Sen. Baucus: Public option a no-go

[sabra]

Source: USA Today

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., who is leading a group of six senators negotiating for a bipartisan approach to the health care bill, told reporters today he thinks a government-run, public option "cannot pass the Senate." It's the strongest language Baucus has used yet, though others (notably, Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D.) have been saying it for months.

The public option has been a major sticking point between Democrats and Republicans.

President Obama, who will address a joint session of Congress on health care at 8 ET tonight, has supported the public option as a way to provide competition in the insurance market and "keep private insurance companies honest." Politco reports here that Obama plans to give a strong endorsement of the idea during the speech tonight, but not make an ultimatum.

Read more: http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2009/09/sen-baucus...

[FiveGoodMen]

1. Better to make no changes at all than to get what they're going to give us.

[Robbien]

16. The healthcare reform bill is also known as leave no lobbist behind bill

Even with the very weak public option, this bill stinks.

[subcomhd]

20. unless

you have a pre-existing condition or might lose your job. But that couldn't be many people.

[FiveGoodMen]

25. At this point -- the way our politicians have been talking -- I wouldn't assume

that that situation won't also get worse.

I hope not, but even those who sign these bills don't read all the fine print -- see Conyers in F9/11 for example -- and I'm certainly not going to get to read it.

The players in this game seem crooked. I don't trust them to 'reform' anything. And once they're done changing things, no one will revisit it for a while.

That's all I'm saying.

[bahrbearian]

36. It won't take affect till 2013. Can you make it till then?

[girl gone mad]

33. +1

[treestar]

38. Obama doesn't think like that

A bill that makes some progress and helps some people will be doing something in his eyes.

[FiveGoodMen]

43. How do you know what he thinks?

Close personal adviser?

[tekisui]

2. If true, Democrats are spineless, corporate-owned shills.

And, deserve to lose power.

[derby378]

5. But to whom?

Every Democrat you want to vote out must be replaced in the primary by another Democrat who is more amenable towards real healthcare reform.

[tekisui]

8. Primary challenge the Faux Dems with Real Dems,

and don't fund the faux dems if they win the primary. I'd rather fight a repuke with a real Dem in the next cycle. Seriously, we need to purge the party.

[blackbart99]

26. They should lose to someone from DU...

One of us, a DU'er,from the the affected districts should run against them.
If my rep. or sen. from Colorado does not vote for it I will run against them just to make
sure they have some sort of opposition. Can't leave it up to the party this time, to run someone
because the party as a whole is spineless. I'm firmly behind Gov. Dean on this one.

[kpominville]

3. If they drop the public option, we should raise hell

We should oppose any bill that does not contain a public option. Even thought it might do a little good it isn't enough and mandates by themselves are nothing but a giveaway to private insurance.

[Ed76638]

4. Baucus is insane

There is no way in hell that piece of shit Baucus put out there will pass at all.

[TheEuclideanOne]

11. Bingo!

Isn't he the most insurance owned politician out there?

[Hawkeye-X]

6. Then resign your chairmanship, and let a blue stater take your seat

and we'll get the real bill done.

Your joke of a bill is DOA and will be tossed into the trash where it belongs.

[Overseas]

28. Yes please. He should resign. And ditch the dumb Gang of 6 idea.

If 77% of us support a public option, and Medicare is a successful option we could expand upon, let's not mess around with bipartisanship (aka appeasement) and get real.

We are desperate. All kinds of triggers of decency have been blown. Since the private insurers last stomped out Democratic attempts to get national health insurance over a decade ago, millions more are uninsured, millions more are bankrupt from medical bills, premiums and private profits have skyrocketed.

Furthermore, private insurers spent millions this summer to get amoral right wing PR firms to gin up dangerous fear and hatred in vulnerable populations to get them to storm town hall meetings in terror of any reform. That is another major Decency Trigger that has been blown off its hinges. Do our legislators want to reward that professional bullying to protect private profits?

Enough is enough.

Open up Medicare to all who want it. I'd gladly transfer the hundreds I pay for my very large deductible emergency plan that may not even cover me when I need it most, to get Medicare type coverage.

Medicare is a great mix between public and private elements--

>>> Medical services privately delivered, between you and your doctors.
>>> Payments and cost controls publicly administered, accountable to us all.

Furthermore-- the private insurance companies paid millions to divert our dialog this summer because they didn't want us discussing how badly they have failed. Nor did they want us to look carefully at the statistics of countries that COVER EVERYONE at a lower price and with better outcomes than we get for our cruel Pay-to-Play system.

ALL TRIGGERS OF DECENCY HAVE BEEN BLOWN OFF THEIR HINGES ALREADY.

[joeycola]

7. Its up to Obama to get the Party in line.

[Cha]

19. Yeah, Pres Obama needs to cut off baucus'

insurance corporation donations.

Quit whining about Obama.

[treestar]

39. No, it's up to the voters in Montana

Quit trying to pretend Obama is a god. This takes work. You can't just sit there and depend on the President. that's what Bush wanted us to do.

[peace frog]

9. Who died and made Baucus the Gawd of HCR?

Who the hell is this corporate whore to tell the rest of Congress what legislation will or will not pass? So he's the Guru of the Gang of Six, BFD.

[Cass]

10. Enough of these doom & gloom warnings - put it up for a vote.

Let's see where they all stand.

[bemildred]

12. Let's have a straight up or down vote, on the record. nt

[harun]

13. He forgot to read the memo that he is not the decider on this.

[Dawgs]

14. THEN GET THE VOTES YOU FUCKING WUSS!!!

[FreeStateDemocrat]

15. I am no longer registered to vote, I had voted Democratic for over fifty years this is the

straw that broke it. Fuck'em, I don't give a damn what corporate whore party runs this country into the ground, it's all about money and those that have it completely run the show. BO will now sell out the working class and lie about it, he's just another spineless politician that is only concerned with his own ass. It's not Baucus he's just another clown senator from a jerkwater state that any president with guts would have crushed. What do you think would have happened if some bozo like Baucus had he opposed LBJ when he was ramming the Medicare program into law? It's called SELLOUT.

[JDPriestly]

17. Let's just let the insurance companies watch their customers drop coverage

and see what happens. The cost of insurance has gone up so much that fewer and fewer people can afford it. Until the crisis develops into a catastrophe, no real reform can happen. That's a law of nature.

[Cha]

18. Who's fucking paying his bills?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[Javaman]

21. I find it interesting that baucus is trying to put himself out in front on this issue.

he was the tool that didn't want anyone advocating a public option at any of the hearings or negotiations.

I hope Obama comes out tonight and squashes this bug and kick baucus right in his blue dog ass.

what a prick.

[Zorra]

22. Wonder why? Here's Max's top ten campaign contributors since 2005:

by: tremayne
Thu Jul 23, 2009 at 13:29

Max Baucus is emerging as the key roadblock between Americans and true health care reform. I wonder who gives money to Senator Baucus? For the 2005-to-present period here are the top ten contributors to his campaign committee and leadership PAC:

1. Schering-Plough Corp $86,200 Pharmaceuticals
2. Amgen Inc $65,250 Biotechnology
3. Blue Cross/Blue Shield $62,350 Health Insurance
4. UST Inc $61,950 Chewing tobacco/alcohol
5. New York Life Insurance $59,150 Life & Health Insurance
6. JPMorgan Chase & Co $58,100 Banking/Insurance
7. American International Group $51,750 Insurance/Fin. Services
8. Aetna Inc $51,250 Health Insurance
9. Goldman Sachs $47,900 Financial Services
10. DaVita Inc $47,850 Health Care

http://openleft.com/diary/14307/who-gives-money-to-sena...

There is an unacceptable, inexcusable conflict of interest problem here. The right thing to do would be for Senator Baucus to step down from his position on this committee, appoint the next Democrat in line as committee chair (assuming, of course, that the next Dem in line is not owned by the health insurance industry also), and appoint another Democrat to the committee that has not taken significant amounts of cash from the health insurance industry.

[SandWalker1984]

23. It's time to push back!!

As a victim of the insurance corporations, I know exactly what happens when you use your insurance for a serious illness & hospitalization -- we almost had to file bankruptcy and we HAD insurance! Afterward, they changed our policy to greatly lower the coverage.

You who THINK you have health insurance listen up - in more than 30 states the insurance companies can change your coverage at any time, without warning. If your policy states simply that the board has to vote on it, then that's it. No notice to you is even required!!!

If we cannot get a Medicare for all type public option in this bill, then the corporations that win will see that as open season on the people. Huge premium increases, coverage reduction, denial of claims -- all will increase dramatically. It's all about corporate greed to them.


If Obama and the Democrats cheat us out of a public option equivalent to Medicare, without triggers, that gives every American the option of joining an affordable public plan....

If they give us instead the corporate designed Baccus plan that calls for MANDATES to buy PRIVATE insurance, without any controls or restrictions on what they can charge us....

then I say we should start an organization similar to MoveOn.org, one perhaps called ThrowThemOut.org that's goal is to THROW EVERY MEMBER OF THE HOUSE AND SENATE OUT OF OFFICE THAT REFUSES TO SUPPORT A TRUE PUBLIC CHOICE OPTION FOR EVERYONE IN THE SYSTEM.

Democrat or Republican, it makes no difference. You vote against us, we vote against you.

That's the only true power we have against the big corporate donations to Congress -- our votes. We can vote in elections, corporations cannot.

If we band together, along with all the groups and organizations that support a single payer or public option health care plan, then YES WE CAN throw the bums out of office!

We need to organize now so those in Congress understand the consequences of their actions.

[davidwparker]

24. But, but ... when it is time for him to run again, will DU rally around him

only because of the (D).

He needs to go. Period.

[depakid]

27. Simple enough solution- cut him and his "gang" out of the equation

[fascisthunter]

42. ....

[Grinchie]

29. Sen Baucus: Re-election a no-go.

It's just that simple.

[gauguin57]

30. Baucus needs to know that congressional elections have gone national.

They're always calling me for contributions for congressional/senatorial campaigns that are outside my state ... and for the congressional campaign committees ...

Well, Maxie, my friend ... we're CUTTING YOU OFF!

[rrneck]

31. If I don't like what comes out of the sausage grinder

whoever is in office now will not get my vote next time. It's as simple as that.

[Old Hob]

32. so we all get forced, under penalty of fines, to purchase an insurance policy

at a price set by insurance companies. I recently attempted to purchase private health insurance and rapidly came to the conclusion that the entire inustry is run by criminals who are empowered by the law to lie, cheat and steal from the public and now we're all going to be forced, by the law, to pick a policy which, in my estimation, was written with the sole intention of covering as little as possible. I'm not generally all about letting the government get bigger but, if ever there was an industry that needs competition from a tax payer funded public entity, it is the health insurance industry. This industry needs reigned in.

[aikanae]

34. So it's Baucus vs. Obama?

Does Sen. Baucus really think he's got more going for him than Obama?
This feels like a challenge.

[Faryn Balyncd]

35. & Baucus thinks letting K Street lobbyists write "reform" IS a "Go--"We'll SHOW Baucus where to go!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...






(K & R, by the way)

[treestar]

37. Why do they never give a good reason for being opposed to it?

Anyone from these states? Do they have reasons?

I have a Blue Dog and I'm working on him, his office denies he is against it.

[Festivito]

40. Maybe a bill without it won't pass either. Eh? Baucus? /nt

[Name removed]

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