's a popular issue with middle class voters so they want to claim the title though probably not the substance.

Universal HC cannot NOT happen. The only question is "when?" This decade or next?

There is simply no question when you look at the costs. A Presidential ticket of resurrected Reagan/Jesus could not change this.

Seems like everybody's right here.

It really is a strategic retreat -- no more chest-thumping about "socialized medicine" or "government-run health care."

And the Repugnicants gotta realize it's a losing battle. Business (other than inscos) is on the side of single-payer, and they're the biggest stockholder in the corporation -- sorry, the party.

But for sure the tactics are intended to confuse the electorate and stall progress on a bill.

OK, we all agree that their proposal will be weak, but let's get them in their own house by asking a simple question: how will they pay for it? Oh yea, another tax cut for the rich. After all 2 minus 1 equals 4!

I bet the GOP plan is
1. you must buy insurance (from a company run by Dick Cheney's friends)
2. if you can't afford that, you get sent to gitmo

Any takers?

It's pretty easy to foresee what the GOP version of universal health care would be: take Medicare Part D (the prescription drug benefit) and apply it to the full spectrum of health care. And, no, that's not a good thing.

There was an interesting article in my hometown newspaper this past weekend. Apparently it's the time of year when Part D open enrollment comes around. The premiums and formularies tend to fluctuate quite a bit from year to year, so it behooves people to explore their options. There are 150 plans to choose from. Good luck picking the best one. And hope your drug regimen doesn't change during the year because you're screwed if whatever new drug you take isn't in the formulary you just signed up for.

Whatever the plan is, it will call for a tax cut. I'm guessing it'll be another version of HSAs.

But you're right. Once they've gone from outright denying it to trying to scuttle it with half-measures and no-measures, they've lost ground.

George H.W. Bush had a universal health care plan in the '92 race, just to one-up Clinton... And earlier, of course, there was Nixon's plan which the D. Congress passed on, positive they could get something better after '72. This is nothing new -- blur, obfuscate and then obstruct. Keep the horizon receding.

Oh, you gullible youngsters ! In 1994, Bob Dole voted to kill a healthcare plan that he had introduced. This proposal provides them cover during the 2008 campaign and after fooling enough voters, they will return to their opposition.

Wanna bet that it involves jiggering with the tax code to give tax breaks to wealthy individuals and coporations who fund their own health care spending accounts? These assholes don't seem to get the fact that poor people don't have any money to put into tax-deferred accounts in the first damn place.

By the way, Kevin, your line, "it's almost certain to suck" made me blow Diet Coke out my nose! Ouch, but ha-ha!

Romney's plan is unconstitutional.
Giuliani will offer tax cuts.
Hillary screwed it in '93 and now follows Edwards.
Obama follows everybody.
Edwards is leading on health care reform.

John Edwards -- Leadership for America

Remember Medicare = Part D

The best reason I can think of to see this news as nothing but bad news. Sure, the GOP has seen that UHC is inevitable. So the best defense is offense, - Trot out a plan that makes the drug companies richer, still leaves out the poor, & carries enough loopholes to make it worthless to most of us. Then castigate any Democrat that dares to tell us the truth as being hypocrites, resulting in the spineless Dems caving in.

Even with zero coverage, forgive me if I hope UHC has to wait till after Jan 20, 2009.

What's more, now the Broders of this world can say, "Both parties have made health care a defining issue..."

Well, but that was true before. It's just that for the GOP, the definition of "health care" is "fuck you."

Ah, Rula Lenska. Is it really you? Flame-haired temptress, Rock Follies, 70s outfits?

Look, it's simple. If you have health insurance already, we'll give you a tax cut. Those who don't have insurance will be bombed out of existence.

First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win.
--Mohandas Gandhi.

I don't think this bill is the beginning of the "then you win" stage, but I do believe it might be the beginning of the end of the "fight you" stage.

Within the decade, people will be saying "Why did people oppose universal health care?"

Even Al.

I remember Bob Dole (Is Viagra covered in Medicare part D?) standing in front of a Rube Goldberg-esque chart explaining how Hillary's health care plan was so hopelessly complex it couldn't possibly work, but, with a few minor adjustments, 94% of Americans could be covered. As everyone knows, those "minor adjustments" never happened. Maybe the Republicans will get Dole (and his chart) out of cold storage to push their bogus health care plan, or rerun old C-Span segments from 1993. What difference would it make to millions of uninsured Americans?

Has anyone listened to the new Springsteen Cd?

We took the highway till
the road went black
We'd marked Truth or
Consequences on our map
A voice drifted up from the radio
And I thought of a voice from long ago

Who'll be the last to die for a mistake
Whose blood will spill, whose heart will break
Who'll be the last to die, for a mistake

Kids asleep in the backseat
We're just counting the miles, you and me
We don't measure the blood
We've drawn anymore
We just stack the bodies outside the door

The sun sets in flames as the city burns
Another day gone down as the night turns
And I hold you here in my heart
As things fall apart

A downtown window flushed with light
'Faces of the dead at five'
Our martyr's silent eyes Petition the drivers as we pass by

When "Born in the USA" was released in 1984, Ronald Reagan praised the title track for its optimism and patriotism. He obviously never bothered to listen to it. If he had, he might have been surprised at the number of Americans who saw through his party's America-first jingoism.

I can't believe that, two decades ago, the same artist is still trying to draw attention to the same excesses. I am grateful that artists like Springsteen are able to articulate what I cannot. I look at the wreckage that this mal-administration has caused at home and abroad and I can't even speak.

I am sure that, like Reagan, Bush will assume that songs like the "Last to Die" are a celebration of his noble mission in Iraq; that being the last to die is something worth aspiring to. I hope Bush, Cheney, and the other architects of this war have one moment of clarity in which they realize the horrors they have wrought.

Remember Romney's "universal health care" in Massachusetts. After the legislature discovered that no insurance company was willing to create a really affordable policy, they wound up exempting the poorest people from the coverage requirement. In other words, his plan doesn't help the people who really need it.

But now it will be impossible for Gov. Patrick to enact truly universal health care.

I'm betting the health plan they pull out of the hat is going to be their trusty/failed Health Savings Accounts. Which of course will not help the millions who simply don't make enough money to save anything. When are Americans going to get angry as hell at these charlatans who could care less if they had to step over corpses as long as they didn't have to part with a dime to help anyone other than themselves?

Universal just means that everyone who buys health insurance will receive a voucher redeemable as an equivalent tax break when they crack the $366,000 a year earnings plateau. And they mean everyone!

But you can't have it if you are not willing to invest. Some people live in homes that haven't been liquidated to earn their voucher. Republicans frown at them. :( Others have not made the right life choices. No vouchers for them either! What a great plan. Watch for the terms "deserving" and "choice" to have top billet in the GOP "American Faith Healing Universal Insurance Voucher" plan.

Hilarious, Sparko. In the most "laughing to keep from crying" kind of way. Great work.

4SvFbX comment5 ,

If you have to do it, you might as well do it right.

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