Byrd is way ahead of himself. If anything passes, it's likely to be so twisted and watered down that it would do Kennedy no honor to have his name attached to it.

I would only support naming the bill for Kennedy if it would be a bill that Kennedy could support. If there's no public option, plus a mandate to buy private insurance, plus no effective cost controls, plus allowing the insurance that people are forced to buy to cover only 70%, or less, of costs, it would be better to have no bill at all. We'd be forcing people to buy bad insurance that wouldn't protect them from bankruptcy if they get sick.

I'm pretty sure the Democrats are incapable of changing anything. Even the name of bill. seriously. i'm done with this party if they dont get a public option. After, you know, 55% of the country VOTED FOR ONE!

I wonder what kind of tasteless "joke" Rush Limbaugh will make today about Kennedy's death.

What Joe Buck said. Ted Kennedy would work for any bill that improved the status quo, so he probably would vote for whatever manure Max Baucus comes up with.

If we're going to rename it anything, let's call it the Emanuel-Lewin, after its true authors-- Rahm Emanuel and the Lewin Group.

Prepare yourself for howls of outrage from the unhinged far-right: Kennedy is to be buried at Arlington near his brothers.

I expect that the Repubs will be only too happy to rename the bill after Kennedy. After all, they're perfectly certain that he'd have "negotiated" it, in bi-partisan manner, to their satisfaction and they hope most sincerely that the Dems will honor the Senator by dropping all mention of public option, co-ops and other such non-market solutions.

Now that Kennedy is dead and cannot speak for himself any longer, everyone will put their own words and ideas into his mouth.

A "no brainer"? Really? Maybe re-phrase that?

Little off subject, but if anyone wants to see a complete Republican Fantasy World meltdown, give it a read.

beep52 Beat me to it - without the public option it helps no one . Keep the meme going Medicare for All

Yet another indication that Byrd knows his people. First, Appalachia has a bond with the Kennedy family that the rest of the south doesn't share -- it goes back to Kennedy going into West Virginia during the 1960's primary and then Robert Kennedy's compassion regarding the War on Poverty. Second, in the Appalachian south, speaking ill of the dead isn't done. Honoring the dead in some way (even if you hated them) is. And think of how many blue-dog Democrats are in the Appalachian South. It might give them just enough breathing room to back the plan.

Let's just call it "United Health Care," "Blue Cross", or "Aetna" and be done with it.

What exlib said. The wingnuts are already busy co-opting Teddy's legacy as they have long done with JFK, MLK, and RFK.

Speed, (un)happy to oblige:

"If he was the Lion of the Senate, we [upstanding American patriots] were his prey."
-- Rush Limbaugh, August 26, 2009, ca. 10 a.m. PST, about the late Senator Edward Kennedy

He did stop short of "good riddance," though.

What Democrat is going to vote against a Kennedy Bill ?

"I don't imagine changing the name of the bill to honor Kennedy will necessarily change the equation"

I humbly disagree.
I think it would turn the Publican and Thuglican fury up to 12. (Not that that would necessarily be a bad thing. Some might get aneurysms.)
(And it does raise the curious mathematical question of whether something of which you already have an infinite quantity can be increased?)

BYRD RECOMMENDS RENAMING HEALTH CARE BILL.... Seems like a no-brainer.

What did Senator Kennedy die from ?

Brain Cancer

can we stop using the phrase ' no-brainer ' ???

many thanks !!!

Charlotte: He did stop short of "good riddance," though.

a poster on huffington post...wrote that it was a shame we couldn't call the legislation..

the rush limbaugh memorial health care reform act..