So now he's gone, the legislation is going to get better?

Good riddance. We get a better bill if we don't mollify those asshats anyway.

no one should spend an iota of time or energy trying to make orrin hatch happy.

the mormons are busy trying to clone him before his current aging manifestation goes, er, obsolete... if mormon america didn't have an orrin hatch they'd hafta invent him... and perhaps soon they will...

hatch is the ugly face of the religio-corporate-misogynistic-politico-patriarchy. and, girls and boys, that means he sucks...

Man, the Dems never cease to amaze me with their stupidity.
But this is definitely in keeping with Hatch's rejection of the Bush tax cuts, the war in Iraq, Medicaid pt. D, etc.

It's a setback for bipartisanship, and a step forward for rational policy making. Conservative Republicans who don't want to make sweeping, progressive changes to the system should walk away. Chances are, other conservative Republicans will follow Hatch out the door, and that's fine, too.

Fine. Then just stop saying that it's Republican opposition that preventing passage of whatever stupid "health care reform" legislation that Obama says he wants. You know as well as I that the Dems have the votes to pass anything they want. The failure to pass something would rest solely on the incompetence of Obama and the Dems' Congressional "leadership".

All the concessions made through negotiating with Hatch should be rescinded, since he no longer wants to be part of the process.

Are the Democrats smart/brave enough to do this?

That's the $20 billion dollar question.

I posted this in an earlier thread, but apparently no one read it. Or perhaps it was not worthy of comment?
"Anybody listen to/watch Democracy Now this morning? "Dr. David Scheiner was President Obama’s doctor from 1987 until he entered the White House. Today Dr. Scheiner is publicly opposing Obama’s health plan and is calling for a single-payer system."
Why is this man not on MSM to debunk the lies of the insurance criminals? And, the following interview with Stan Brock, is also a must listen:
"As debate continues in Washington over healthcare reform, thousands of Americans in neighboring Virginia are preparing to line up this weekend to receive free healthcare provided by a relief organization called Remote Area Medical. We speak to the group’s founder, Stan Brock."

Wendell Potter, CIGNA whistleblower, was turned around by his experience with RAM-USA.

Posted by: st john on July 22, 2009 at 2:21 PM | PERMALINK

Are the Democrats smart/brave enough to do this?

Yeah that was my thought. Or if not rescind them by fiat, "renegotiate" them with the remaining members.

Chicounsel you seem to have no clue as to the internal dynamics involved. Having Hatch et. al. at the table gives the Blue Dogs leverage in that they can claim are only making concessions to keep people like Orrin involved. The less Republicans in the room the less cover the Blue Dogs have to present themselves as mediators rather than pure obstructors.

Democratic leadership do not have the votes to pass anything they want as long as Blue Dogs hold out the threat of going along with a Republican led filibuster. The fewer Republicans in the room the harder it is to sell any filibuster as an attempt to facilitate a compromise as opposed to just killing health care reform outright.

I hope that Hatch's walk is a long one and that a short pier is included in the route.

OMG! I LOVE the optics. There is a reason why the GOP strategy starts with "1. Pretend to support reform." Because the public wants reform, and the best way to hide the fact you are going to kill it, is to pretend like you are interested.

Now Democrats can say, "Republicans aren't even interested in TALKING about the issue."

I think the Republicans are scared, and are shifting from trying to defeat the health care plan, to being opposed to it so they can blame everything bad that happens -- from the economy to a white farmer in Nebraska who slips in an ER and sprains his wrist -- on The Democratic Socialist Health Care agenda and reap the electoral rewards.

Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.

Hatch would have done the same thing with SS, Medicare, civil rights because the republican's idea of bipartisanship is always the same...do it our way...On what have they ever compromised?

You cannot have reform without a not for profit public option. Paying for it is easy to do but republicans will not stand for it...roll back the Bush tax cuts then roll back the Reagan tax cuts.
Then ther'd be enough not only for health care but also for rebuilding our infrastructure.

Also follow England's example and tax stock transactions and trading. There are multiple ways of paying for what we need without increasing taxes on 98.5% of Americans or running up the deficit. Delaying the legislation because of cost concerns is merely a front to stall for time to try to find a way to kill the legislation.

It's not "Obama (who) must wait for Health care reform"...it's the "American people" who are being forced to wait. The MSM needs to get the headlines corrected.

You seem to believe that Hatch had been acting in good faith up until this point. That his "walking away" was a genuine act of a principled man, one who did his level best to reach accord with the loyal opposition.

The GOP is the party of Rule or Ruin. Period. There are no exceptions to that rule.

Maybe someone can find the right quote by Churchill. Basically, after France fell in WWII, he felt that this was just fine. Now the British could do it their way, without consultation. That turned out alright, I believe.

Steve Benen quoted Bloomberg: "The Utah senator said he can't support a measure that costs as much as $1 trillion ..."

One trillion dollars over ten years to ensure that every American has health insurance. Outrageous and impossible.

One trillion dollars every two years in military spending, to enrich giant weapons corporations. Business as usual.

St John, @14:55,

I did read your posting on the earlier thread and even left a comment, if somewhat late. Here it is, reposted, like yours:

[...] thousands of Americans in neighboring Virginia are preparing to line up this weekend to receive free healthcare provided by a relief organization called Remote Area Medical.

The only difference between that event and similar ones in any other "third world" country is that the doctors and the patients are not likely to be bombed. Though, given our Virgina gun laws (very, very, lax), can't promise nobody will be shot at.

The problem is that the republicans push for bi-partisanship on this bill, get the dems to make all the amendments they want, then either walk away, like Hatch, or vote against the bill anyway. Then the bill passes, but it's been so watered down with the comprimises to the republicans, that it's worthless or worse - what the republicans wnated in the first place.

It appears that we now have two political parties in Washington: Democrats, and Blue Dog Democrats. The Republicans are irrelevant. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

First Snowe backs down today and now Hatch walks out. Is there anyone who really thought that ANY Republican was going to participate in this?

Why should they? There is really no political gain, win or lose, for any Republican to help the Democrats reform our health insurance system. Democrats will get the credit or the blame no matter how this turns out.

Democratic leadership do not have the votes to pass anything they want as long as Blue Dogs hold out the threat of going along with a Republican led filibuster. The fewer Republicans in the room the harder it is to sell any filibuster as an attempt to facilitate a compromise as opposed to just killing health care reform outright.

Posted by: Bruce Webb on July 22, 2009 at 2:59 PM |

Why is this the fault of the GOP? It's up to the Dems to draft and effectively manage the legislation they want past their own caucus. If Obama, Reid and Pelosi cannot buy off the Blue Dogs ideological opposition to say the public option, then they'll have to decide whether it is worth giving that up in order to get the Blue Dogs' votes for the final bill.

Chicounsel it's been said by you that your an attorney.I hope to god that I'd never need you for any kind of legal representation. You don't seem to understand nuance or for that matter direct evidence.

Man, must be great having Hatch's job - don't wanna work, just walk away from it!

It's a setback for bipartisanship

When, oh when, are we going to drive a stake through the heart of that vampire called "bipartisanship."

Give me an honest Republican any day.

"Bipartisanship", noun; indicating that opposing political parties BOTH agree that there is a problem and BOTH work to achieve a solution.
There CAN be real bipartisanship; just not from the present Republican Party members.

While the "parties are supposed to disagree", reasonable people can find ways to compromise and come to some agreement for the good of the country. I am old enough to remember when we had reasonable people in both parties, who put the welfare of the country ahead of the party ideals; and, solutions to the country's problems were achieved. Also, I have seen where both parties agreed there was a problem; but, disagreed on the solution. Still, a compromise was found by working together for a solution that was in the best interests of the whole country--not just for a select few. But, again, this was when Congress was inhabited with reasonable people. The Republicans of the 1990s through today, as I see it, have not been working for the best interests of the country for a very long time. They are the largest group of truly selfish people that I have ever seen. A pox upon them all.