Democrats move toward dropping medicare expansion

Lieberman is a shameless and despicable prostitute. This bill is nothing less than a complete an utter sellout to the insurance and pharmaceutical industries. Both parties are the enemies of the American people.

Holy Joe - you know, the fellow who held up the Senate for two hours on Saturday because he wouldn't use a motor vehicle on the Sabbath, though he has no qualms about partial-birth abortion (presumably because he has no qualms about doing whatever is necessary to win elections short of casting a vote critical of Israel - Holy Joe has serious moral qualms about anything that puts the fear of God into Connecticut's insurance industry.

It's odd that the Senator from Israel would be so virulently opposed to affording US citizens the exact type of national health program that's the birthright of every Israeli - "a mixture of private, semi-private and public entities."

But it's understandable once you recall that he needs to remain on friendly terms with Connecticut's insurance industry, just like he needs to remain on friendly terms with voters who favor the late-term abortion procedures which are anathema to his Orthodox Jewish faith.

Holy Joe is Dick Nixon cloaked in self-righteousness. At least Nixon had the decency to be openly opportunistic.

The "Medicare buy in" would have resulted in for-profit insurance and pharma firms being able to offload older American citizens onto the public plan, with greater cost to taxpayers, while forcing all younger (and cheaper to insure) Americans onto private for-profit plans.

Joe Lieberman works for Big Pharma and Big Insurance, and against the interests of three-quarters of American citizens.

The focus should be on 2 things: cost containment and universal coverage. The best way, other than a single payer system, is to get cost containment is to create market exchanges and give people the ability to purchase across state lines. Let's not get caught up on two or three issues. I too am for the (re)importation of drugs from Canada, but at this time its going to cause a problem to the overall bill, let's move on and pass that later. I am also pro choice, but not in favor of imposing my beliefs on my other tax paying brothers and sisters. Let's move this thing over the finish line before Christmas and celebrate.

Everytime LIEberman objects to a part of the bill(s) - the Hartford Insurance Co. sends him another campaign donation.

America - of, by, and for The Corporate Lobbyists.

douglaslbarber wrote:
"Holy Joe - you know, the fellow who held up the Senate for two hours on Saturday because he wouldn't use a motor vehicle on the Sabbath, though he has no qualms about partial-birth abortion (presumably because he has no qualms about doing whatever is necessary to win elections short of casting a vote critical of Israel"
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I wouldn't bet that you couldn't buy him there.

Not to make the perfect the enemy of the good, they say? But here we are talking about making the badly compromised even worse, and just to satisfy one man who is a prostitute for the insurance companies. Lieberman was for a Medicare buy-in when he ran for VP. But he knows who pays for his loyalty. If only he would spare us the sanctimonious comments and the smug grin. Selling out would be more tolerable without all the hypocrisy.

It doesn't matter how bad this terrible bill gets, someone will always claim that "the perfect is the enemy of the good" for one simple reason: they want Obama to have some sort of victory. It doesn't matter how awful the bill is, if Obama is for it, it must be good.

Old "holy Joe" Lieberman again, billions for Israel, but no affordable health care for economic depression coping Americans.

It gives this person from Red country pure delight to see YOU WORMS, DEMS, SQUIRM!!

Obama is a wuss.

I give myself a solid B+ on noticing this.

It would appear that it doesn't matter what the bill says, what is does, how much it will cost, what rights it takes away from the citizens of the USA, whether it makes sense or not - they will make whatever deals necessary to get the votes to make "IT" pass- in the name of "history" and Barack Obama - Well, what about in the name of the well being of the Citizens of the United States of America.
Oh right, I forgot that's not what this is all about.

Senator Lieberman was for Medicare buy-in (explicitly for 55-64) only three months ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIb13mYoy0Q&feature=player_embedded#

It has nothing to do with his orthodox principles. This guy wants revenge.

I wants to see how his good body Reid will react in return now.

Can't we just pass a bill consisting of 2000 blank pages and call it health care reform? Obama could still call it a victory and it would be much better than the current bill.

So now there's no public option in any form, but people are still required to buy insurance from private for-profit insurers? Wow.

Lieberman is a puppet for monied interests. It's patently obvious. Connecticut voters ought to send him unto the wilderness.

W/O the Medicare buy-in the only parties that will benefit from this mess of a health care bill are the drug companies and the health insurance companies. The taxpayer picks up the tab.

How many more mortal blows will America have to take from Joe Lieberman? What will it take to remove this weasel from our face?

I have spent my entire adult life working so that I never, ever have to be a Medicare beneficiary. Why would anyone ever want to have Medicare as your insurance?

This is a classic case of government giving its people the table scraps. Who knows what will be left over when they get their 60. But scrapping Medicare seems like a start. Medicare has enough problems without the 60 adding to it.

physicianexec>>> my entire adult life working so that I never, ever have to be a Medicare beneficiary. Why would anyone ever want to have Medicare as your insurance?

MOST Americans over 65 can't afford anything else. But I RARELY hear any complaints about Medicare and according to polls, the satisfaction factor is very high - much higher than private insurance.

Are you a health care corporate lobbyist?

physicianexec wrote, "I have spent my entire adult life working so that I never, ever have to be a Medicare beneficiary. Why would anyone ever want to have Medicare as your insurance?"

Maybe because a person who just can't get past college math worked most of their life, 6 days a week 50 hours a week, at a grocery chain which offers no health benefits and vigorously fights efforts to organize a union among their employees? A job, by the way, where the only time they were allowed to sit was when they were on an official break?

Maybe a person who's liable to lose their job, such as it is, for 2 or 3 years every time the Ivy League math wizards on Wall Street, hand in hand with their "deregulate everything" Republican buddies in government, manage to drive the US economy into a ditch.

If you are an executive, I can understand why you might never have thought of these things. In yesterday's NY Times Paul Krugman quoted the writed Upton Sinclair: “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”

If you are a physician, you are without excuse.

With high unemployment and unemployment not improving it is a bad time to consider adding people that cannot afford health care to the health care rolls.

Congress should abandon any plans at reform until we can get a more liberal Congress in place.

I have spent my entire adult life working so that I never, ever have to be a Medicare beneficiary. Why would anyone ever want to have Medicare as your insurance?

Posted by: physicianexec | December 14, 2009 8:28 PM
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The average adjusted gross income per tax return is around 48,000.00. That means there are about 150,000,000 people not in your boat.

If they all voted we'd have a much more liberal Congress and able to get things done.

So what's left in this bill??!?!?

The requirement that American Citizens will be legally required to buy insurance from private insurance companies??!?!?!?

This is an outrage!!!!!

The GOP, as usual, are completely insane. And the Democrats have finally proven themselves to be spineless cowards or greedy sell-outs.

It' freakin' pitiful.

Maybe Ralph Nader was right all along.

While the perfect should not be the enemy of the good, it should be the enemy of the bad. The argument against reconciliation is that we are better served by legislation that has broad based, bipartisan support, But since the Republicans have decided not to participate in governance, the alternative to reconciliation is to give power to a narrow group of "moderates" - Lieberman, Snowe, Collins and Nelson - who turn everything into mush.

I do not understand the mindset of these people - Snowe in particular seems to understand the problems but runs away from any solutions - but it is a perversion of representative government to abdicate control to such a narrow group.

"I have spent my entire adult life working so that I never, ever have to be a Medicare beneficiary. Why would anyone ever want to have Medicare as your insurance?

Posted by: physicianexec"

What country do you live in? Why would anyone want a private insurance policy that will leave you penniless if you or your family has a catastrophic illness?

I guess Jews don't believe in Hell. Maybe that explains Joe Lieberman's actions.

I will promise, I will extend, I will modify, I will cajole, I will go anywhere, I will tell them, I will, I will, I will, I will and etc. ANYTHING necessary to get this HealthCare Bill thru Congress !!!

THEN it will be too late for the citizens/voters/taxpayers to do anything about it !!!

THEN WE can modifiy it to suit our original intent because THEN it will be TOO LATE !!!

Just shove it down the Voters/Taxpayers/Citizens throats !!! There's nothing they can do to prevent it !!!

To the man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail !!!

Tooooooooooooooooo bad, that Reid and Pelosi were not abortion babies !!!

Government inflexibility and Healthcare reform

At the peak of the national debate on healthcare reform a central fear of ordinary people and healthcare providers remain unaddressed and rarely discussed. Would bigger government role in healthcare make our government even more inflexible in correcting system failures that impact patient care?
I submit that the government’s past conduct in fixing existing issues is the barometer for things to come. Issues like the VA’s prior authorization for PCP visits in nursing homes (In some nursing home contracts the VA mandates that they pre-approve most, if not all, visits by the patients’ own PCP before they happen) that practically make veterans second class patients.
Another current unresolved issue is the DEA requirement that nursing home patients not receive medications ordered by doctors unless there is a hard script given to the nursing home, a process that has caused delays in patient care since its enforcement almost a year ago. All efforts by healthcare organizations such as the AMA and AMDA have been fruitless on this issue as no one in government wants to be the one responsible for changing the rules, even if it makes sense to do so.
We should pause and consider the root causes for this apparent trend of government inability to respond to concerns or to correct rules that are proven to endanger the well-being of patients. 
Letters to government, including our representatives, are responded to with generic responses, and the big government systems remain unimpressed by the professionals' protest of government rules that hamper their effort to provide basic care for their patients.
Nursing home care is out of site and out of mind for most in healthcare and in government, but there is a growing movement to get attention to a variety of concerns that are the creation of the government's own, often obsolete, rules. 
Going back to basics in trying to get the attention of our giant, unyielding, government, a petition was published 3 weeks and is so far signed by hundreds of doctors and other healthcare professionals protesting a specific government action in nursing homes. This petition was sent to many government officials in the executive and legislative branches and we await their response. 
Link: http://www.gopetition.com/online/32305.html
Happy holidays.
Jabbar Fazeli, MD

It would appear that it doesn't matter what the bill says, what is does, how much it will cost, what rights it takes away from the citizens of the USA, whether it makes sense or not...
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President Obama stated throughout the campaign that health care reform was one of his top priorities. I guess we must be getting the bill people deserve...both sides are mad as hell.(Democracy is the closest thing to sausage making that I know.)

As for Senator Lieberman, let's just say he's not Connecticut's best and brightest.

So, we get a worthless bill that forces everyone in the country to buy insurance at inflated rates from the existing private insurance companies. Thanks, Obama. Thanks, Democrats. You don't even have the spine to stand up to Joe Lieberman and/or push a decent bill through the reconciliation process. Lyndon Johnson would be turning over in his grave to see the pusillanimous pussyfooters that pass for grown men and women in the U.S. Senate - not to mention the pretty boy in the Oval Office who can't be bothered to get his cuffs dirty.

Without a Public Option or the Medicare expansion this $900 billion dollar gift to the Insurance Lobby is not worth it!!!

The Senate bill needs to be killed, start over next year with a "real" strategy for success.

So - just why will the House go along with the crappy Senate version anyway . . . now that it's been gutted?

Oh Yeah! Drop the public option. Drop the Medicare buy-in, and while at it why not drop the pre-existing condition, premium limits, subsidies, and finally require everyone in the country to buy crappy coverage at $700 per month?

Result? Obama praises senate for reaching concensus to shaft the American people. We're ready for 2010 elections.

Jabbar Fazeli, MD, at least you raise what appear on their face as patient-oriented concerns.

However, having read the petition to which you link, I'm astonished to discover that physicians are up in arms because a federal policy might require them to pick up a telephone and call a pharmacy, or actually physically write out a prescription.

I'm not sure what you MD's are doing with the hours I spend in your waiting rooms, but I find it hard to believe that the wait would be appreciably longer if you had to endure carrying out these seemingly insufferable government requirements.

Perhaps you'd only be able to schedule 19 patients per hour, instead of 20, or whatever it is you do.

Joe Lieberman has always cared more about Israel than he has the United States. The solution to this problem is simple: No vote for health care not another penny for Israel. Pretty simple to me. Then strip him of everything but his underwear and throw him to the wolves. Best case scenario is he walks in front of a bus before he does any more damage selling a vote that Democrats haven't gotten since he did it. Joe Leiberman--traitor and hypocrite!

Want health insurance? Get a job!

Can't find one you like? No free ride. Work at Home Depot, McDonalds or some other company.

What? No six-figure salary? Sorry, but you're not Amy Carter or Chelsea Clinton.

'nuff said.

It is a bad idea to add people between 55 - 64 onto Medicare as this group of people already start to develop pre-existing conditions.

We should have expand Medicare pool in both ends such as adding 55 - 64 and 25 - 34 together to compensate for increased risk. The next stage in three or four years would enroll people between 45 - 54 and 35 - 44 together for Medicare. This group of people are not old, but they will earn better incomes.

It is a great idea to add more people with incomes to Medicare, but we should also consider the added risk when you add people between 55 and 64.

One small reason we can be glad that Gore did not win (what he likely actually won) in 2000 is that this mendacious jerk did not get any closer to a seat of top power.

Lieberman is a weasel who the Democrats are fools to depend upon. He should lose his Homeland Security chairmanship and be tossed out of the Caucus, period!

The Democrats, by bending over for Lieberman, are showing that they are the pawns of Big Insurance just like the Republicans.

"Health Care Reform" is an abortion designed to serve corporate interests, nothing more. Neither party serves the best interests of the American people and that's getting worse........

An Independent

Writerman1 wrote, "Joe Lieberman has always cared more about Israel than he has the United States. The solution to this problem is simple: No vote for health care not another penny for Israel. Pretty simple to me. Then strip him of everything but his underwear and throw him to the wolves. Best case scenario is he walks in front of a bus before he does any more damage selling a vote that Democrats haven't gotten since he did it. Joe Leiberman--traitor and hypocrite!"

I sometimes have vindictive reveries like that when I wake up mad.

It seldom takes more than 1 cup of coffee to convince me that the electoral math doesn't work.

To the guy with the hammer, everything looks like a nail !!!

Vote out ALL incumbents in 2010 an 2012 !!!

Every few days,this Hebrew Harlot of the Insurance Industry has another Wet Dream that further delays the process. Harry just can not seem to control this monster,what a great "Leader" he has turned out to be. Whats Plan "B" Harry?,give Senator Judas another high profile Chairmanship? Pay a bribe to Gidget of Alaska to blow in his ear? Obama,well I guess its hopeless to get him to crack "Mr Independents" A**,maybe he can campaign for him,in between stops for "Special Mortgage Friend of Contywide",Senator Dodd.
Boy thats a Dynamic Dud Duo of Senators,Dodd,and Judas,from one little State.

This guy is the Tiger Woods of Health Care,he screws someone every minute.
So whats next Senator Judas?,tomorrow demand the entire bill be translated and then read to the Congress in Backward Estonian Pig Latin?

No public option. No buy-in. It appears from the get-go that whoever encouraged the buy-in to replace the public option knew beforehand that it would kill any attempt to hold insurance companies in line. Next thing you know, solid regulation of the insurance industry will also be out the window as well.

This entire process, at least in the Senate, has been an unequivocal joke. Moderate "Democrats" don't belong in the party. REpublicants can have 'em. I don't want em anymore!

It would appear that it doesn't matter what the bill says, what is does, how much it will cost, what rights it takes away from the citizens of the USA, whether it makes sense or not - they will make whatever deals necessary to get the votes to make "IT" pass- in the name of "history" and Barack Obama - Well, what about in the name of the well being of the Citizens of the United States of America.
Oh right, I forgot that's not what this is all about.

Posted by: sandynh
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You're right. That's why no Republicans make a difference (because they just want power, not what is best for America), and because they don't join the cause, a moron like Lieberman can bring it all to such a pathetic end. Obama should veto this garbage, and kick it back to the voters in 2010.

Lieberman is using the power that was handed to him on a platter by Democrats.

Once Democrats and democratic commentators started saying that any health care bill was better than no health care bill, it was game over. The other party knows what we'll accept. It's negotiation 101.

Also remember, the WH never supported the public option (directly, in earnest) in the first place, so it was no compromise from their point of view. In fact, now Lieberman gets the blame, so if anything, it's possible he took one for the team. his own team. all f'd up.

What are you all upset about?

Joe Lieberman for President and Computer_Forensics_Expert_Computer_Expert_Witness for Vice President.

Their platform:

"Want health insurance? Get a job! Can't find one you like? No free ride. Work at Home Depot, McDonalds or some other company. What? No six-figure salary? Sorry, but you're not Amy Carter or Chelsea Clinton."

And the one they left out:

Work at one of the many large and small businesses in the USA which pay minimum wage and offer *no* health insurance?

Tough luck! You're not raising *my* taxes.

When did we elect Joe Lieberman God? Why are the Dems hellbent to pass McCain-Lieberman health care? Wasn't Joe Traitor McCain's principal shill in the 2008 election? Isn't his only constituency the insurance industry? When can we dump that most ineffective Senate leader, Harry "I can lose 'em all" Reid?

jeromejmarkiewicz, your 10:03 comment is so circumspect, I feel you must be holding something in.

Tell us what you really think.

I would like to urge all citizens of Connecticut to vote Lieberman out whenever he is up for re-election. He is obviously in the pocket of big Pharma and Health Insurance.
As for the Democrats, I am disappointed because you let fools like Lieberman steer you around by the nose when you should have known he was a complete turncoat after speaking at the GOP convention. Yeah, I know, freedom of speech, yada, yada, but this man has more power then the POTUS himself at the moment and that is baloney.
Much as I would like health care reform, at this point, this bill is useless.

As for the toads that think that working at McDonald's gets you insured, you are just plain dumb.

kurthunt wrote:

So what's left in this bill??!?!?

The requirement that American Citizens will be legally required to buy insurance from private insurance companies??!?!?!?

This is an outrage!!!!!

The GOP, as usual, are completely insane. And the Democrats have finally proven themselves to be spineless cowards or greedy sell-outs.

It' freakin' pitiful.

______________________________________

I completely agree. I worked as a Dem campaign consultant in 2008, electing several Dems to office.

The party and its representatives WILL NOT have my services in 2010.

Can everyone in this room spell: "landslide in 2010"?

Want health insurance? Get a job!

Can't find one you like? No free ride. Work at Home Depot, McDonalds or some other company.

What? No six-figure salary? Sorry, but you're not Amy Carter or Chelsea Clinton.

'nuff said.

Posted by: Computer_Forensics_Expert_Computer_Expert_Witness | December 14, 2009 9:46 PM |
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I see by your comment that you continue to convey the opinions of a jerk.

Joe Lieberman is singlehandedly engendering more antisemitism than Pat Buchanan, Joe Sobran and Glenn Beck could do in their dreams.

Ah, but you say, "Why attack Lieberman's religion, and not McCain's, or Obama's, or Buchanan's"?

Because Lieberman makes a show of it (see his two hour walk to the Senate on Saturday), and then claims that this moral righteousness of his, based in his piety, justifies his crassly political, self-serving maneuvers.

He would engender anti-Presbyerianism were that his preferred mode of piety.

First they dropped the public option, now the Medicare buy-in. The debate about buying drugs from overseas will probably be argued but not implemented. So where is the reform? We have gone and will go through months of fighting to go back to where we were in the beginning.

Is Obama going to sell out the 45.7 million uninsured Americans?

http://www.youpolls.com/details.asp?pid=6641

.

It's not clear to me that Barack Obama is to blame for Joseph Lieberman's whining, sanctimonious opportunism.

I suspect that if Democrats wait for their next chance to extend some modicum of health care to the uninsured, they may be waiting until about 2050.

I am wary that the bill that may finally be passed may essentially be an insufferable tax on the poor to be pocketed by insurance comapanies.

Politics is ugly. Narcissists get elected to represent warring selfish interests. If you want beauty, listen to Mozart or the Beatles - or Cass Elliot.

Read more of the health care issue at this nice site i found..

http://www.lipmantimes.com/