If the health care/insurance bill doesn't pass tomorrow,

[Cleita]

what's next?

[laughingliberal]

1. I'm pretty sure it will pass. nt

[Cleita]

2. I'm not so sure.

I keep wondering if there is a plan "b".

[Oregone]

8. Itll pass

If anything, plan B is to try and pass a symbol by election time while staving off real reform from the left.

[jtuck004]

3. I am guessing the Sun will come up Monday, either way...

Though I realize that is not what you were asking about ;)

Not sure what speculation is worth, but perhaps they could find another use for 300 billion dollars instead of helping insurance company executives pay for their summer homes, nice boats, mcmansions and advertisements to kill any further work towards a public option?

Say, give 1.3 billion to Arizona so they can reinstate the insurance program for children disadvantaged by low income, none of whom are likely to benefit from the new "Patient Protection Act"
http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2010/03/19/underplayed-story-of-the-day-arizona-drops-childrens-health-care-program/

Spread a couple billion here and there to put few thousand teachers back to work.

Take a hundred billion or so and see how far you can get by adding coverage for some low-income 50+ years olds onto Medicare, and add in a few of thousand people who were denied coverage for a pre-existing condition, instead of waiting to see if they die before 2014. (That puts a whole new take on ""patient" protection", it seems)

Use a hundred billion in a jobs program which we need more than health care.

[Fed Up]

4. Ed Schults says that Obama presidency is done if this fails.

It will be like riding a bicycle from New York to LA, and as soon as you reach Arizona border, you suddenly find yourself in NY again.

It won't be fun. Maube the Dems have some noes who tell them in private if their vote hinges on win or lose they will then switch to yes, but only if.


Hoyer sounded confident.

But who knows?

[subterranean]

5. If that happens...

in my opinion, the best thing would be for the government to give states the money to develop and implement their own reform plans, if they want to. It won't get done at the national level if this bill doesn't pass tomorrow.

[Fed Up]

6. We'll know in short order

Do the Dems really want to run in November on "Hey, reelect us, we didn't do anyting, and you will surely want us to continue." ??? If we are going to lose seats - and we likely are - we might as well do something first.

if this bill goes down the crapper it's a testament to the inaction of the Democratic party.

It's just a dejecting thought that if the Gophers had this same power they would have run roughshod over the Dems and taken no prisoners. Open up Alaska to drilling? It would be passed in 3 days.
Every Dem filibuster would be broken by 60 Gopher senators, every time, without fail. that's how the Repukes operate. They would tell the Dems to just sit down, shut up and enjoy the ride, and act like the potted plants that they are.

The Dems get this same power and what do they do? Sit around for a year navel gazing and making sure the Republicans don't get mad at them.

If this bill fails, the dems only have the people they see in the mirror to blame.

[NYC_SKP]

7. Grief, just more grief for more people. Except the rich, they'll get richer and breath a sigh....

...of relief.

[Sebastian Doyle]

9. And the rich don't get richer when this turd passes?

Stephen Hemsley doesn't get richer when United Health Care gets their share of 40 million new forced customers?

[emilyg]

10. +1

[laughingliberal]

13. +2 nt

[truedelphi]

11. At least if the bill passes we will not have to worry about how the expansion of

the war in Afghanistan and matters in Iraq will be paid for:

War expansion in Afghanistan, war in Iraq - Total 167 billion dollars
and
Penalties that will be charged against those who don't handle mandates properly

Total 167 Billion Dollars.

Funny how that worked out.

[Sebastian Doyle]

14. Oh that's just great....

So either way they're going to try to force me to pay for something I don't believe in? :puke:


How about this....... stop the useless wars AND the useless fellation of the insurance industry, and put the money into an ACTUAL health care system? What is so goddamn difficult about that?

[truedelphi]

15. It's a great system the Powers that Be have in place.

And wait and watch: any time any of the political whores speaks up and says "Let's fix some minor things in the New Health Care Reform Bill," lobbyists will flood into the congressional offices, checkbook in hand.

As an anti-pesticide activist for many years, the so-called "reform attempts" on that issue were usually just attempts to get more money out of Lobbyists. The only one with any power who really did right by We the People was Barbara Boxer. Usually, the rest of the Senate (including Al Gore when he was the Pres. of the Senate) were just so many cash hungry whores.)

[ScreamingMeemie]

12. Nothing.

Dems will be told to shut up because they got "their damned reform" and the insurance companies will chuckle all the way to the bank...and those of us with preexisting conditions will still not have insurance. And many of us won't be able to pay the "high risk pool" prices (with or without 'subsidy') and some of us won't make it 4 years.