Posted on 08/28/2009 3:45:17 AM PDT by Scanian
A key House liberal suggested Thursday that party moderates who've pushed for changes in health care legislation are "brain dead" and out for insurance company campaign donations.
Moderate Blue Dog Democrats "just want to cause trouble," said Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., who heads the health subcommittee on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee.
"They're for the most part, I hate to say brain dead, but they're just looking to raise money from insurance companies and promote a right-wing agenda that is not really very useful in this whole process," Stark told reporters on a conference call.
Kristen Hawn, spokeswoman for the Blue Dog coalition, said in response that the lawmakers "have played an active and productive role in this important debate" and "believe it's more important to get it right than to rush legislation on this complicated and critical issue."
Thursday's call was hosted by the liberal group Campaign for America's Future to release a report making the case for a strong new public health insurance plan to compete with private insurers as part of any health overhaul legislation.
Health care legislation introduced in the House included a public plan with payment rates to providers modeled on Medicare rates. Doctors and hospitals say those rates are too low, but Stark and other liberals support the model, saying it would result in lower costs to the public.
Stark's Ways and Means Committee passed a version of the bill with Medicare-style rates. But in the Energy and Commerce Committee, Blue Dogs pushed successfully for changes that would have a public plan with payment rates negotiated by the Health and Human Services secretary.
The Blue Dogs said this would mean fairer rates to providers but Stark and others say it would be more expensive to the government and costlier to patients.
Versions of the health care bill passed by the Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Education and Labor committees must be reconciled once Congress returns from its summer recess after Labor Day.
House Democratic leaders might have trouble nailing down support from the 52-member Blue Dog Coalition if the resulting bill has a public plan with Medicare-based instead of negotiated rates. But Stark and Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., a member of House leadership who was also on Thursday's call, said that was their preference _ suggesting the deal made with Blue Dogs to get the health bill through the Energy and Commerce Committee might not hold.
"I do think that we'll stick with our rate structure," Stark said, referring to Medicare-based rates.
Pot calls kettle brain dead. MSM news blackout at 11.
Just keep digging....
Right wing agenda = reading and understanding the Constitution.
That’s going to bring them over to your side...
Just keep digging....
Right wing agenda = reading and understanding the Constitution.
I'll outright state that many democrat voters are just dead.
The San Francisco Chronicle editorialized on Stark, “Only a politician who assumes he has a job for life could behave so badly on a semi-regular basis by spewing personalized invective that might get him punched in certain East Bay taverns. Would-be challengers sometimes sense a whiff of opportunity, but the reality of taking on a 16-TERM Democrat in solidly liberal terrain is nothing short of daunting. Surely there must be someone along the shoreline between Alameda and Fremont who could represent the good citizens of the district with class and dignity. It’s not the case now.”
Coming from the San Francisco Chronicle it kind of really says it all about this scumbag.
How To Win Friends And Influence Enemies
call them brain dead, yeah, that’s the ticket.
Right wing democrat - someone who hasn't yet take the communist oath, but is still thinking about it.
Arrogrant Moonbat Congressman rails at constituent (an Iraq War Vet)
I was thinking the same thing. The audacity of these Marxists is certainly breathtaking!
Vince
Well, if anybody knows “brain dead,” it’s CERTAINLY Fortnoy “Pete” Stark.
He’s a nasty little thing, who is one of the most condescending, hateful creatures you will ever see.
Mark
Insulting the people with whom I have to work, and upon whom I’m depending to accomplish something, has always been a winning strategy for me. :P
Of course their brain dead. They are democrats
There are useful idiots that support an evil agenda in Congress, they may be stupid, but not necessarily evil, just very ignorant or naive, but Pete Stark is an evil person, who not only champions evil, but is a soulless monster dripping with psychotic hatred, and has now for probably 40 years. It’s amazing scum like that manage to persuade enough like-minded people to support them, but it certainly speaks volumes about the people of his district that would send such a monster to DC for close to 4 decades.
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