Say WA? Evergreen State ping Quick link: WA State Board
FReepmail sionnsar if you want on or off this ping list.
Ping sionnsar if you see a Washington state related thread.
Posted on 01/17/2010 5:45:31 PM PST by mdittmar
As Congress approaches high noon for health care reform, liberal U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott urged support even as he warned that a Senate-House compromise will contain provisions that "we don't like."
The congressman spoke and fielded questions at a Sunday afternoon Healthy Washington Coalition gathering. It drew nearly 400 people, many of them elderly, to the United Food and Commercial Workers hall.
"I believe in a single payer system, O.K.," said McDermott, who has fought nearly two decades to have America adopt a Canada-style health system. The remark drew loud applause.
He showered praise on the late Saskatchewan Premier Tommy Douglas, who endured a doctor's strike when the prairie province adopted universal health care in 1962. (Douglas is the grandfather of actor Kiefer Sutherland.)
Even though imperfect, McDermott argued that the compromise likely to emerge on Capitol Hill will constitute "the biggest change in 75 years in social policy." He noted, too, that Medicare has been frequently amended since its adoption in 1965.
McDermott argued that the bill, however imperfect, will have immediate benefits for millions of Americans. These include:
-- A temporary insurance program will be available to individuals who have been uninsured for several months or who have been denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
-- A prohibition that will keep health insurance companies from placing lifetime caps on coverage.
-- A provision that allows displaced workers to keep their COBRA coverage until a national health exchange is in place and they can access affordable coverage.
-- A requirement that health plans allow young people through the age of 26 to remain on their parents' insurance policy, at the parents' choice.
-- A closing of the so-called "Doughnut Hole", or gap in Medicare Part D drug coverage, that costs some seniors thousands of dollars each year.
-- A new investment in training programs to increase by 20,000 the number of primary care physicians in America, and to train nurses and health care professionals.
McDermott was optimistic. But two influential state legislators saw storm clouds on the horizon. State Sen. Karen Keiser and State Rep. Eileen Cody cast a wary eye on Massacusetts, where Democratic nominee Martha Coakley may manage to lose a special election to fill the U.S. Senate seat of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy.
"Know anybody in Massachusetts? Call 'em. Tell 'em to vote: If this election goes south, we're going to have a helluva time getting health care," said Keiser, who chairs the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.
Cody noted the long path that health care has traveled, and said the next few weeks will tell the story -- Now, or never!
"If we don't get this passed, we will not see it in my lifetime or your lifetimes," she said. "We're so close. We've got to get the rest of the way."
The crowd at the UFCW hall on Sunday dwarfed the turnout for a tea party rally in Olympia on Thursday: One of the causes championed at that rally was opposition to "Obamacare."
Still, the Healthy Washington Coalition turnout on Sunday was filled with familiar faces from past McDermott health care events. The young people who flocked to Obama's campaign in 2008 were not in evidence Sunday.
McDermott has served in Congress since 1988. The 11-term congressman has announced he will run for reelection this fall, largely with the intention of changing and expanding whatever health reform plan passes Congress.
"All that junk can be amended," he said, referring to provisions from the Senate's less liberal bill that are likely to be part of Congress' final compromise.
The liberal congressman took a mild poke at Obama -- "When he was a state senator, he thought single payer was good" -- and did a send up on the Senate filibuster rules that require a 60-vote majority to get anything done.
"We're not stuck on this 60 thing," McDermott said. "Democracy is majority rule, not 60 percent rule."
The Communists last hope is to pass the Senate bill unchanged in the House. This is what they will attempt. It is the Socialists last stand.
Doctors weigh in on Obama care
The Allergists voted to scratch it, but the Dermatologists advised not to make any rash moves.
The Gastroenterologists had sort of a gut feeling about it, but the Neurologists thought the Administration had a lot of nerve.
The Obstetricians felt they were all laboring under a misconception. Ophthalmologists considered the idea shortsighted.
Pathologists yelled, “Over my dead body!” while the Pediatricians said, “Oh, Grow up!”
The Psychiatrists thought the whole idea was madness, while the Radiologists could see right through it.
Surgeons decided to wash their hands of the whole thing. The Internists thought it was a bitter pill to swallow, and the Plastic Surgeons said, “This puts a whole new face on the matter....”
The Podiatrists thought it was a step forward, but the Urologists were pissed off at the whole idea.
The Anesthesiologists thought the whole idea was a gas, and the Cardiologists didn’t have the heart to say no.
In the end, the Proctologists won out, leaving the entire decision up to the assholes in Washington .
Yes, I know it was a liberal thing so they can get away with it, but still...
Maybe some day the laws will apply to liberals as well as everyone else.
Well, the Communist Wing of the Democrat Party has spoken. And since that same Communist Wing is in control of the White House, I guess that’s the end of the discussion. I wonder when they will start rounding up people and sending them to the camps? And where will those camps be, I hope they will be in some place warm, I don’t like the cold.
Two hilarious things. First, half of the list he gives isn’t likely to be true, and the other half could have been passed with large bipartisan votes.
Second, the democrats control the house and senate, and are the only ones putting the bill together — and yet every democrat I’ve heard has complained about how bad the bill was.
Whose fault is that? Are the going to try to blame republicans for not supporting the lousy bill they all hate? Why don’t they just write a good bill?
God help us.
We've gotta' get tougher on these pukes and put them in jail cells for very long periods of time.
A friend with contacts high up in the insurance industry says his info is telling him they’ll have something to vote on tomorrow and Tuesday and they’ll ram it through before Scott Brown can be seated.
I really hope he’s wrong.
Love it!
Oh, "this 60 thing," is that what it's called now? Do away with the filibuster in the face of 2 to 1 opposition, Congressman. I. DARE. YOU.
If I hear one more of these "democracy" fetishists go on about the sanctity of "majority rule," at a time when they're set to tell the overwhelming majority who oppose this sh** to drop dead, we're doing it anyway, I'm gonna lose my lunch.
“every democrat I’ve heard has complained about how bad the bill was”
That’s what they say in public. All Democrats lie.
Say WA? Evergreen State ping Rudyard Kipling had the answer a long time ago: "Order the guns..."
America -- a great idea, didn't last.
“they’ll ram it through before Scott Brown can be seated.”
That may well be the scenario. Ram it through to take the sting and attention off of Obama’s crushing defeat in Massachusetts.
“If you meet people with no brain, no heart and no courage, you are not in Kansas. You are in the Congress.”
Sunday, January 17, 2010 9:17:20 AM by healy61
I still can’t figure out why McDermott isn’t in prison.
I'm sure Hillary knows. Ah'll ask ah.
“We’re not stuck on this 60 thing,” McDermott said. “Democracy is majority rule, not 60 percent rule.”
I don’t think most understand how much trouble we have on our hands.
I think Americans sense something is wrong, but I don’t think they understand what’s heading their way like a speeding locomotive.
These are the people your Founding Fathers warned you about.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.