It’s All About the Bribery

Posted on 07/18/2009 at 8:14 am by Bob Cesca

Paul Krugman underscores today how ridiculously hypocritical the Nelson-Lieberman “gang of six” — or as I like to call them, “asshats” — are with regards to healthcare reform spending. Krugman notes that every one of them voted for massive spending programs, and they oppose the public option which will make healthcare reform less expensive.

If the Gang of Six really does kill reform, remember their names; they will bear the responsibility for vast, unnecessary suffering over the years to come.

And if there isn’t a signed bill by October, healthcare reform is dead. If there is a delay, as the Gang of Six is promoting, healthcare reform won’t happen. If it does, it’ll be a minor bill that will likely subsidize and mildly regulate insurers, with giant loopholes and nothing substantive.

Again, all of this — the hypocrisy, the lack of a coherent arguments, the polls, all of it — circles back to the fact that Ben Nelson, Joe Lieberman, Mary Landrieu and the GOP members of the Asshats are being paid by the healthcare industry to crush reform. It’s that simple. When will very serious people in Washington begin to point this out. Mr. President?

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  • indyinwc

    Headlines in the NYT this morning, “Democrats grow wary as health bill advances”. I’m distressed. I was basically a one issue voter this past election. For me, I was all about getting a healthcare bill, preferably hb676, but having affordable health insurance trumped everything. Call me misinformed and ignorant, but why is health care reform dead if our newly elected president and senate can’t get it done in their first six months in office? They get 4-6 years in this job, they’re done something this important in 6 months? GB got a war started after his first 6 mos., why can’t we spend some time and get healthcare right, instead of some slapped together plan before everybody goes on vacation?

  • Jan

    I’m afraid we’ll get some half assed, watered down plan just to get it “passed” and Obama gets his political victory. Most of the stuff in the bill doesn’t even kick in for years, which helps NO ONE-except the insurance companies-now.So tell me, what’s the rush? Other than political?

  • skywriter1

    I agree with INDY and JAN – why is healthcare reform dead if it doesn’t get passed this year? I hear that and read that statement everywhere – but why is that? Has it just become accepted philsophy by virtue of being repeated so much?

  • http://nanotyrnns.blogspot.com/ Nanotyrannus

    From the NYT:

    “Second, even with House committees working in marathon sessions this week, it was clear that Democrats could not meet their goal of passing bills before the summer recess without barreling over the concerns of Republicans and ending any hope that such a major issue could be addressed in a bipartisan manner.“

    How much of that exact shitheadery was perpetrated by Republicans for almost the entire Bush presidency? There was no talk of bipartisanship. There was only accusation of Democrats hating America, wanting the terrorists to win, and wanting us to get hit again by terrorists. Then the Republicans would just pass whatever they wanted. Sam Stein said on Ed Schultz last night that the CBO had scored the Iraq War Part II (I’ll Show Daddy How It’s Done!) at two trillion dollars over 10 years. There was no heated debate about that, just one more “emergency” eighty billion dollar supplemental after another. There was no Republican “well we need to read the bill first.” Just pass pass pass.I’m going to email the President again today, but honestly the one we need to grow a pair is Harry Reid. I’m not sure we can light a fire under that slowsky, but I’m hoping Rahm Emmanuel can.

  • Jan

    There’s an old adage that the DC insiders say- if a president doesn’t get his agenda done within his first year then it ain’t gonna happen. Ridiculous. Bush’s march to ruin this country went on for all of his 8 years. Obama promised this during the campaign so I get why he’s pushing it.He needs to go back to the drawing board and get some damn jobs going in this country. And get the banks lending again. At this point in the game, jobs is almost more important right now than getting a public option in 2013. We need help right now. We need to get families off the streets, back in housing and working again.

  • Jan

    There was no Republican “well we need to read the bill first.” Just pass pass pass.We all know what huge hypocrits they are. This isn’t a new concept. Problem is, no one ever calls them on except for Ed, Keith, Rachel and the “democratic” strategists.Harry Reid will never grow any. I’ve accepted that fact.

  • http://annette-justmylittlepieceoftheworld.blogspot.com/ Annette

    I keep telling you all.. quit reading the damn papers.. They will lie to you and tell you just what the repukes want you to know. That’s it. Most of the garbage you read is from the repukes.. same as on teevee.. Geeze..If you do read it in the papers at least verify it with a couple of sources before you believe what you read. Look at the article everyone jumped on just a week or so ago.. Pres. Obama says back off and don’t be calling all these poor dems and telling them you want health care done… Everyone was up in arms.. why is he saying to stop call.. what an asshole our president is why is he doing this.. why did I vote for this SOB if he is going to sell us out.. and it was on and on ..Now the true story is coming out that it NEVER happened and he is telling people to CALL THESE IDIOTS and get them to push this through…That’s what I am saying… how many ways and how many times do these stories have to be shown to be false and promoted by repukes until you have to realize they are planted so that you will be discouraged and give up. That is exactly what you want.Did you know this is Obama’s Health Care Plan? And geeze I thought it was America’s Health Care Plan. But that’s how they are framing this.. Michelle Malkin is calling it Obamacare.. I think it was Willis that wrote it up that hopefully that will help the entire argument. But only if you don’t lose faith… But as I am seeing here.. you are all losing faith, with the President, with yourselves and with the plans in Congress.The House plan is a good one. Late yesterday evening the CBO said it was deficit neutral .. that is exactly what it needs to be. The only problem is the small business portion.. and that can be worked out.If you haven’t read it, you need to.. It is a good plan and it can work. Yes it is going to take a while to implement.. that sucks.. but government works slowly.. it always has and it always will.

  • http://nanotyrnns.blogspot.com/ Nanotyrannus

    I understand what you’re saying Annette. There is much talk of a lack of bipartisanship even though the bill contains well over a hundred amendments that were from Republicans. Again, we’ve made concessions and they’ll still vote “no” practically as a block. But I think congressmen and women, and especially Harry Reid, are very susceptible to the kind of bullshit that’s in that article. They live in the bubble in D.C. and really only hear from lobbyists, reporters and their staff (which are trying to mold legislation for future job offers). We and the president have to put enormous pressure on Reid and the rest of the leadership or else they’ll back down in the face of Republican lies and propaganda. I’m not wanting to respond to the article because I buy into any of it, but because I want to make sure my members in the House and Senate don’t buy into it.

  • R & T

    Annette-Here is what the CBO said yesterday-CBO: Health Bill Would Hike Deficit by $239 billionBy Jonathan Allen and David Clarke, CQ StaffThe House version of a health care overhaul bill would produce a deficit of $239 billion over 10 years, according to a new Congressional Budget Office estimate.The CBO estimate released late Friday pegs the gross cost of the bill (HR 3200) at $1.04 trillion, with the price tag partially offset by a surtax on the wealthy and other revenue raisers that would raise $583 billion and anticipated efficiencies that would squeeze $219 billion out of Medicare and Medicaid.The analysis also shows that many of the provisions would have no net impact on the deficit, which could severely complicate any effort to consider the legislation through filibuster-proof fast-track “reconciliation” rules in the Senate.The big deficit number — larger than the one run by the government for all of fiscal 2007 — is likely to add weight to the burden of Democratic leaders, who have said they plan to pass the bill on the House floor before Congress leaves town for its annual August recess.

  • http://annette-justmylittlepieceoftheworld.blogspot.com/ Annette

    R&T as I said before.. and I as said yesterday…quit distorting the facts.. here is what the CBO said about the House version of the Health Reform bill….

    Washington, D.C. — The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released estimates this evening confirming for the first time that H.R. 3200, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act, is deficit neutral over the 10-year budget window – and even produces a $6 billion surplus. CBO estimated more than $550 billion in gross Medicare and Medicaid savings. More importantly, the bill includes a comprehensive array of delivery reforms to set the stage for lowering the future growth in health care costs.Net Medicare and Medicaid savings of $465 billion, coupled with the $583 billion revenue package reported today by the House Committee on Ways and Means, fully finance the previously estimated $1.042 trillion cost of reform, which will provide affordable health care coverage for 97% of Americans.“This fulfills the strong commitment of the President and House leadership to enact health reform on a deficit-neutral basis,” said Chairmen Henry A. Waxman, Chairman Charles B. Rangel, and Chairman George Miller. “The reforms included in this legislation will help control health care costs and expand access to quality, affordable coverage to all Americans in fiscally-responsible manner.”The estimates also cover important reinvestments in Medicare and Medicaid, including phasing in the closing of the “donut” hole in the Medicare drug benefit. The bill’s long-term reform of Medicare’s physician fee schedule to eliminate the potential 21 percent cut in fees, and put payments on a sustainable basis for the future, will cost about $245 billion. Those costs, however, are not included in the net calculations above, as they will be absorbed under the upcoming statutory “pay go” legislation that is pending in the House.

    I rest my case.