Huffington Post: Blue Dog Compromises: A War On the Middle Class? (link added)

OOPS!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/blue-dog-compromises-a-wa_b_248311.html

RJ Eskow

Consultant, Writer, Health Analyst
Posted: July 30, 2009 08:50 PM

It's hard to analyze the compromises coming from Blue Dog Democrats without concluding that, intentionally or not, they add up to a financial assault on working families. Every concession rings with the sound of middle-class Americans being dinged financially.

Ding! That's the sound of lower-income working Americans losing what remained of their subsidy for purchasing health insurance. They've raised the bar1 so that people making $31,200 will no longer get any help with their premiums. Neither will parents trying to raise a family of four on $63,000. That means families without employer-based coverage will have to come up with the money for health insurance (currently $12,000 per year) or face a government penalty.

But how many Americans will have employer-sponsored coverage? Ding! That's the sound of more people losing that chance, as Blue Dogs raise the minimum payroll requirement for employers from $500,000 to $750,000. 86% of small businesses will now be exempt from any mandate. Small businesses have been the engine of economic growth and recovery.

But wait. At least some of these uninsured folks will be able to buy into a public option, right? (That is, if the Blue Dogs' soul mates in the Senate don't kill it altogether.) Won't the public option be more affordable than those high-cost private insurance plans?

Ding! That's the sound of the Blue Dogs eviscerating the cost-cutting potential of the public plan by refusing to allow it to use Medicare rates with providers, even for the conservative three-year period contemplated by earlier drafts of the bill. What does that mean for uninsured working Americans? Their lowest-cost option is going to cost a lot more if the Blue Dogs get their way.

This particular initiative has a historical parallel. It's similar to the Republicans' refusal to let Medicare use its buying power to bargain on pharmaceutical costs.

FULL story at link.

is a greater pool to draw from. That is why we are suffering. We are drained DRY! Food, housing, education, medical, all Insurance of every kind, everything has gone way way up for us far outpacing the ability to pay. The wealthiest are barely even touched while they gather the money coming directly from the lower to middle class. I think there is no hope at all unless there is such a total revolt and organizing effort to get rid of those that keep us drowning and replace them with those who actually will fight for us.
We are at the major tipping point in this Country.