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   Read the story and see the video discussion by the authors about why creeping consolidation is crushing American livelihoods.
 What does it mean that high school might now exist to make people college ready ?
 If you liked Hamid Karzai and Pervez Musharraf, youll love our latest ally, Yemens Ali Abdullah Saleh.
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July 17, 2009
AT LEAST SOMEONE'S OPTIMISTIC.... Almost all of the talk I've heard over the last 24 hours about health care reform has been negative and pessimistic. For every step forward, there's been a step back. The AMA comes through, but the CBO doesn't. One House committee moves forward, another is slowed by Blue Dogs. Six "centrists" want to delay the entire process in such a way that puts reform itself in peril. Despite this talk -- or, just as likely, because of this talk -- President Obama delivered a brief set of remarks this afternoon. There wasn't any news, per se, in the remarks, other than the president's apparent confidence that, setbacks notwithstanding, reform really is going to come together this year. He noted, for example, the "unprecedented progress" we've seen thus far. That's a fair point -- we've never been this close to achieving the reform Americans have been waiting for over the last several decades. Obama also emphasized that reform can and will be deficit-neutral, and that reform isn't really an option with an untenable status quo. "I realize that the last few miles of any race are the hardest to run," the president said. But, perhaps referencing the unfounded fears of the six "centrist" senators who want to bring the process to a halt, Obama added, "Now is not the time to slow down. And now is certainly not the time to lose heart." The president went on to say, "[T]hose who are betting against this happening this year are badly mistaken. We are going to get this done. We will reform health care. It will happen -- this year. I am absolutely convinced of that." Well, that makes one of us. Note, the president did not re-emphasize the pre-recess deadline, which makes sense given that that Ben Nelson and his Merry Band of Momentum Killers make it unlikely policymakers can meet the timeline the White House was hoping for. —Steve Benen 4:50 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (14)Comments
So, when is Obama going to dispatch Emanuel to remind Lieberman that the President pulled his ass out of the fire when everyone else wanted to kick him out the door? Posted by: mork on July 17, 2009 at 4:59 PM | PERMALINKWhat's the deal with Maria Cantwell - did I miss an explanation of her position? Posted by: mmiddle on July 17, 2009 at 5:02 PM | PERMALINKMobs with rotten tomatoes should greet the delaying Senators when they return home during the recess. I'm serious. These arrogant jackasses need to be publicly humiliated-repeatedly. God, it'll be wonderful come Wednesday November 5, 2010, when they can tell Ben Nelson to go caucus with the party he's really a member of - the Republicans. He is such a sorry asshole. Posted by: TCinLA on July 17, 2009 at 5:16 PM | PERMALINKIs Nelson forgetting about October 15th? Right now, 56 votes for (assuming the 4 Democrats vote no). Are there 7 more likely to follow? Posted by: TonyB on July 17, 2009 at 5:21 PM | PERMALINKConstituents are going to hammer against this over the recess. In Minnesota and North Dakota I can guarantee it. North Dakotans are already opposed to it rather strongly. Posted by: MNPundit on July 17, 2009 at 5:26 PM | PERMALINKEvery person denied adequate healthcare should be holding sit-ins in the offices of the resistant senators. Force them to call cops to put sick people in jail. Then make the point that they can get better healthcare there, incarcerated. And don't let up. I believe healthcare reform will happen, but I just don't know if it'll be a good enough plan to make it worth the long struggle. I'm convinced, however, that on this one issue, Obama's intentions are very, very good and that he may have the pull to get a healthy public option plan. Posted by: Kevin Hayden on July 17, 2009 at 6:02 PM | PERMALINKHe doesn't need those jamokes. He has, apparently, already decided to do this through reconciliation and only needs 50 plus Biden. They see their leverage slipping away and are desperately trying to make themselves relevant again. Reid, Pelosi, and the rest of the Dems know that if this doesn't pass it is the end of the Obama Presidency and the end of their power. Health care will pass and he will have a final bill by November. Posted by: dmh on July 17, 2009 at 6:27 PM | PERMALINKMobs with rotten tomatoes should greet the delaying Senators when they return home during the recess. The "mobs" out there now are the Tea Parties. Posted by: marketeer on July 17, 2009 at 6:34 PM | PERMALINKIt's amazing how upset you socialist wannabes get over an arbitrary deadline not being met. Posted by: Marcus Freyman on July 17, 2009 at 6:54 PM | PERMALINKLosing the chance for meaningful health care reform so that a few worthless senators can have six weeks of paid summer vacation doesn't seem like a good trade to me. Posted by: qwerty on July 17, 2009 at 7:18 PM | PERMALINKTell hilzoy I'm spamming. I hope she'll forgive me. I never did this before, but the topic is important. The Kaiser Family Foundation provides a ten-page PDF document comparing and summarizing the Senate and House versions of the health care reform proposals. Do not believe anything you read or hear about this plan until you have done your own homework. The link is at the top of the screen, above the now obsolete plans that also appear below. (I have not studied these two most recent permutations of the half-dozen or two that were introduced at the start of the session. My printer is not available at the moment, but when I finish leaving this link a few places I will go to the library where I can make myself a copy to study.) Critics are probably correct that there is nothing being proposed to control costs. There never has been from the 1930's when Blue Cross and Blue Shield became the first group insurance plans in the country. The only way that they were permitted to come into existence was the understanding that there would not be any controls on physician charges. The country was recovering from price controls of the Great Depression and the AMA, which opposed both the Blues, only relented in return for an agreement that there be no caps on charges. Nothing has changed since then, which is one of the main reasons for the excessive costs of health care today. Posted by: John Ballard on July 17, 2009 at 8:36 PM | PERMALINKRotten tomatoes? Please. Every day of delay is MURDER of some poor sap who can't get medical care. It should be indictments for manslaughter not a tomato for each Senator or Member of Congress from this day forward for every person who loses their insurance in the State or congressional district of each of these silly clowns and dies as a result of a lack of availability of adequate medical care. And whatever has happened to Ron Wyden, the Gray Panthers advocate and serious progressive? How has it come to this? This is not an academic debate. We can't, as a Nation, wait any more. We've become a 3rd World nation when it comes to health care. I don't think the American people fully understand how far behind world standards this country is. It's truly pathetic. We may have the most powerful military, for a little while longer, but we have a third rate medical and educational system. Not even in the top 50 worldwide. Wise up people!!!! I hope I'm abroad if I get sick. I'll have a far better chance of treatment at an affordable rate and I have the gold standard of insurance coverage. Posted by: Toutatis on July 17, 2009 at 10:38 PM | PERMALINKCongress has been working very steadily and quickly on this and I think if they just keep it up they'll get this thing done before ya know it. Posted by: MarkH on July 18, 2009 at 12:54 AM | PERMALINKPost a comment
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