"Grassley F-1 Modified Amendment." Assley just keeps on.

It's getting late in the Senate Finance Committee's writing of a health-care bill, but not too late for Republicans on Wednesday to make one more valiant stand for the health insurance industry.

Late in the afternoon, Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa), the top Republican on the committee, requested consideration of the "Grassley F-1 Modified Amendment." Its goal: eliminate $7 billion a year in fees that the government would charge private health insurance companies, and make up the shortfall by reducing benefits to poor people and legal immigrants.

It was dangerously close to a parody: Republicans demanding that fees be reduced on a profitable industry and shifted to low-income Americans. But Grassley pressed on, unafraid. The fees on the corporations, he said, are a "bad idea" and would undoubtedly result in higher insurance premiums. "I urge my colleagues to vote for my amendment, to strike the fees," he exhorted.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/30/AR2009093004376.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

He is a parody of a Senator.

over the fact the insurance companies were legally prohibited from sending out fear-mongering propaganda to seniors about threats to Medicare!! DISGUSTING.

God, how I loathe the fact that he supposedly "represents" me.

ROckefeller said that he will bring up an amendment (co-authored with Sen. Franken :-)) that will require insurance companies to spend 90% of their income on actually providing health care, to report and be verifies by the HHS secretary. I think he means to bring it up in committee, that's at least what he said last night. That wil make for some interesting discussion and voting. Also, the way I read it, it amounts to regulating the insurance industry, which may work as an alternative to the PO.

Yeah, America, let's fix everything by giving all our taxpayer health security funding to the for-profit insurers so they can skim off their 25% to keep the economy strong !!

What's a few million more dropped from coverage or going bankrupt in the face of upholding our "free enterprise" system? Those compassionate GOPers realize that if they can slash healthcare support to those pesky poor people, they'll be too weak to go to the polls and interfere with Republican plans.

And if the Right succeeds in defunding ACORN, there will be no irritating community organizers to help the poor register and get to the polls either.

Just because we've been waiting since the Reagan era for the massive wealth transferred back up to the top 5% through tax cuts to trickle down to us in the bottom-90% doesn't mean it won't happen someday, the GOP would have us believe.

Perhaps if we pray harder, the Good Lord will inspire our corporations to share more with us. In the meantime, Grassley and the GOP want us to accept the greatness of the corporate Superpersons who The Good Lord has favored with enormous wealth and wait patiently for the "wisdom of the free market."

Protect the unborn ~~ fuck over the living. :mad: