Conservatives Rally to "Kill The Bill"

[jefferson_dem]

Conservatives Rally to "Kill The Bill"
Posted by Amanda Sterling



Conservative coalition High Noon for Healthcare staged a "Code Red Rally" this afternoon on Capitol Hill to protest what the group calls "the Washington takeover of health care."

Protesters carried signs bearing messages such as "Congress is America's #1 Enemy" and "Don't Tread on Me." Speakers included Republican senators Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Richard Burr of North Carolina and Johnny Isakson of Georgia.

Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann, radio host Laura Ingraham and officials from conservative organizations also spoke against the Senate's health care reform efforts.

"We gather today with a very simple message for this president and for Majority Leader Harry Reid," said Tim Phillips, president of conservative group Americans for Prosperity. "Keep your hands off our health care!"

Later, Bachmann said that the current health care proposal would create an "iron ceiling" on wages for middle-class Americans. She called for the public to protest the bill until the Senate dropped it.

"Was Joe Wilson right?" she asked, as the crowd roared back in the affirmative. "Let's tell them once and for all: kill the bill!"

<SNIP>

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/12/15/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5983501.shtml

[Richardo]

1. Wow - if you're on the same side of an issue as any ONE of those deep-thinkers, you're WRONG.

...And that includes YOU, Governor Dean.

[PAMod]

5. Yeah, well...

remember these morans are against any health insurance bill, even any non-reform that President Lieberman might support.

Dr. Dean is nowhere near the same side as these people.

[Drunken Irishman]

6. He's not...but we gain nothing by killing the bill.

That's the problem. Pres. Obama will kill any hope of re-election if he gets through this with absolutely nothing.

It's easy for Dean to say Kill the Bill - but that's exactly what the Republicans want. Because it is the endgame. :/

[PAMod]

13. Politics over principle?

Eh, maybe, maybe not. It sure looks that way though.

At some point, when you have the power - you have to actually govern. If this shadow of reform is the best we can do with the HUGE majorities we have, what does that say?

I don't believe it is the best we can do, and I think we can still get a real reform bill before the primaries, even if we have to start again from scratch.

[Drunken Irishman]

15. I don't think it's as easy to dimiss as just politics over principle.

If there were hope for a better bill and truer reform in the coming years, I would agree with Dr. Dean.

But you and I both know if this fails, it's over. It's over for a decade or longer because Pres. Obama is not going to go through it again knowing the end result could very well be the same. Why do you think Pres. Clinton never brought it up again once he was denied in 1993?

That's the problem here. The Republicans know if they kill this bill, they not only kill any reform for a long, long time, they severely hurt the President. It's like the proverbial two birds, one stone deal here.

The Democrats gain nothing by killing the bill. They can kill the bill and stand for their principles, but even then, their principles are hurting the country because it allows for no reform at all.

[PAMod]

19. I don't disagree with you (entirely)

Obviously if you don't get elected you can't do anything.

Maybe the problem in 2009 was trying to fix things like the rescission and pre-existing conditions, etc. at the same time as trying to provide for universal coverage. Maybe they should have been handled piecemeal.

My feeling is that no matter what happens to real reform, or to President Lieberman's reform, we aren't going to get another crack at this for a generation.

I have a feeling this isn't something you can settle for now, and then fix later.

[Drunken Irishman]

24. See, I think we can fix whatever we get out of this.

And it does offer something. Even if it's just small steps to truer reform.

But if we abandon this, there won't be any reform for a long, long time.

You know how I know this? Because every subsequent president is going to look back at the circus this was and realize it's not worth it.

Pres. Obama's problem was that he actually thought he could bring true healthcare reform to the United States. He can't. No president can't. Truman couldn't. Nixon couldn't. Clinton couldn't.

The difference is that none of them got anything and the system continued to crumble.

This might not fix everything...but it does provide a starting point as opposed to an endgame.

[PAMod]

25. Alright, you talked me down.

I have a feeling there are some in Congress that are going to be a tougher sell on this.

[BunkerHill24]

8. A predominant American figure in the American Revolutionary once said...

"Give me Liberty, or give me Death"

This current US congress has given the American people the liberty to choose death.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

9. you thus allow tea-baggers to dictate everything you think

When you take a binary stance like that you allow the opposition to dicate everything you do... it is just a mirror-image of total agreement.


I doubt Dr. Dean and the tea-baggers are in agreement as to their reasons.

[Richardo]

11. The reasons don't matter if the bill dies. The result is what matters.

The result being the next stab at healthcare in approximately 2056.

[Drunken Irishman]

12. No, but the endgame is the same.

Dr. Dean might not realize it. Maybe he does and doesn't care. But if we get nothing, we're done. The Democrats are toast. People might think that's good and if they do - well they'll get their wish.

But I don't think Pres. Obama can come through this with absolutely nothing. Killing the senate bill doesn't change the circumstances. We still don't have nowhere near the votes to get what Dean or even Obama wants.

And I have a feeling the President knows this. I think he realizes he's now backed so deep into the corner that there are two options - either lay down and let them win, knowing healthcare reform won't come about for another decade, if not longer, or go with what we have.

If it's the latter, Pres. Obama will do just that because that's how he operates. People here will bitch and the progressives and conservatives will join force to oppose it. But in the end, whether they're opposing it for different reasons won't matter. Because the endgame is a failed moment for the President.

And in that regard, only one side - conservatives - gain from that possibility. :/

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

17. I largely agree with you

Dean's actual argument is Kill it and start over in the House

If that were possible I would agree.

But I don't think it is.

If I were in the Senate I would probably vote for the thing.

[jefferson_dem]

18. +1

n/t

[Drunken Irishman]

21. You're right.

I would be right in Dean's corner if I felt confident we could get something better.

But, as you said, it isn't possible. At least it doesn't feel like it's possible.

Ugh. This has been ugly. And we wonder why no president has been able to deliver healthcare reform?

[BunkerHill24]

16. What exactly can one gain from this water-down -Insurance-money-making HCR reform?

Dr. Dean is correct. This Healthcare bill is useless, period.

[styersc]

23. If you let avoidance of standing on the same side as teabaggers

dictate your behaviour resulting in a gift for special interests at the expense of what is right, you are a moron!

[Clio the Leo]

2. Tomorrow we can start shouting, "Drill baby drill!" too. NT

[jefferson_dem]

4. How long before we start saying Obama is "pallin' around with terrists"?

Unfortunate headline there for Deaniacs. "Kill the bill" it is.

[Clio the Leo]

10. Oh, that's later tonight.

We have to wait until Ed is on so he can lead the chant. :)

[goldcanyonaz]

3. self delete.

Don't want to fight anymore.

[Lint Head]

7. Politics make strange bedfellows

[Gregorian]

14. Yeah, let's spend our money on wars instead!

What dingbats. They have absolutely no idea what they're doing. I love the sign that says to stop spending. Haha. He drove his car on roads that were paved by taxes.

Let's all get sick and suffer without good health care! Yay!

[depakid]

20. And the sad thing is- the Dems are so cowardly, complicit and compromized that

they can't draw a contrast between the two parties on one of the most important (and popular) reforms of the 21st Century.

How pathetic is that!

[Jersey Devil]

22. The guy with the red hat - Howard Dean with a fake beard?

Shields up! :evilgrin: