Wish Teddy was there!

[Egnever]

[NanceGreggs]

1. He was.

Count on it.

[dave29]

7. +1

:)

[Chulanowa]

14. Really wishing it was possible to rec individual posts.

:thumbsup:

[Sebastian Doyle]

2. Why would you want him to witness such an embarassment?

It's really too bad that all these assholes in the Senate who claimed to be his friends couldn't deliver a bill worthy of Teddy's name. (like his 2007 Medicare for all bill, for example)

[napi21]

6. Teddy would be happy! Ynfortunately you're not. He even said

he was wrong not to take Nixon's offer. When this becomes law, I believe you will join the happy people too.

[Sebastian Doyle]

17. Happy people? Who are you, Billy Idol?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgMwpUubSA8

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. Nance is right.

He was.

I hope someone like Danziger will make a cartoon about it...

[gardenista]

4. Yep, he was there. In our hearts.

So I gave you a big ol' REC, if you don't mind!

[EFerrari]

5. I do too but I'm glad he was spared this sellout.

[NanceGreggs]

9. He was a man ...

... who recognized the difference between selling out and buying time - and future goals that could be achieved not by way of petulance, but by way of patience.

He appreciated the fact that Rome was not built in a day - and was willing to place a brick, seemingly small and insignificant at the time, as part of the foundation for better things to come.

Life's events limited his political aspirations - but never his political reach, nor his passion for goals achieved and promises delivered upon, all in good time.

He could distinguish between what was expedient and easily-accomplished and what was worth the fortitude to fight for over years, decades - more than one man's lifespan, including his own - to see to fruition.

Teddy was a bricklayer. He knew the value of the precise and meticulous placement of each small fragment of the whole - because he could envision the glorious building that would one day stand upon the pebbles he, so artistically and with forethought, put in place.

Rome wasn't built in a day. And healthcare reform won't be built in a day either.

But it WILL be built. And Teddy was one of its architects.

[EFerrari]

10. So, how close were you to Ted Kennedy, Nance?

[NanceGreggs]

11. Close enough ...

... to watch a man who was more than willing to watch over his fellow man.

I understand it's currently "cool" to dismiss people like Ted - but I spent enough time at the "uncool" cafeteria table in high school, and then lived through the ensuing years - long enough to know I'd eventually get the last laugh, when all was said and done.

For the record: NanceGreggs still "uncool". And lovin' it - and proud of being so.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

15. His widow disagrees.

I think she knows more than you do.

[EFerrari]

19. Yes, I saw that.

[eridani]

8. Would he have celebrated the legal creation of a whole new underclass?

Namely people 50-64 who will be forced to pay three times as much for crappy catastrophic insurance that is no help at all with ongoing expenses?

[NanceGreggs]

12. That's an astounding stat ...

... do you have a link? I'd love to learn more.

[eridani]

16. Yes, as a matter of fact

http://trueslant.com/allisonkilkenny/2009/12/17/would-the-senate-healthcare-bill-have-helped-obamas-mother/

The House-passed bill allows age-rating at a 2-to-1 ratio, which means an elderly person could be charged twice what a 20-year-old normally pays. The bill in the Senate would set the ratio at 3 to 1. Insurers may agree to cover everyone, but they could also charge a lot of money to cover older people, who are more likely to get sick. Model Dunham may have to pay much more for coverage simply because of her age.

Donna Smith, legislative advocate for the California Nurses Association, says age-rating will “leave a lot of people exposed by buying only those policies they can afford…So they can still be driven to foreclosure and bankruptcy.”

[NanceGreggs]

20. Thanks for posting a link ...

... to someone's blog in response to a request for actual stats/facts.

[eridani]

22. The age rating is in the damned bills!

It is being cited all over the place, and the usual gang who think that those of us 50-64 are disposable human garbage are DEFENDING age rating.

[Azathoth]

13. Ted's "yea" vote would have driven the haters into a state of transcendent hysteria

The haters on both sides of the isle.

[Skittles]

21. you really think he'd vote for this, as it is?

I believe he would have made it much, much better - but he's rolling in his grave over this travesty

[WI_DEM]

18. Some here think Ted wouldn't have supported the bill, but he would have as a step forward.