Dem Negotiator (Sen. Max Baucus ): Time Here for Health Care Action

Source: NY Times

The Senate's chief Democratic negotiator on a health care bill is indicating it's time to act and has told his colleagues he won't wait much longer for a Republican compromise.

''I am committed to getting health care reform done -- done soon and done right,'' Montana Sen. Max Baucus said in a statement. He is considering making a formal proposal soon to the small group of Senate negotiators who call themselves the ''Bipartisan Six.''

Baucus held a nearly two-hour teleconference on Friday with the other five negotiators from his committee. The group has struggled for months to come up with an acceptable bipartisan bill.

While careful to leave the door open to a long-sought deal, Baucus clearly signaled the time has come for him to move ahead.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/09/05/us/politics/AP-US-Health-Care-Overhaul.html?_r=1

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Looks like the Seanate Democrats have had a fire lit under their behinds. They are in the 'take it or leave it mode' with the Republican members of the Senate. Presumably they have counted the votes or are going to have a show down regardless. The word on the street is that the Democrats, even blue dogs, have figured out they are in more trouble with no bill than with a weak one.




Here are the elements of the Baucus bill:

Basic elements of Baucus plan:

-- would require most Americans to have health insurance
-- Medicaid would be expanded to cover anyone with income less than 133 percent of the poverty level
-- states would be required to pay some of the new Medicaid costs
-- the 10-year cost of Mr. Baucus's proposal would be less than $900 billion
-- Congress would define a minimum package of benefits that must be provided by insurance companies, and federal officials would later fill in the details
-- a new tax on insurance companies selling policies with premiums far exceeding the national average, roughly $13,000
-- set up consumer-owned nonprofit cooperatives to sell insurance
-- prohibit insurers from denying coverage or charging higher premiums because of a person's medical history or current condition
-- limit the ability of insurers to charge higher premiums because of age
-- pass a bill with Democrats' votes alone, perhaps, and at best one Senate Republican, Ms. Snowe because of opposition by Grassley & Enzi

words are crap only action has value to real people

The three Republicans are not going to vote for it under any condition and the Democrats aren't going to accept huge changes for only three votes.

with Democratic approval.

I'm also sure it will enrich the insurance companies and their favorite toady -- Max Baucus.

"We have to be pragmatic and forge some deal that moves us in a positive direction … We have expended unnecessary energy on elements of the plan that I don’t think are essential. I remain optimistic that when we come back in September, we will recognize how important it is to get half a loaf. "

Blue Dog Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin:

The recent debates surrounding healthcare reform have served well to unearth a glut of ugly truths buried in modern American culture. If President Obama has any hope of preserving the integrity of his Administration or, for that matter, the Democratic process, he will not only need to acknowledge these realities but he must implement a crash course in their origins and purposes.

First and foremost, the Republican Party is a relatively small group of white men that, for all intents and purposes, owns the United States of America. The latest census has revealed that one percent of the American population is in possession of twenty-three percent of its entire wealth. With the exception of a few scattered idealists, these individuals are Republicans. In order for this group to expand its power and increase its wealth, it is in need of a constant supply of capital. The largest pool of resources is the United States government. Every American employed or otherwise, is required, by law, to contribute to this pool. In order to gain access to these funds, this consortium of power brokers has populated the legislature with highly paid operatives who protect the interests of the consortium and direct tax revenues to these private interests. To produce the illusion that these legislators represent, "the will of the people," rather than the agendas of these private interests, the Republicans employ any and every devious tactic necessary to guarantee the votes required to control the cash flow. The most effective means of achieving this goal necessitates the exploitation of the ignorance, racism, and unfounded fears within the Republican's core constituents. In essence, these legislators pretend to protect and serve a population to whom they have no connection or loyalty. In fact, most of the people who go to war and die to protect "American interests abroad," are harvested from this population. As far as the party is concerned, they are expendable. This is not a new concept, in fact, this grand experiment known as the United States of America, was founded on this premise. The authors of The Declaration of Independence were not a group of passionate civil libertarians but a close-knit consortium of entrepreneurs with an accurate accounting of the vast revenues siphoned off by the Crown. These individuals were eager to put those funds to work on their own behalf. They provided the commoners with a sound bite to serve as a battle cry, "taxation without representation," and sent them out to do the dirty work. A great example of this is that of John Hancock who amassed his wealth by smuggling rum from the West Indies and selling it without paying taxes to the King. His vision included not only the profits from the legal sale of alcohol but also the benefits from access to the taxes imposed upon it. The fact is, alcohol tax doubled immediately after the British were cut out of the transaction along with taxes on gunpowder and any goods imported from Europe.

It is also vital to note that whoever controls the flow of information will be directly responsible for the formulation of public opinion. Despite the barrage of Republican attacks on the so-called, 'liberal media,' most syndicated outlets including CBS and ABC, are owned by Republican interests or controlled by Republican shareholders. Furthermore, many of the largest advertisers are also conservatively driven. One must only reflect on the number of pharmaceutical advertisements embedded in nightly news broadcasts. The most notorious illustration of this phenomenon is the Fox News Network, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch and subsidized by Republican interest groups, as well as the RNC. This outlet is owned by the same corporation responsible for producing supermarket tabloids, the same ones that reported that Michael Jackson was in fact a space alien. Fox News has successfully exploited the racism and ignorance mentioned above with the sanction of party leaders. They encourage and applaud comments by the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. These two individuals are identical in their sociopathic narcissism. Both are paid phenomenal amounts of money and, at the same time, are completely powerless in their personal lives. Both are powerless over their food intake and their drug and alcohol consumption. Both likely pay for sex and, judging by their identical psychological profiles, both would qualify for a substantial discount resulting from light duty. They empower themselves by manipulating the malleable minds of the superstitious and ignorant readers of the National Enquirer. Furthermore, the power to repulse is still power. Beck and Limbaugh have one item on their combined agenda, to incite and provoke the murder of the President of the United States. They are surely in their element.

President Obama made a few colossal errors while embarking upon his program for change. First and foremost, he put far too much faith in the intelligence of the American people. He underestimated the degree of racism and ignorance prevalent in our society. Ignorance and prejudice will trump intelligence every time. Second, Obama underestimated the absolute ruthlessness and desperation of the Republican propaganda machine. He attributed far too much decency to a culture that has none. Third, Obama underestimated the magnitude of power that private interests have on the entire legislative process. We are no longer a one man, one vote democracy rather; we are a one dollar, one vote oligarchy. Last and perhaps most important, the President was not prepared to confront the number of Democrats in the pockets of these same power brokers. When President Obama addresses the people of the United States he should begin with the following statement: "When I began my quest to serve the people of this nation as a reformer, I underestimated the absolute stranglehold my opposition has on the Democratic process."

Welcome, we need as many thinkers like you as possible these days.

second too long.

Just think of all the additional millions of people forced to buy this junk and wind up bankrupt so Bill Mc Guire can double his salary.

Max, if you want to be a whore, why don't you just set up an office at the Cherry Patch Ranch?

waited until he was sure that Teddy couldn't vote before he called for action.

Hell has room ready for this piece of dirt. The sooner the better.

Looks like the horse trading is getting serious.

and if you are going to pin your hopes on Baucus, then you deserve to be disappointed when he inevitably does his BOHICA dance.