Posted on 08/23/2009 8:04:24 PM PDT by reaganaut1
Senate Democrats said Sunday that they were fleshing out plans to pass health legislation, particularly the option of a new government-run insurance program, with a simple majority, instead of the 60 votes that would ordinarily be needed to overcome a filibuster.
After consulting experts in Senate rules and procedure, the Democrats said they were increasingly confident that they could legislate creation of a public plan in a way that would withstand challenges expected from Republicans.
Appearing Sunday on the NBC News program “Meet the Press,” Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, the third-ranking Democrat in the Senate, said a public insurance plan was “essential to getting the costs down, which is our No. 1 problem.”
Proponents of a public plan say it would drive down costs because it would not have a profit motive and would have lower overhead costs and lower executive salaries than private insurance companies.
In Colorado on Aug. 15, President Obama said people had become “fixated” on the public plan option, which he described as “just one sliver” of efforts to overhaul the health care system.
Mr. Schumer said it was “looking less and less likely” that Republicans would support Democratic proposals to subsidize coverage for tens of millions of the uninsured. And Senate Democratic leaders said they had little hope that the chairman of the Finance Committee, Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, would be able to forge a bipartisan compromise.
In the last week, Democrats have begun to talk openly of using a procedure known as budget reconciliation to pass a health bill in the Senate with a simple majority, assuming no Republican support.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
You will have fewer people entering the profession as the rewards are reduced. But that's for the future.
No, that was different. They were going to change the rules of the senate to stop filibusters on judicial nominees, which was something the Dems were doing that hadn’t been done before. They weren’t going to remove the filibuster entirely or push through legislation that nobody wanted.
Someone who would never get in to a medical school today and would jump at the opportunity to be a doctor once the bar is lowered.
It’s good that someone here recalls recent history.
Pass this bill at your own peril is my thought.
There is a storm brewing!
But what Chucky didn’t tell you was that no GOP votes are required to pass the bill.
The Dems may not even have 50 votes for it.
Chafee?
I still have a little hope.
Depending on how the government option is worded, it may be possible that a few companies can offer private insurance to cover: (1) faster treatment, (2) higher level care, and (3) care which has been denied by the death panel.
These companies could be the nucleus of a return to private care.
Otherwise, as a senior, I expect I will be paying cash for most of my treatment in Mexico. May even have to move there to get reasonable medical care.
Blue Dogs=House
They operate by their own rules. We haven’t the will to fight back (Rs in office).
This is not going to be pleasant.
It’s just a reflex, I always lumped those three together ever since I can remember.
He WOULD vote for it if he was still there.
Is private pay for benefits denied by Medicare permitted today?
Are you familiar with the term Brain Drain? It was invented by the British after professionals packed up their bags and left the country. That's what some Doctors will do. They will go overseas.
In other words, people who don't understand the basics of capitalism swear up and down that their program is economically viable. Yeah, no.
I think Republicans will hang as a block against a public option.”
Good.
Even better:Republicans will hang as a block against higher taxes, mandates, more regulation on health insurance that just drives costs up, and against any bill that fails to include tort reform.
Not in the House but I am not sure they have 51 votes in the Senate to pass this crap. With a public option they get no Republican votes — Snowe said she would not support a public option after being back in Maine so looks like the GOP will stick together.
Let them own this bill against the wishes of the American people. Lieberman said today until they get the cost way down it should not be voted on so I am guessing he is not a sure vote. I don’t see many Dems in the center of the Country daring to vote for this bill so I am not sure they have 51 votes in the Senate but if they do the nuclear option, they will lose their power in 2010 and the WH in 2012.
Go ahead Dems — don’t play by the rules you wanted with the 60 votes.
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