LOL !!! -This Is Genious !!! - 'Woolsey Introduces Bill to Bring Back Public Option' - FDL

[WillyT]

Woolsey Introduces Bill to Bring Back Public Option
By: Jim White Thursday July 22, 2010 2:58 pm

<snip>

On Wednesday, Representative Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) introduced H.R. 5808. The text of the bill can be read here on Thomas. The bill is titled "To amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish a public health insurance option." Woolsey has procured 128 co-sponsors for the bill.

The Los Angeles Times points out the appeal of this bill:

Woolsey and her allies, including Rep. Pete Stark (D-Fremont), are armed with a new analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Democrats say the CBO projects that the public option could save the government $68 billion between 2014 and 2020.

The government’s administrative costs would be lower than private insurers’, proponents say, and it could pay hospitals and doctors less. That would mean lower premiums — and lower government subsidies for policyholders who need them.

Ah, but this logical approach to shaving $68 billion off the deficit is not expected to pass. The Times article tells us that the public option was "roundly defeated" (gosh, it seems to me that it was pulled off the table in back room deals) during last year’s debate and passage of health care reform.

The Times also brings in a "booga-booga" explanation that this bill is just a back door route to true "evil":

Insurance companies, hospitals and other businesses say a public option would undermine employer-provided insurance and set the stage for a so-called single-payer system, in which the government would be the only insurer.

Oh, yes, we must keep those insurance companies, hospitals and businesses happy; we could never contemplate interrupting their profit stream for an issue so noble as providing health coverage for every American. No, the obscene profit rates for companies that are more interested in their bottom line than the health of patients will forever remain sacred.

Gosh, I sure find the "downsides" to this bill the Times is pointing to be actual selling points. Well, aside from their prediction that is has no chance of passing, that is.

Update: Brad DeLong brings news to the deficit hawks that the public option is low-hanging fruit: http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2010/07/hey-deficit-hawks-adding-a-public-plan-to-the-ppaca-is-low-hanging-fruit.html

<snip>

Link: http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/61259

LOL !!! - I love it!

Hey Deficit Hawks ??? Want to save the country some money, and help balance the budget ???

Pass the Public Option!!!

:evilgrin:

:kick:

[babylonsister]

1. Woolsey to Introduce ‘Robust Public Option’ Bill (This Afternoon)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=4474242

Some Dems always said they wouldn't let it die, and they stuck to it! :thumbsup:

[CTLawGuy]

2. what's she doing introducing legislation?

she's not the PRESIDENT!

[Radical Activist]

3. Nice, but what good will it do?

The House already passed it once. The Senate was the problem.

It's really pretty simple. It was "on the table" until it became clear that not enough Senators would vote for it. Can we give the conspiracy theories a rest?

[Recursion]

5. I'm looking for the rules it's being introduced under

If it's actually brought up as an amendment to the reconciled act it becomes much easier to pass it in the Senate. If CBO marks it up as a deficit reduction amendment that could happen.

[GreenPartyVoter]

6. Hmmm Definitely worth watching!

[grahamhgreen]

17. Great point!

[BootinUp]

7. Because it makes things more facinating

like a good mystery movie.

[WillyT]

8. The Senators Who Opposed The PO Were For The Most Part, Deficit Hawk Types...

So this is a way to call them on their bullshit.

The PO will help reduce the deficit.

Let's make 'em put OUR money where THEIR mouth is.

:shrug:

[glitch]

11. Perfect ploy to expose their utter phoniness and completely bankrupt lack of soul.

It's not about the deficit with them, all about the "no". They are nobabies.

[grahamhgreen]

16. That's not true. We could have passed it in reconcilliation. We need to

blow up the filibuster while we have the votes to do so.

[awoke_in_2003]

26. we need to blow up...

the way the filibuster is done now, and bring back the proper filibuster. It is a great tool, but now it is so easy to use it gets abused. Make the asshats stand at the podium, read phone books, and do a proper filibuster- that way Americans can see them for the asshats they really are.

[PufPuf23]

21. The "good"? The will and best interests of the people. nt

[laughingliberal]

22. I believe it would pass the Senate under reconciliation & Reid did promise Sanders...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/19/reid-promises-separate-pu_n_506272.html

Reid Promises Separate Public Option Vote In Next Few Months
First Posted: 03-19-10 02:42 PM | Updated: 03-19-10 06:20 PM


Hoping to assuage progressive Democrats who remain disappointed with the content of the health care reform bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) committed on Friday to holding a separate vote on a public option in the coming months.

In a letter to two of his more progressive colleagues in the Senate -- Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Bernie Sanders of Vermont -- the Nevada Democrat implicitly apologized for his inability to get a government-run insurance plan into the final piece of health care legislation and promised to keep working to get the policy into law.

As you know, I am a strong supporter of a public option, and I included the HELP Committee's public option in the bill I brought to the senate floor last year. I was disappointed when it became clear that we did not have the votes to keep it.

Nevertheless, like you, I remain committed to pursuing the public option. While I believe that the legislation we are considering does much to provide affordable coverage to millions of Americans and curb insurance company abuses, I also believe that the public option would provide additional competition to make insurance even more affordable. As we have discussed, I will work to ensure that we are able to vote on the public option in the coming months. <snip>


That 60 vote dog don't hunt

[AlbertCat]

27. Nice, but what good will it do?

Keep the idea fresh in people's minds.

If it passes (again) in the House...the Dems there look good.

If the Dems let just the Repugs in the Senate kill it with a filibuster or some blocking tactic, the Repugs look bad.

If by some miracle it doesn't get killed, then that's great too.

It's worth trying over and over again. It's worth seeing Dems champion it and Repugs kill it over and over again. (Even if back deals killed it 1st time)

[Canuckistanian]

4. Off to the Greatest

:thumbsup:

[Webster Green]

9. She's my rep!

Lynn Woolsey is one of the best!

[Nite Owl]

10. Lucky you!

Mine is a Blue Dog who is very proud of his voting with the GOP more than the dems.

[Triana]

12. I don't see the problem....

"Insurance companies, hospitals and other businesses say a public option would undermine employer-provided insurance and set the stage for a so-called single-payer system, in which the government would be the only insurer."

YES! That's what we need. I don't see the problem. Woolsey is right. The CBO is right.

[The Magistrate]

18. Indeed, Ma'am: That is Not A Problem, That Is The Goal....

[kestrel91316]

20. [phone]

[itsrobert]

13. Genius?

?

[defendandprotect]

14. K&R --

[boppers]

15. ...and we can do this EVERY YEAR until it passes.

...a "compromise" win opened the door, and now it cannot be closed.

edit: typo

[unblock]

19. oh no, it would "undermine employer-provided insurance" -- is that a core competency?

in an age where businesses are cold-heartedly offshoring and outsourcing anything and everything that isn't a core competency or cash cow profit center, why is it so important for them to cling to providing health insurance?

if you had to design an economy from scratch, why on earth would you tie health insurance to employment? the new law eases the problems with this mildly, but the whole concept remains ridiculous.

[bvar22]

23. Uh-Oh...President Rahm won't like this.

”In a Thursday interview, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel argued that rather than recoiling against Obama, business leaders should be grateful for his support... the fact that the overhaul of health care preserved the private delivery system..."

http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=B2F85DDF-18FE-70B2-A835FE1E7FA8D74C

Isn't that just like a "Fucking Retard" Liberal?
...to go messing with the "historic reform".

[derby378]

24. Finally, a healthcare reform bill on Capitol Hill!

I want it to succeed, but let's see how far it gets before the teabaggers are bused in to kill it.

[Chisox08]

25. Good

It will pass in the House and die in the worthless Senate, due to our wonder Senators Max Baucus, Blanche Lincoln, Ben Nelson, Traitor Joe and others.
I hope the House keeps passing a public option every month and embarrass the Senate into passing it.