About the so called health care bill that passed today ...

[Meeker Morgan]

... does this mean universal health care is off the agenda for the time being?

I hope not.

[robinblue]

1. yes, for a LONG time (IMHO).

[sharp_stick]

2. It means

that millions of people that are not able to get health care will now be able to get it. It also means that there is movement on a progressive issue that has been stalled for decades.

I'm sorry if that pisses people off but anything that moves this issue forward, even by an inch is a win in this country.

[tsuki]

3. And we will re-address it again in 40 years. nt

[Meeker Morgan]

4. Yeah. In four years. Maybe. n/t

[pundaint]

6. We all agree it is one big movement. Some don't see the "forward"

[napi21]

5. How long is the time being? Will single payer comy op in the next 1-2 months?

I doubt it. will it come up in 3-6 months, liekly. Grayson is hell ent on bringing this proposal to a committee for discussioh. Grayson is so articulate & very intimidating, his bill for just that is likely tocompeup in the next few months. If Grayson & several collegues keep this bill in the news, it think they'll manage to to ram it through. Similar to what's happening now.

I doh't think it's off the mark, but we really do need to convince the uninfornmed how thow it will benenfit them. Dure thatsd prejudice & manipulative, but there's no prid quo quo mainly because I don't the bucks to bribe them! We do need to back off of the HC revision so all those damn deals die. If we wait a few months and monitor what's going on in the business and then jump in with a majority!

[dr_johnsons_dog]

8. Grayson should be President

I can see already with his honesty, intelligence, humor and fearlessness, and his promotion of people over politics, parties and corporations, that he would make a truly GREAT president. I would love to see him challenge Obama in the primary. Don't think that will happen, but I can dream. I hope he is able to do something to make this bill actually useful and helpful to the vast bulk of Americans but giving us a damn public option we can buy into. But he's going to have to move fast as the Republicans are going to come back big in November.

[dr_johnsons_dog]

7. Kiss real health care reform goodbye for a generation

That was probably the purpose actually. Provide the facade of health care reform as a "legacy" while maintaining and building up, the status quo. This bill effectively stopped real health care reform in America for a generation - that would be single payor or even a public option that folks could buy into. It ties us inextricably into the for profit insurance scam. I think once Americans realize that they are going to have to have government enforced "mandated" coverage, or have their tax refunds grabbed, and once they see how expensive those high risk pools are going to be, and once insurance premiums start going up as the companies use the excuse of covering the previously uninsured with PEC's etc, the American people will turn against this bill and the concept of health care reform. Most of America gets nothing from this bill, and they will come to see it as a boondoggle and tax waste, and something that impinges on their civil liberties. They would actually be correct in viewing it in that manner, and that's how the Republicans will surely propagandize it. The Republicans were correct on this bill for the wrong reasons and they have much savvier political instincts than the Democrats.

I know it's very unpopular for me to say these things on this site, but I predict a big Republican win in November and one term for Obama, largely as a result of this bill, and the whole unsavory process of getting it passed. It's really a tragedy when Obama could have been a second FDR if he'd had more guts and vision and surrounded himself with real progressives instead of DLC'ers. Instead he'll be another Hoover.