Dems Agree to Drop Government-Run Insurance Option

What are you, some kind of a racist?

The people made their choice, and Barack Obama is the President of the United States, for better or for worse. The opponents of Barack Obama have not proposed changing the Constitution and our federal government system just because they do not get their way sometimes, unlike many people on the left routinely do.

The electoral college system also reflects the priority of the states in our system of government. It is not going to be changed any time soon, and that is a good thing. That is true even if we do have to periodically endure a truly liberal President such as Barack Obama.

 

I link back to this very thread where certain posters have been suggesting that some states are overrepresented in the Senate:

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=178400&page=15&pp=20

 

As discussed in the article from the Daily Kos below, Senator Ben Nelson clearly does not appear to be committed to passing this bill.

Also, the liberals in the House are really starting to raise the volume on their objections to the concessions made to Joe Lieberman in the Senate, and to the additional concessions that are being considered to address the concerns of Ben Nelson, which would include a ban on federal funding of abortions.

While it still seems likely that the Democrats will probably pass something under the guise of "healthcare reform", I am increasingly hopeful that this bill might actually fail to pass altogether. The chaos and acrimony among the Democrats in Congress is getting worse, and this effort is getting more unpopular with the American people by the day.

If the Senate goes home for Christmas without wrapping this phase of the debate up first, many of these people are going to get an earful from their constituents. That can only serve to weaken the resolve of certain Senators to vote for this monstrosity. And it can only serve to put pressure on certain liberals in Congress to oppose a bill that includes no public option or expansion of Medicare, that prohibits federal funding of abortion and who knows what else.

It is still improbable, but there appears to be an increasingly large chance that this bill will fail to pass in any form. With Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi at the helm in Congress, that opponents of this bill can only be encouraged about the chances see this 'historic' effort bungled to death.

From the Daily Kos:

[RQUOTER]Ben Nelson: Bill covers too many uninsured people, must be scaled back

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) gave one hell of an interview yesterday to Lincoln, Nebraska’s KLIN-AM radio, expanding his 'cloture ransom' to include more than just massive new restrictions on abortion. Nelson is now demanding that the bill be "scaled back" to cover fewer than the 30 million promised by Pres. Obama, that its revenue provisions be eliminated, and that its Medicaid expansion be made voluntary. Not surprisingly, he says he can't imagine that the legislation will pass the Senate by Christmas.

Nelson's key points:

1. Asked if he would vote for cloture even if his initiative to restrict abortion were adopted, Nelson flatly said "no."

2. Nelson not only said a vote before Christmas was not feasible, he joked about it taking until next Christmas.

3. Nelson said unless the bill's Medicaid expansion provisions were made optional he would oppose cloture.

4. Nelson said the bill's revenue provisions were unacceptable because the economy was bad.

5. Nelson said because the subsidies which provide the bill's coverage expansion couldn't be paid for without additional revenue, they needed to be "scaled-back"

6. Nelson also that unless cost control were addressed first, coverage couldn't be expanded.
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In sum: unless Ben Nelson is bluffing, the only way he will vote for cloture is if abortion is restricted, the subsidies are whacked, the revenue provisions are nuked, and its Medicaid expansion is gutted. Oh, and he doesn't think there's any chance of it happening by Christmas.

So now that Ben Nelson has named his price (not that he can't move the goalposts again), Democratic leadership must choose one of three scenarios: (a) cave in to Nelson's demands Lieberman-style, thereby eliminating any pretense of this being a good bill; (b) call Nelson's bluff and schedule a cloture vote without satisfying his demands; or (c) abandoning negotiations with Nelson and choosing instead to pursue reconciliation.

The one thing they can't do is blame kos or Howard Dean or progressives for killing health reform. If health reform dies, it will be at the hands of the Joe Liebermans and Ben Nelsons of the world -- and the people who negotiated with them.[/RQUOTER]

There were over 400 comments to this article at the Daily Kos at the time of this posting. Many of these comments are just the kind of nutty nonsense that is apparently standard fare for this ultra-left wing kook-fest. Consider yourselves warned.