His prostate tumor was this big, and we still said "no" to surgery, saved us a bundle. Besides, the guy was drawing social security so will killed two ol' birds with one stone ...
From the CNN article (http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/12/24/health.care/) “Medicaid would be significantly expanded under both proposals. The House bill would extend coverage to individuals earning up to 150 percent of the poverty level, or roughly $33,000 for a family of four. The Senate plan ensures coverage to those earning up to 133 percent of the poverty level, or just over $29,000 for a family of four.
Major differences between the more liberal House bill and the more conservative Senate bill will now be the focus of the conference committee that will try to merge them.
One of the biggest divides is over how to pay for the plans. The House package is financed through a combination of a tax surcharge on wealthy Americans and new Medicare spending reductions.
Specifically, individuals with annual incomes over $500,000 — as well as families earning more than $1 million — would face a 5.4 percent income tax surcharge.
The Senate bill also cuts Medicare by roughly $500 billion. But instead of an income tax surcharge on the wealthy, it would impose a 40 percent tax on insurance companies that provide what are called “Cadillac” health plans valued at more than $8,500 for individuals and $23,000 for families.”
There is a slim chance the conference bill will fail to pass the House. I assume the Senate will pass the compromise, since they only need 51 votes. However, the House bill passed by only 2 votes. If some liberals can’t live with no single payer or government option, they could stop it. I wouldn’t bet on it.
There’s also a possibility that the ant-abortion measures in the Senate bill are insufficient for the anti-abortion Democrats, who will then vote against the compromise.
Finally, there’s a chance that some House members, being read the riot act from their constituents, will flip to save their jobs in 2010.
We’ll see!
Did anybody think this wouldn’t pass?
On I-95 North in Richmond VA there is a new banner this morning on an overpass in downtown. It reads “SEN. WEBB [hammer and sickle].
(Sorry, I don’t know how to do HTML, but it is the communist symbol—the hammer and sickle—after Webb’s name.)
Look for a story soon on those “mean spirited” republicans and “tea baggers.”
The democrats have learned nothing from the last 100 years of economic history which conclusively proved that heavy income redistribution causes sluggish economic growth, high unemployment, and lower standards of living. This legislation was passed because of democrat ideology, emotion, and big democrat egos that always like to do the opposite of what conservatives want even when conservatives have exactly the right ideas for America.
This bill is just the beginning of huge tax increases on Americans to pay for the massive spending binge by this congress in 2009 and uncontrolled entitlement spending in the years ahead. All three forms of taxation will be increasing in the next few years: direct taxes, higher interest rates, and higher inflation. That has to happen to pay for all the spending in the pork stimulus bill, uncontrolled entitlement spending, massive unproductive federal bureaucracies, and now this massive health care spending bill. Eventually the young people under 40 are going to wake up when they get hit with the big tax bills and higher inflation, and they will finally realize that liberal baby-boomers in congress are very hazardous to the economic well-being of younger Americans. When the younger people wake up then you'll see a big political shift back towards fiscal conservatism over the next five years. A storm is building that will sweep many liberal democrats out of congress in the next two elections.
60 Aholes screw up our nation in the most egregious way.....
I live in Connecticut. Do you guys think I should support Joe Lieberman?
“Madame, when we’ll see men dying of starvation around us, your heart won’t be of any earthly use to save them. And I’m heartless enough to say that when you’ll scream “But I didn’t know it!”- you will not be forgiven.”
Francisco d’Anconia, Atlas Shrugged.
The best response to those who think this was passed on humanitarian grounds.
“Traitor” is a prefix to use when referring to the names of each Senator and Representative who voted for this bill.
“we stand so close to making so many individual lives better.” (Reid’s, Boxer’s, Kerry’s, Webb’s, Frank’s, Dodd’s, etc.)
We've got to rev it up and contact more normal folks to contact their congress critters and tell them NO!
Just give them the facts as we know them now:
Unless the Stupak amendment is kept it pays for elective abortion up to the time of birth.
It starts raising taxes now but doesn't go into affect until 2013-14, that's how they hide the true cost.
It cuts Medicare despite increasing rolls.
The real number of chronically uninsured citizens is about 15 million not "zero's" original 47 million. He now says 30 million. Where did 17 million disappear to?
Do the math using their made up numbers. 1 trillion divided by 30 million divided by 10 years is $3,000 per person per year. (Someone please check the math).
This bill has over 2,000 pages, many, many more than the Constitution and the Bible.
Remember, stuff happens, comes out of the blue to throw a monkey wrench into the best laid plans. Think Climategate.
Harry Reid said this is a “Victory for the American people”.. Which American people is he referring to, the meager 35% who are FOR this Bill? WTF? When the Government rules in favor of the minority opinion at the expense of the majority opinion, I do believe we’re SCREWED. Obama, Reid and Pelosi.. All a bunch of Marxist A-holes, empowering the have-nots to conquer the so-called “haves”.. Makes for easy tranformation to a slave nation. I am NOT wishing anyone who voted for this Bill a Merry you-know-what because frankly, for them to do this on Christmas Eve was downright blasphemous, let alone insulting to WE the majority who DON’T WANT this Bill.
This is nothing but a stealth tax increase. Because this will be repealed before the benefits ever take effect after the zero is run out of office in 2012.
Who is the one Senator who did NOT vote? 60+39 = 99.