There will be no Public Option - What a fucking game the Senate played on us.

[GreenTea]

Watching Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) on Countdown last night....

It painfully became very clear to me that the democrats in the senate knew all along they would never (and purposely) have enough signatures on that ridiculously manipulative letter, in that, the final bill should include a public option.

Most democratic senators, perhaps, diabolically knew they would never have to answer to the letter nor have to vote on the public option for all to see....who did, who didn't.

It was all bullshit from the git-go!

It should of been quite obvious to me that if the Democrats in the senate really wanted to buck their corporate insurance masters money train the public option would of been in the senate bill a long time ago.

Was Obama aware of this and knew there was no way the senate wanted any part of the public option?

I'm finally telling myself to wake up! It was ALL bullshit from the very beginning....

The Dems in the senate are using Nancy Pelosi, (who at least did produce a public option in the House version of the bill.) and using congress as their scapegoats....while laying the rest of the blame on such inexcusable assholes like Blanche Lincoln, Ben Nelson & Joe Lieberman instead of themselves.

The spineless inept senate Dems, and their gulling incredibly selfish greed for the corporate purse-strings is the only reason, the real reason there will be NO public option in the final bill.

NO Public Option for tax our dollars - OUR tax dollars instead will go to the avaricious insurance corporations.

In reality it's the slimy bought-off senators of both parties....

However, it's the Dem senators who are pretending to the American people they really do want a public option - BULLSHIT!

Of course these same self-interested senators know very well that every poll across this country shows a huge majority of Americans want and demand a Public Option.....Nevertheless, these gutless, wishy-washy democratic senators are not going to give up their insurance corporations money train.

I'll now continue to watch in awe and still in disbelief at the duplicity & disgusting spectacle these democratic senators make of themselves, smugly & arrogantly lying to us while they display their pontificating bullshit for the cameras each day for all to see.

Shameless!

And sadly, they'll continue using this shameless mockery all the way to the end, blaming everyone else why the American people do not have a public option.

[leftstreet]

1. It's master level chess!

[stopbush]

2. Nothing at all diabolical, just politics as usual.

[Echo In Light]

31. Just a brainwashed, obedient populace that allows itself to be screwed repeatedly, as usual

[gateley]

3. Gotta focus on Grayson's stand-alone Medicare Buy In. We can

NOT be left with nothing!

[Go2Peace]

10. will that be blocked too?

I don't have a lot of confidence. It seems like the administration is intent on now allowing any other options?

[gateley]

12. Don't know. We can only try. I honestly don't see how anybody

could vote against this - what would their argument be? It's not costing the government anything, the people (us) would pay for the buy-in. It would create jobs. It would lower prices. Even the pharmas would be happy as there would be that many more people able to buy their drugs. The only down side as far as I can tell would be the insurance industry -- and maybe not even that would be affected if people want to keep their current insurance.

I also think a lot more of those crying "socialist" at Obama's plan would back this too.

But again, who knows? Worth a try. :shrug:

[awoke_in_2003]

19. If it helps Americans...

it will be blocked :(

[CrispyQ]

33. A more accurate statement would be,

"If it takes one dime from health insurance companies profits, it will be blocked."

[sharesunited]

20. And oppose or support the comprehensive HCR bill? Just curious.

[gateley]

22. I'm not sure -- I was for it in that it would at least help SOME people, and be a

first step. But, if a Grayson-type plan could be implemented, I'm not sure what would be in the 'comprehensive' bill that we would need.

What do you think? I'm really trying to understand it all so if you can shed some light on this, I welcome your opinion and input.

[tnlefty]

4. Haven't you heard?

It's all Rep. Kucinich's fault, not that of the bought and paid for whores?

[rurallib]

5. Senate's already bought and paid for - just wait til the Roberts Rules

on campaign financing kick in

[Donnachaidh]

14. seems like they kicked in already

All the key players seem to be foaming at the mouth and getting in line to *represent* big business by making backroom deals.

[Oregone]

6. Senate?

You think they were the only actors? *sigh*


...and don't rule it out yet. Its the ultimate ending--the ironic twist--to the play. They are all reading straight from a script to enforce the industry agreed upon insurance model that the country has been moving forward on for years.

[JI7]

7. you were the one who was fooled, some of us knew if they had the votes

they would have included it earlier on.

[Donnachaidh]

15. and if pigs had wings they'd already be flying.

:eyes:

[LaPera]

16. LOL

Yes, the voluntarily blind simply refuse to see.

:rofl:

[paulk]

17. knowing it was all a shell game

doesn't make it any less reprehensible

[tavalon]

26. It sounds like you are okay with them not having the votes

I'm not.

[Individualist]

8. Place blame where blame is due: DLC

[GreenTea]

9. I can absolutely agree with that. However....

The rest of the Democrats in the senate are playing right along with the corporate DLC assholes and going along for the ride.

[Individualist]

11. Indeed! Anyone who doubts DLC is in control should read this...

Today, for all our political challenges, what matters most is coming up with ideas and solutions that work, and the new DLC will be devoted to the battle for reform and ideas, not politics. It will be a reform think tank dedicated to developing, promoting, and enacting an agenda as bold and pragmatic as America's new president. It will work closely with allies in Congress and the administration to make sure President Obama and his reform agenda succeeds.
http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=86&subid=84&contentid=254927

[bvar22]

38. The DLC "New Team".

The DLC New Team
Progressives Need NOT Apply

(Screen Capped from the DLC Website)


”I am a New Democrat!”---Barack Obama
http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=254931&kaid=85&subid=900184

The DLC Dream List....Mission Accomplished!

*WARS fully funded and EXPANDING. Bill sent to our children…...Mission Accomplished !

*Trillion Dollars given to friends and campaign contributors on Wall Street. No Strings Attached...Mission Accomplished!

*Military Spending INCREASED....Mission Accomplished!

*Trillion+ Dollars given to the Health Insurance Industry. Easily Avoidable, symbolic only strings attached....Mission almost Accomplished!

*Force all Americans to buy invisible products from For Profit Corporations who manufacture nothing and create no (Value Added) wealth..."A Uniquely American Solution"..indeed. .....Mission almost Accomplished!

*Kill the possibility for a REAL "Public Option" or REAL Universal Health Care for at least another generation, and begin the “Entitlement Reform” defunding of Medicare (-$500 Billion)....Mission almost Accomplished!

*Block ANY REAL re-regulation of BIG BANKS and Credit Cards....Mission Accomplished!

*Protect the Bush War Criminals and Torturers from JUSTICE....Mission Accomplished.

*Throw the GBLTs under the bus and expand "faith based" initiatives....Mission Accomplished!

*Reinforce the worst Police State provisions of the Patriot Act and strengthen the Unitary Executive....Mission Accomplished!

*Protect the very richest. Tell the Working Class that they CAN WILL compete with 3rd World Slave Labor for their jobs.....Mission Accomplished!

*EFCA (Employee Free Choice Act) killed in the crib....Mission Accomplished!

*More Anti-LABOR "Free Trade"....Mission almost Accomplished!

*Jobless Recovery....Mission Accomplished

*The Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party SHUT OUT of the Obama Administration…...Mission Accomplished!

*Accelerate the destruction of Public Education...Mission Accomplished!

*Bury next generation under such a debt burden that they will never be able to afford any social or economic programs that will benefit their Working Class....Mission Accomplished.

And ALL this in less than a year!!!

But WATCH OUT!
The Privatization (destruction) of Social Security is NEXT on the DLC Hit List.
The "Centrist" Democrats will succeed where the Republicans failed.
The "Centrist" Democrats WILL finally succeed in undoing FDR's New Deal.
.
.
I hate these vermin worse than I hate the Republicans.

[RandomThoughts]

13. Well I can explain a technique, but it is not the entirety.

Some have actually been fighting for it, and some really are representing people.

But there is a method, or a series of methods that are used for multiple effects, not to pass a bill or negotiate a bill, but to work opinion on a bill and point out areas of dissent and support.



You propose a bill, when there is push back you stall and knock off people that are arguing against you. Then you do a despair hope cycle, and see who is left still advocating for the position. You then knock them off, do a new despair hope cycle, and continue that until there is no opposition, then you pass the bill planed to be past on day one.

That is a method, but not the complete story, since it is more of a top level thing, not really in thought patterns of every legislator. Most of the bill was negotiated and there were some compromises that took time, but that is a political trick, but it is usually only used in totalitarian states. So I am not saying that is what was done.

The arrogant articles when the Senate passed its bill with 60 votes matched that, to see if people had been warn down to the point where they would accept it. The drawn out time also lets the media sector do its work, because it can over a period of time change what an argument is even about.

When I say top level, I mean it is the method used not only on population, but also on legislators themselves. One of the reasons things are hard to do. Because until they got votes to pass, or defeat something the way they want, they can stall and keep it from a vote.



But it is there choice on how and what to do, each representative is elected to make there best choice, and it is not an easy job.

[truedelphi]

18. Here is the advantage to those in elected office

in pretending to go back and forth on an issue

In this case health care reform, so each time there are maneuvers in which the progressive action might come to be, yet another round of lobbyists drop by.

So the more times they pretend to "have at it" the more their campaign coffers fill up. And in the case of HCR, there may indeed be more attempts to tweak it at some point on down the road. Not that anything significant will ever affect it, but hey, why give up on having more industry monies filling the campaign coffers?

Health Insurance for your whole family - One Dollar a year!
Vichy Care. We take your premium dollars so other insurers don't get them.

[seafan]

21. The public option was off the table a long time ago.

Looking back at what has transpired over the past year with regard to health care reform, it appears that a collaborative White House, Senate and armies of lobbyists have hung the U. S. House and the American people out to dry.




NYT, August 12, 2009

WASHINGTON — In pursuing his proposed overhaul of the health care system, President Obama has consistently presented himself as aloof from the legislative fray, merely offering broad principles. Prominent among them is the creation of a strong, government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurers and press for lower costs.

Behind the scenes, however, Mr. Obama and his advisers have been quite active, sometimes negotiating deals with a degree of cold-eyed political realism potentially at odds with the president’s rhetoric.

.....

From the same article:



Obama Is Taking an Active Role in Talks on Health Care Plan, NYT

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
August 12, 2009

.....
Drug industry lobbyists said they negotiated a deal to contribute $80 billion over 10 years toward the cost of an overhaul with Mr. Baucus, under White House supervision, before taking it to the president for final approval. House lawmakers have said they were caught by surprise when it was announced.

Hospital industry lobbyists, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of alienating the White House, say they negotiated their $155 billion in concessions with Mr. Baucus and the administration in tandem. House staff members were present, including for at least one White House meeting, but their role was peripheral, the lobbyists said.

Several hospital lobbyists involved in the White House deals said it was understood as a condition of their support that the final legislation would not include a government-run health plan paying Medicare rates — generally 80 percent of private sector rates — or controlled by the secretary of health and human services.

“We have an agreement with the White House that I’m very confident will be seen all the way through conference,” one of the industry lobbyists, Chip Kahn, director of the Federation of American Hospitals, told a Capitol Hill newsletter.

.....

Representative Henry A. Waxman, the California Democrat who is chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, said the president had personally assured House members that he did not intend to let the Senate Finance Committee determine the final legislation.

“This is going to be a genuine conference with give and take,” Mr. Waxman said. “The president has said that personally to the senators, and he has said it personally to us.”

He added: “The president has said he wants a public option to keep everybody honest. He hasn’t said he wants a co-op as a public option.”

Still, industry lobbyists say they are not worried. “We trust the White House,” Mr. Kahn said. “We are confident that the Senate Finance Committee will produce a bill we fully can endorse.”

At this juncture, in my opinion, the best course of action is for Speaker Pelosi to place a public option (Alan Grayson's version) in next Monday's mark-up reconciliation bill and call the Senate's bluff, forcing each and every Senator to go on record with their vote on the public option. That is the ONE THING that certain members of the Senate are deathly afraid to do, because it will expose their priorities of serving the corporations over the needs of the people they were sent to Washington to represent.


If the entire (flawed) bill then ultimately fails, we will then know who are the real enemies of the people.



We already know Republicans will vote against any health care bill.

What we now need to determine is which Democrats are not on the side of the people, and by including a public option in reconciliation and putting it up for a vote, duplicitous Democrats will be forced to face the music.


We must expose these people and make private citizens out of them.

[nenagh]

23. I thought I heard Congressman Anthony Weiner say

That some Senators had pleaded to not be forced to vote on the Public Option...

But am not sure I heard him correctly...

Is that what he said?

[Little Star]

30. Yes. That is what he said.

[pnwmom]

24. Why are you blaming the Senators who signed the letter, instead of the ones who didn't?

[Dinger]

25. K & R &

vote out every asshole who votes for this POS corporate/big pharma horseshit fuckin' we're about to get shoved in our faces, or up our asses, however it is done. Don't give me bs about me voting repuke either. That will NEVER happen with me.

[ChicagoSuz219]

27. The fact is...

...that both bills were passed. The Senate can't pass the House bill because it contains the Stupak Amendment. Period. The House has to pass the Senate bill which has better language & no PO.

The Public Option can be re-introduced in a few months (something about the Budget).

We just need to take a breath & hang in there. In the meantime, there are a LOT of good things in HCR & we need it to pass.

[upi402]

28. In a few months?

:rofl:
"The Public Option can be re-introduced in a few months (something about the Budget)."
Okay, I was trying to follow you seriously until you said that. We just need to keep our powder dry as they have their way with us just a tad bit more?

65% of Americans want single payer/public option. We gave them a huge majority. No excuse for this - that's what the fact is. Please.

[ChicagoSuz219]

32. You're rude...

I meant thru budget rec.

This is an interesting read:

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=letting_go_of_the_public_option

[upi402]

34. Very frustrated, I aplogize

I am trying to wake people from the delusion that there are 2 parties, however. People are figuring it out more and more, so that's hopeful.

[ChicagoSuz219]

39. I accept your apology.

We're all frustrated at this point.

[Raineyb]

36. Oh please! Have you been paying attention? It's a bloody election year

they're not going to do a damn thing. Hang in there. This is a matter of life and death and you're talking about hanging in there wile passing a POS bill tat does more harm than good?

You cannot be for real.

[Raine]

29. They're ALL bought and paid for

by the insurance industry.

[lwcon]

35. How about the game that made the wafty "public option"

into THE goal, instead of something tangible like single payer or socialized medicine?

As Bruce Dixon said at Black Agenda Report, "It was a container designed to fit our hopes and dreams just well enough and just long enough to close the deal, an empty wrapper, with little or no candy inside."

[Hansel]

37. No there is not going to be a PO until the blue dogs are gone or convinced...

that their jobs are on the line. They need to be singled out for primary challenges.

Instead of some on the left throwing up their hands and pretending that ALL Democratic Senators are the problem, they need to use their energy to clean house.