Coming days before the much anticipated bipartisan health care reform summit this Thursday, the 11-page White House proposal is being pitched as a foundation for lawmakers to consider. Presidential aides stressed repeatedly on a call with reporters Monday that Republicans will have opportunities to amend the legislation.

"We view this as the opening bid for the health meeting," said communications Director Dan Pfeiffer. "We took our best shot at bridging the differences. We think this makes some strong steps to improving the final product. It is our hope the Republicans will come together around their plan and post that online prior to the meeting so that the American people have a chance to go look at it... and be thoroughly informed heading into this meeting."

But it clearly remains a Democratic effort. Working off the Senate's bill but melding in key provisions from the House's versions of reform, White House officials said that their proposal adds another $75 billion in costs to the legislation, bringing the total up to $950 billion over the next decade. All of which will be deficit neutral.

The president's legislation removes the $100 million in Medicaid funding that Sen. Ben Nebraska (D-Neb.) had secured for his home state of Nebraska -- funding that, after intense criticism, he wanted removed.

Good. Kudos for that.

The president's legislation tacks toward the House version when it comes to helping individuals purchase insurance. It also adopts the Senate's approach when it comes to penalizing individuals who don't buy insurance -- basing the penalty on flat dollar assessments rather than a percentage of income and including a "hardship" exemption for families who simply cannot pay the fine.

not surprising.

The president's legislation closes the Medicare prescription drug "donut hole" coverage gap by 2010 -- choosing the House's language rather than the Senate's (which would provided a 50 percent discount for only certain drugs in the hole). What this means to the deal that the White House cut with the pharmaceutical industry at the beginning of the health care reform process is unclear.

not surprising that the deal is "unclear". Any meaningful cut to drug costs should be welcomed by everyone. You just have to get around that lobby!

LOL

"You just have to get around that lobby!"

With their newly acquired 1st amendment rights, that's going to be a tough road.

And the Party of No's plan is...is...waiting...waiting... Buehler?...Buehler?...

#4 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis

Hard telling. The State Run Media still refuse to cover it.

5 | Posted by KBM at 2010-02-22 12:48 PM | Reply

Surely a high ranking member like you would have the inside track as to what it is.

Problem is, you can't know what doesn't exist.

Apparently Newsweek has received it's orders and are working very hard to paint the picture that the public is for any proposal Obama comes up with.

Obama is now claiming we will pass this with 51 votes if need be, nice to see he has to use the NUCLEAR option in a blatant disreguard for what most Americans want...

As for the party of NO, Thank God at least the Republicans have the Balls to say NO to Dear Leader, while most Democrats whould say YASSER BOSS MAN FULL SPEED AHEAD RIGHT into the BRICK WALL...

Look for 2010 to be a real bad year for the NO BALLS PARTY OF YES...
Election results for Democrats will be disaterous and have most of them thrown out on their ASSES along with the great big rubber stamp they give Barry for anything he wants...

"Surely a high ranking member like you would have the inside track as to what it is.
Problem is, you can't know what doesn't exist."
#6 | Posted by 726

"The president's legislation includes a new wrinkle: establishing a national health insurance authority that would help states combat insurers that instituted unreasonable premium increases. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) introduced this same proposal last week."

I believe States already have that authority. What is the purpose of this proposal?

I believe States already have that authority. What is the purpose of this proposal?

#11 | Posted by crispee_oc

So Dear Leader can hear YES YES YES anything you say Massa Boss Man we don't give a shit what most Americans want fuck them we worship you Massa and sing praises to your Holy name...

#12...

Sadly you are correct. Obama and the dems are praising themselves for removing the Nelson bribe, they continue to talk about how bad things could have been, instead of how good things are going. Imagine a coach who went 2-10 saying he deserves to stay because had it not been for him, the team would have been 0-12.

Imagine a coach who went 2-10 saying he deserves to stay because had it not been for him, the team would have been 0-12.

#13 | Posted by crispee_oc

Great analogy funny and sad at the same time...
I really expected Obama to reinvent himself much like Clinton did, I must admit I am more than surprised at his Damn the torpedoes screw the voters full speed ahead into the brick wall approach...

And the Party of No's plan is...is...waiting...waiting... Buehler?...Buehler?...

#4 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2010

and its my friend doc who is first to come out with this completely false statement.
dont take my word for it.
ASK BARAK OBAMA who told the gop in delaware that he had READ THIER PLAN on health care...
so how could he have read something that WASNT THERE

ALSO,.,.,.the other plans are included in a document called
"American solutions"

according to report this AM...obamas plan to limit premiums sounds like a good idea and I am sure we could all get behind that
BUT DONT IGNORE the other parts of it..

when hospital costs GO UP...and drs imbersements go DOWN

whats left?????

easy answer...you CUT SERVICES and DENY Services...

The Patients' Choice Act in the House of Representatives once in 2007 and twice in 2008.

Anything for 2010? 2009?

Anything?

Again, the silence on the side of the right on this topic speaks volumes.

They are quite content to defend the status quo of 20-40% premium increases annually. Maybe throw in a little "junk lawsuit reform" that would not lower health care costs, only increase profit margins at insurance companies.

Just what big insurance needs.... more profit.

when hospital costs GO UP...and drs imbersements go DOWN

whats left?????

It is called what every other american business has to do... evolve into a more efficient business plan.

evolve into a more efficient business plan.

2 ways of accomplishing that are to cut services and deny services.

He tells Sen. Nelson to go fuck himself, but Landrieu keeps her buyout... hmmm, racial reasoning here? Nahhhhh... can't be.

Stupak apparently also got the finger here.

This is probably gonna get pretty interesting.

"It is called what every other american business has to do... evolve into a more efficient business plan."

Right on. But for too many rightwingers, it appears that that business model applies only to schools. Oh, er, wrong thread.

This is some sort of pseudo-compromise ahead of the summit. Damn, I thought he'd facilitate the process by just adhering to Jedi mind tricks. Then again, it would be nice to see the President do a news conference to explain his position. That .pdf is not enough.

And, finally with the C-SPAN coverage at the summit: too little too late.

"Just what big insurance needs.... more profit."

Have you ever brushed profit on to an abrasion????
A broken bone???
Profit has the most powerful healing capacity ever seen.

the whole thing is nothing more than a big corporate payoff.

does nothing to help people at all.

best thing that could happen would be if obama lost his job.

Schwarzenegger breaks with GOP on health care, stimulus

While Republican leaders in Washington are urging President Barack Obama to start from scratch on a health care bill, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday dismissed the idea as "bogus talk."

"I think the stimulus package has been very successful so far and I think California has benefitted tremendously," he said.

Schwarzenegger also said it's good that the president is reaching out to Republicans as he prepares for this week's health care summit with congressional leaders.

"Since half of the people are Republicans, why would you exclude Republicans?" he asked. "Then half of the people hate you for having done health care reform."

And he sided with Obama, saying it would be wrong to start all over in preparing health care legislation for Congress to consider.

"I think any Republican that says you should start from scratch, I think that's bogus talk, and that's partisan talk," the governor told reporters."

excerpts

Sadly you are correct. Obama and the dems are praising themselves for removing the Nelson bribe,

#13 | Posted by crispee_oc

They gave it to all 57 of the states little o went to with one left.

It is called what every other american business has to do... evolve into a more efficient business plan.

#18 | Posted by 726 at 2010-02

yeah maybe...IF they are not shackled by govt oppresive controls...let the market work...but that would mean things like cross stateline purchase power, would it not?

You know, someone said something here the other day that made me wonder... I don't think the state-line issue alone would solve any problems (not being a free marketeer), but can someone tell me (link is good, probably) whether the feds have the right to override state regulations on insurance? Or is this one of those arguments that is not cut-and-dried?

prag
THIS govt believes they have the right to tell you what light bulb you can or cant put in your own home..
so why couldnt they tell you how many children you can have or things like that as well as whether or not you can get certain health services..
and remember ..ANY comment I may make is based on the fact that we on the right dont want to pay more for insurance than any libs do..but we dont want
GOVT PRICE CONTROLLS
remember history of those??

NRA of the 30's didnt speed up the end of that depression

carter ..tried to limit wage increases and even the most ardent lib wouldnt call the carter period 'rouring' economically

NIXON price controls maybe the most famous blunder
because inflation SKYROCKETED....and we had to look at all those WIN buttons on jerry fords coat..

ALSO heard a state senator from arizona on laura ingraham show this morning.
he says they should pass a law that should be okayed IF the tenth amemdment is actually followed..
much like the other state on guns..
that light bulbs MADE and transported and used in arizona are not subject to the MISINTERPERTATION of the commerce clause in the constitution.

if NOTHINg else..it should make for an interesting supreme court case.

here's a link to the arizona deal my good man

I am more than surprised at his Damn the torpedoes screw the voters full speed ahead into the brick wall approach...

#14 | Posted by ATaxpayer

Isn't this a forgiving country? Can't we cut our very first Arab-African President a little slack? Just because he thinks the ruling class is not dispencing its perls with enough swagger, doesn't mean that the ruling class should have any less control over our pathetic stupid lives. I mean really! He can always become even more radical which is what Americans voted him into office for apparently from this blog.

There ya go RightPolicy, now go on back to the front door and get back to licking that window.

"We have more pressing matters," Rep. Chad Campbell, D-Phoenix, said during debate. The various bills and resolutions that seek to irritate the federal government are counterproductive, especially as the state grapples with a fiscal crisis, he said.

They have been messing with the budget since jano went to DC which was over a year ago and they haven't made much of a dent in it. She left the state in a financal mess. They have closed some of the rest areas to save money while some public restrooms in the state have marble counters in them. I guess state's rights is something too small to be bothered with, lets close down the shitters along the highways.

#27 | Posted by afkabl2 at 2010-02-23 11:53 AMlet "
the market work..."

Yeah, because that has worked out so swimmingly so far...

And the Party of No's plan is...is...waiting...waiting... Buehler?...Buehler?...

#4 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis

Let's hear your plan, Jackass.

The Conservatives have theirs.

The party of No. LOL!

Good! keep these idiots falling all over themselves until the 2010 election!!!

Doc?

Where are you?

You foolish fuckwad!

Do you support this new Obama plan? If not, what do you support?

Obama is out of touch with America and his own party.

Steny says they can't get it passed.

And the bill is 100 billion higher than the Senate..

And it is so vague the CBO can't even score it.

"Obama is out of touch with America and his own party."

"Steny says they can't get it passed."

So this so called summitt Thursday is to convince enough dems in the House to vote yes. It really has nothing to do with Senate repubs no matter what they bring to the table. Why haven't Congressional dems passed the reform bill? What is the hold up?

Do you support this new Obama plan? If not, what do you support?

I'm not one to speak for anyone, but NO ONE prefers this plan. Most liberal posters here are for single payer and most conservative posters are for tort reform/buying out of state solutions without a 'lurch towards government control'.

No one got up, learned that President Obama was pushing this new plan, and thought to themselves "wow this is awesome". Well, maybe Corky did.

The arrogance and cluelessness of this little cocksucker Obama is astounding.

He just doesn't get it.

Or he does, and just doesn't care.

It's hard to tell which scenario is more disturbing.

#42 | Posted by Jak_Se_Mao

The guy still seems convinced of his mystical abilities.

This 'health-care summit' is a sham. He's faking bi-partisanship in an attempt to try and 'prove' that the GOP is purely obstructionist and then use that as a justification to try and ram this shit through. His 'proposal' takes the senate bill and makes it worse. Then, his definition of 'bi-partisanship' is to bring in the GOP, throw them a couple of table-scraps, demand that they polish the turd placed before them all under the auspice of bi-partisanship.

Quite honestly, I think a majority of the public will be insulted by the fact that he thinks they are SO stupid that they will actually buy into this publicity-stunt. Obamacare sucks ass for a multitude of reasons - unclever gimmicks aren't going to mask this truth. The public resoundingly does not want this shit. It's time to either give it up, or start over.

What pisses me off most is the fact that this "summit" is even a part of the dialogue.

Responding to or acknowledging anything this insidious sack of shit says only validates him.

He and whatever agenda he thinks he wants to be implemented need to be completely ignored while adults lay the groundwork for economic recovery that will begin this November.

What pisses me off most is the fact that this "summit" is even a part of the dialogue.

What amazes me is that after almost 30 speeches on the subject he, and his lapdog MSM seem to truly believe that the problem is that he didn't do a good enough job communicating the message - this shit is truly 'good' if only these stupid and ignorant citizens could comprehend this stuff.

the problem is that he didn't do a good enough job communicating the message

Yes.

The Great Unwashed just don't comprehend what he's trying to do for us.

Bless their hearts.

Recent electoral results are just irrational expressions of anger at the inability of government to be more socialist.

So we vote agin our own interests.

What's the Matter with Kansas?

Fuck its almost a burden to be this smart.

What I find funnier still is that a few lefties are convinced that the death-knell for Obamacare was the elimination of the 'public option' - some people truly believe that a majority in this country actually want a 'public option'.

Whatever.

The American people are stupid, Jeffe.

Let's face it.

The smart, book-learnin' libruls just need to figure out a way to sell progressive public policy in a way that appeals to the kind of mentality that believes dinosaurs and humans walked the earth together.

It's a heavy cross to bear when you consider how deeply their psyche is imbibed with the proprietarian mentality as dictated by the corporate media.

*sigh*

It's almost enough to make a guy give up---if only I didn't care about progress so much....

The American people are stupid, Jeffe.

Ya, they reelected George W Bush. We're agreeing more and more, JAK lol

The American people are stupid...

~Jak

Wouldn't go that far.

All countries have their fair share of natural born morans, of course, and America, with it's greater-than-usual religiosity, does have a streak of intellectual incuriousity within it that don't help.

/Spud blames that incuriousity on the existence of that weird strain of Christianity in America that fer some reason holds that one cannot believe in both science and God without making yer head exploding and/or sending you straight to hell.

America's biggest problem is that it lives under the most sophisticated propaganda system in the known universe. The MSM including the news services exist to misdirect, misinform, under-report and just generally dumb down the populace. To shape the national dialogue to best service the agendas of the corporations and individual elites. The entities who's money traditionally decides wot candidates will run in any given election year are never out of power.

Using think-tanked and focus group tested sound bytes the agendas of the two competing groups of special interest groups that comprise the two political parties are advanced through an overly-cozy MSM.

Within the context of all that it's easy to see how too many people can over-simplify the complicated situation by just declaring that Americans are stupid.

Be Well.

#47 | Posted by JeffJ at 2010-02-24 02:16 AM

60% of Americans approve of The Public Option...

88% of Democrats approve of The Public Option...

57% of Independents approve of The Public Option...

And, 33% of Republicans approve of The Public Option...

People don't want this watered down healthcare reform package, people want real reform. And, NOTHING that has been brought to the table by the Right has been a realistic attempt at change, much less reform...

I hope that the Republicans keep on obstructing, so the Democrats will be forced to use reconciliation, and I hope that the Democrats are wise enough, (if forced into reconciliation by the lack of Republican participation) to include The Public Option as part of the plan. This (along with our recovering economy) would insure that the Republicans wouldn't return to power for a long time to come...

Come up with those numbers yourself or did your mom help you with that? I saw a poll that said,

38% liberals yes on public option
15% moderate democrats yes on public option
7% moderate republicans yes on public option
2% conservative yes on public option

In my own polling in The Greater Jacksonville area, including the beaches, clearly show by a 3 to 1 margin voters saying no to any sort of public option or mandatory coverage. I am assuming you polled non voting, unemployed( over 5 years running) and those currently on some sort of Govt. program. I chose to poll tax paying Americans.

#52 | Posted by Scotto at 2010-02-24 05:53 PM

Link???

You can google my poll numbers by simply typing in "Public Option Poll"...

And, I'm sure that just like everything else, there are pockets of people everywhere whose opinions are contrary to the national average; that's precisely why it's called the "national average"...