So will Pete Hoekstra change his “no” vote to a “yes” vote on the final bill? Will he help insure our veterans, something that the 2,200 who died last year didn’t have?
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Rep. Phil Gingrey, MD voted against healthcare reform with a public option on Saturday and today he is:
I can’t think of a better way to thank a veteran today than supporting a bill to help ensure them having access to healthcare. Imagine if the 2,200 veterans that died last year from a lack of coverage had a doctor and representative doing the same for them?
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On Saturday Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen joined with all but one of her Republican colleagues in the House to vote no on healthcare. Since more than 2,200 veterans died last year from a lack of healthcare coverage, will Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen support a final bill with a public option?
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Let’s see what the minority leader has to say today:
Now let’s have a look at exactly what Boehner has said:
“One generation of Americans after another has answered the call of duty without fail. These brave men and women call themselves veterans. We call them heroes. Today, we renew our commitment to repaying the debt we owe them knowing we can never fully do so except to cherish the blessings of freedom they have preserved for us and stand with the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines who carry on in their stead.”
I can’t think of a better way of “repaying the debt” than to provide access to healthcare to all our veterans, unlike the 2,200 that died last year had. What say you John? I’m not asking as a blogger, but as one of your constituents.
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Third we have John Cornyn, a man who has constantly bashed a public option.
Hey John – over 2,200 veterans died last year from a lack of health insurance. Will you help provide a strong public option that will help save the lives of those who served our nation?
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My second call out of the day goes to David Vitter:
Over 2,200 veterans died last year because of a lack of healthcare. Will David Vitter support a robust public option that would provide care to not only to the millions of uninsured citizens, but also our veterans?
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Following up on my previous post, buried on the second page of the Politico article I mentioned is this little gem:
But the new coins – concerns over which apparently stemmed from an email chain letter widely circulated among conservatives – were commissioned by the Republican-led Congress in 2005 and approved by President Bush.
All I can think of is Forest Gump – stupid is as stupid does.
Just ask Michelle Malkin:
The House is now in a rare Saturday session for the government health care takeover ram down.
So a bill that will affect virtually every citizen of this country is a “ram down” because it is being voted on on a Saturday. What would that make a bill being voted on in the twilight hours of Palm Sunday?
Here is Rep. Todd Akin reciting the pledge today to the teabaggers in hopes of “driving liberals crazy”:
Notice something missing? Akin forgot the word “indivisible”. I don’t know about you, but when I see a member of our Congress not knowing the Pledge of Allegiance, well it drives this liberal crazy. Great job Tea Bagger!
So says the New York Times. Cesca does a good job at tearing this trash piece by the NYT down:
Every Republican in Congress defends Rush Limbaugh and parrots Glenn Beck, and all of the really important Republicans from Chuck Grassley to Big John Cornyn have at one time or another engaged in the "death panel" lie.
Not wingnuts.
One Democrat stands up and takes a powerful position on healthcare reform.
He's totally a wingnut.
Does that about sum it up?
That’s the “liberal media” for you.
What does it say about the quality of our leaders in Congress when they need the President to function as their whip?
That Jonathon Capehart was just on Morning Meeting and saying how the Democrats form circling fire squads because they go after their own members who disagree with them, unlike Republicans. Yeah that's why Arlen Specter is still a Republican and Lindsey Graham is so loved by the GOP base, right along with Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. That’s why the Democrats in Congress have stripped Joe Lieberman of everything, and the Blue Dogs have no say what so ever.
Give me a break. This was the most absurd statement I have heard in a long time.
That’s what The Hill is reporting:
Say hello to “Medicare Part E” — as in, “Medicare for Everyone.”
House Democrats are looking at re-branding the public health insurance option as Medicare, an established government healthcare program that is better known than the public option.
The strategy could benefit Democrats struggling to bridge the gap between liberals in their party, who want the public option, and centrists, who are worried it would drive private insurers out of business.
This is an idea I have been behind for a long time now. Medicare is popular and it works, but most importantly – it is affordable.
Of course for this plan to truly be viable then the part E must be just that – for everyone. As Jonathon Singer points out, currently that isn’t the case:
That said, the public option does not allow all Americans to buy into the existing Medicare program, at least not how it is currently devised. Instead, the public option allows those who cannot afford insurance the choice of a public alternative to private insurance companies. The difference isn't huge, but it is important. If all Americans believe that they are going to have this choice but then come to find out down the road that the choice is limited to only those who cannot afford private insurance -- a significant minority of the country, but still a minority -- they might not be too pleased.
Open the program up to everyone regardless of if you make $5,000 a year or $500,000 a year. Then the insurance companies can even offer supplemental insurance for Medicare, as they do now. Also this would provide a perfect time for Congress to fix the minor problems with Medicare and get its financing back in order.
There has been a lot of talk about the new WaPo/ABC poll that finds 57% of the respondents want the public option, with 51% saying go for it without Republican support.
Another interesting number in this new poll is 20%. That’s how many people now identify themselves as Republican. The numbers are very dire for the GOP:
Only 20 percent of Americans now identify themselves as Republicans, the fewest in 26 years. Just 19 percent, similarly, trust the Republicans in Congress to make the right decisions for the country's future; even among Republicans themselves just four in 10 are confident in their own party. For comparison, 49 percent overall express this confidence in Obama, steady since August albeit well below its peak.
And while it looks bad for Republicans, it should also send a warning shot to Democrats. On a nearly 3:1 basis people support the public option more than they claim to be a Republican. That’s a huge margin. So what will happen if the Democrats scrap the public option because of Republican opposition, or put in other words – if the majority party gave in to the 20% minority party? Simple – loss of power.
No I am not saying that everyone will say “that’s it I’m voting Republican”. Instead what will happen is people will say “that’s it, I’m done voting!” 2010 is a mid-term year and already has the obstacle of being near impossible to get voters to head to the polls. Add to that a disgust with the Democrats for not listening to their base, and you will see far less head out to the polling places. Likewise Republicans will be touting the defeat of the public option as a huge victory over Democrats and use that to energize their base, thus translating that energy into votes.
Gallup’s latest polling of congressional approval ratings have them at 21%, down 10% from last month. This marks a pretty significant dive on the downward trend that has been occurring since March of this year.
The biggest drop in support has come from Democrats. Last month 54% of Democrats approved of how Congress was doing their job, but that number has sunk 18% to 36% this month.
It seems the Democrats are just content on not listening to the people who sent them to power. For example, when the Democrats regained the House in 2006 they promised to restore the 5 day work week to the House. Now Steny Hoyer has reneged on that and returned them to a 2 1/2 day work week. That’s a nice message to send to a constituency that is struggling to find work or having to work 60-80 hours a week to barely survive.
If the Democrats don’t start paying attention they will see their new found power quickly taken away. The left and the right might disagree on political points, but one issue that brings unity is the fact that our Congress needs replaced. Republicans won’t beat Democrats next year – the “not the same” candidate will.
