We still have time to influence the outcome of efforts to reform health care in this country.
The Senate Bill progress, first voted on in the dead of night, still has a way to go. See David Waldman's fp story if you dare: "The House is not in voting session this week."
House Progressives can stand up on their hind legs and stop the Senate travesty.
Jane Hamsher wrote in an email this morning:
The Senate's health care bill must be killed.
It is an ungodly mess of errors, loopholes, and massive giveaways. When the American people find out what's actually in this bill, they will revolt. Congress and President Obama have no choice but to do better for health care than this bill.
Markos has been burning up the airwaves with similar statements.
Now is no time for us to give up. The House can change the outcome. Yes, we STILL can.
After months of drama and heroic efforts, many here are probably ready to throw in the towel and focus on gaining back some weight at Christmas.
Now is not the time to give up on health care reform.
Jane has nice list of why the Senate Bill should be changed in conference:
How bad is the bill?
1. Forces you to pay up to 8% of your income to private insurance corporations -- whether you want to or not
2. If you refuse to buy the insurance, you'll have to pay penalties of up to 2% of your annual income to the IRS
3. After being forced to pay thousands in premiums for junk insurance, you can still be on the hook for up to $11,900 a year in out-of-pocket medical expenses.
4. Massive restriction on a woman's right to choose, designed to trigger a challenge to Roe v. Wade in the Supreme Court
5. Paid for by taxes on the middle class insurance plan you have right now through your employer, causing them to cut back benefits and increase co-ays
6. Many of the taxes to pay for the bill start now, but most Americans won't see any benefits -- like an end to discrimination against those with preexisting conditions -- until 2014 when the program begins.
7. Allows insurance companies to charge people who are older 300% more than others
8. Grants monopolies to to drug companies that will keep generic versions of expensive biotech drugs from ever coming to market.
9. No reimportation of prescription drugs, which would save consumers $100 billion over 10 years
10. The cost of medical care will continue to rise, and insurance premiums for a family of 4 will rise an average of $1000 a year -- meaning in 10 years, you family's insurance premium will be $10,000 more annually than it is right now.
I could go on, but it should be clear: this is not reform. This is a con job.
Robert Kuttner and Matt Taibbi apparently debated this on Moyer's the other night with Kuttner sayingto pass the bill:
My main reason for saying that I hoped that even a flawed bill would pass was that both the Republicans and the White House have framed this as a make-or-break vote for the Obama administration. If the bill goes down, the far right will add another notch to their belt, the media will paint Obama as a loser, and Obama will be even more cautious and pro-corporate going forward. If he wins, maybe he'll be a little bolder and maybe progressives can call in some IOUs.
I have to ask myself, the President's predicatment not withstanding, how can we as Progressives let this go forward without trying to make a final push for change on behalf of all the folks in dire need in this country?
Today Kuttner is saying that the bill really needs to be changed, and Progressives in Congress should do just that:
But that doesn't mean progressives in the House should just roll over and back the Senate bill. For starters, they should get rid of the taxation of workers' collectively bargained health insurance benefits. These plans are misleadingly termed "Cadillac Plans," but in fact they are Chevrolets with high sticker prices that cost a lot because of the system's broader inefficiency. This proposed tax violates Obama's pledge not to raise taxes on working families.
Get rid of the taxes, get rid of the mandates, yup, some obvious deletions. Kuttner goes on:
Some 180 House Democrats have signed a letter organized by Rep. Gerry Connolly of suburban Virginia (a fiscally conservative Blue Dog, incidentally) insisting that this provision be dropped, and they should hang tough. (How would you like to run for re-election in 2010 and defend a vote to tax workers' health premiums?) The House bill, by contrast, raises the same amount of money with a highly progressive income surtax, of 5.4 percent of income exceeding $1 million for couples and $500,000 for individuals.
The bill should also demand that employers who fail to offer decent health coverage pay more than a token tax, as in the House version. And more of its provisions should take effect before 2013. The tax increases take effect before the benefits -- mainly to reduce the short term budget impact. Politically, how stupid can you get?! Lyndon Johnson's far more sweeping Medicare law was delivering benefits within a year.
Looks like would be political suicide for Democrats to pass some of the features. Why do it?
We have all this week to get after the House to stand up to the Senate losers who put together what some are still calling "reform."
Progressives in the House can still save the day. More Kuttner:
The way the issue played out on the Senate, any single senator could get his or her way by threatening to defeat the entire bill. So Joe Lieberman got to block (an already enfeebled) public option; Ben Nelson got more abortion restrictions; Mary Landrieu got more money for Louisiana Medicaid, and so on. Why can't progressives play this game, too?
FDL has a petition to Congress and the President: http://action.firedoglake.com/...
Or just pick up the phone.....
UPDATE: CNN says The President
In remarks at the White House, Obama rejected arguments by Republican opponents of the bill that it will increase the federal deficit.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says the Senate bill will reduce the deficit by $132 billion in the first 10 years, Obama said. Obama: Health care vote a victory for American people
UPDATE: Reconciling the House and Senate's healthcare bills We still have time to change it:
The Senate is still days away from a final vote on its version of a healthcare overhaul, but the questions have already begun on how the bill will be balanced with a House version.
To make a law, the bills have to be combined in a conference composed of legislators from both chambers, who will issue a report that then must be voted on by both houses. In effect, all of the political problems that existed in passing the bills will be repeated; all of the lobbying for things within and excluded from the bills will be resumed.
UPDATE Three: Interesting twist by President--
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House pledged on Sunday to move forward on allowing imports of safe prescription drugs from nations like Canada where they are less expensive, but not in the healthcare reform legislation now before Congress.
http://www.reuters.com/...