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Dems Corner Snowe, Collins
Looking for a little breathing room, Democrats are targeting Maine's two centrist Republican senators, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, hoping they can attract them to vote for the coming health-care reform bill. President Obama sent a member of his cabinet, former Colorado Senator Ken Salazar, to meet with Collins. On Saturday, the Senate passed a vote to move forward with the health-care debate along party lines, 60-39. “I have ruled out voting for this bill, but I still very much want to vote for a bill and that is why I am continuing to have discussions,” Collins told The New York Times. “I still cling to the belief that it is possible for a group of us to come together and rewrite the bill in a way that would cause it to have greater support.”
wfleet
The following numbers need to rip our eyes open. We need far fewer thinktanks and far more empathytanks where people can learn to look at our Union through the lens of the beloved community.
A trigger is an evil delay. 1952 Americans have needlessly died just since the House passed its version of the Health Bill. If these Americans had had health coverage they would have lived. No flags at half-mast for these folks, nor consoling speeches for their ruined families, nor tears.
A Pearl Harbor every 20 days. 4000 dead by Christmas. 17,000 by Easter. 28,000 dead by the 4th of July.
We need a real Public Option which anyone can choose. Every single day we wait for a "trigger" is ten Fort Hoods.
.....
I use the Harvard Study figure of 45,000 needlessly dead a year. (People just like the dead in age, weight, gender, disease, amount of smoking etc *with* health coverage lived. http://tinyurl.com/l7cy8u ) 365,000 needlessly dead since 9-11.
Without guns, flames, or billowing smoke, no one counts the casualties in this slo-motion, silent carnage of Americans overseen by the bloodsucking Medical Industrial Complex. Upon my sacred honor, I ask you to grok the shamefull scope of this evil catastrophe. We need to fend for one another.
[For that handful of you hip to 'grok,' what we need are groktanks rather than thinktanks.]
Demsdisorder
what about the 6 million Americans who will not be covered by this 3 trillion dollar pig???
Hope and change ... i think not..more pork i think so
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n--Y--cvillekidPlantagenet
Perhaps you can get T-shirts with "hope and change" and pretty picture of Obama printed on them, and hand them out to ill-informed college students.
That would be a lot easier then actually doing the hard work of explaining this pig of bill to the American people.
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n--Y--cvillekidAlanD2
Plantagenet: That would certainly beat the "Pray for Obama: Psalm 109:8" T-shirts that conservatives are pushing these days.
Nothing like egging on crazies to assassinate our President, right?
diamondgirl
They will throw everything but the kitchen sink at her to buy her vote,and they will throw the kitchen sink at her if she doesnt vote for it...LOL
Plantagenet
Hi evillekid:
Of course today's college kids are uninformed. Take the ones protesting rising tuition in California. These kids typically vote for liberals because the liberals will institute higher taxes, but when the state raises taxes (i.e. tuition) on them suddenly they don't want higher taxes.
If college kids vote for liberals who will institute higher taxes, its rather naive of them to complain when the result is higher taxes (i.e. tuition) on themselves.
AlanD2
Demsdisorder: Having only 6 million uninsured Americans certainly beats having 45 or 50 million.
Or are you in favor of 45,000 uninsured Americans dying each year because they can't afford life-saving medical treatment?
hfb1053
cville - Even though I give you a hard time for your insulting posts, I have to say that at times you can be an hilariously funny insulter especially to your special honey, Michelle Plantkin. So, I guess the point here is if you can't post without being insulting, at least do not be so cruelly insulting but rather find your sense of humor in your insults.
gak001
3 trillion? Stop taking your numbers from partisan talking points and look at the nonpartisan sources - the nonpartisan CBO estimates that the House and Senate bills will both cost well UNDER $1 trillion over the next ten years, be revenue neutral, and reduce the deficit over the next two decades.
wolverine1987
Your post is 100% pure unadulterated lies and b.s.
diamondgirl
Wolveine, I will second that emotion! LOL
AlanD2
Actually, wolverine1987, wfleet's numbers are correct.
It is your post that is "100% pure unadulterated lies and b.s."
wolverine1987
Uh.no. People die, whether they would have with or without insurance is up to the researchers opinions. Hmm, wonder what those are? And oh, no one that gets to a hospital with a illness EVER gets refused (part of why health care costs rise, admittedly). Thus they do have health care, just no insurance. More fallacy to the numbers presented-- one third of people without insurance are young and do so by choice. They're deaths are counted too in those crappy, biased numbers.
AlanD2
wolverine1987: The 45,000 number has nothing to do with researchers' opinions. As you would know if you read the original report:
http://harvardscience.harvard.edu/medicine-health/articles/new-study-fin ds-45000-deaths-annually-linked-lack-health-coverage
(Easier to use: http://tinyurl.com/ox8u4d )
(Original report: http://tinyurl.com/l52v8c )
They use a sophisticated statistical analysis, the same type that insurance companies use to determine actuarial information about life expectancies.
Demsdisorder
Not a chance Maine is going more to the right.
bobj72
"Lower Intestinal disorder"; As Usual, either your "Attention Deficit Disorder" caused you to come-up with this MISINFORMATION....... OR again, "You LIE"... to gain unearned advantage!!!
apostleis
Not the voters just the corrupt senators.
Let the bill fail and then go for public financing and get all these lobbyists disguised as senators out.
AlanD2
For once I agree, Demsdisorder. There is no chance that Maine will get more conservative.
sophia5
Will Snowe and Collins get a Taxpayer Funded " Enticement " Mary Landrieu style ?
diamondgirl
They will get whatever it takes, now that they know what the the President is willing to pay to get this Porkulus filled Health Care Bill passed.
melissamsouza
With all due respect, the last time we listened to these two ladies we got a severly gutted Stimulus that is having to be remedied now. These two women have cost states billions of dollars in extra revenue, and millions of Americans their jobs as a result. If the Administration had been able to have its way and just given the finger (excuse the image) to these women, we would have had a larger Stimulus with much more aid to states and consequently more preservation of jobs. I don't think the unemployment rate would be so high now. Let's not sacrifice the overwhelming majority of Democrats--as Senator Sherrod Brown stated yesterday, 56 of them--to cater to a handful of Senators who are not on the right side of History or economics at the moment.
Demsdisorder
LMAO..wow !!!! That is just about the funniest thing i have ever read. thanks i needed a good laugh
melissamsouza
Sorry I can't say the same for your posts. They rather cause a rather nauseating effect.
diamondgirl
I know what a crock of crap she spews, to make their case. No one believe them, as long as the unemployment rate keeps going up. They look like liars, which is what they are.
diamondgirl
Melissa,That was no Stimulus bill, it was a Porkulus bill, the money was spent to continuing support to state employees, which need to be cut. and unemployment benifits which dont create jobs but tax the rest of us. You are so brainwashed to the lies you are causing this county more harm every time you speak your lies.
winston1
diamondgirl I'm a female. We women will stick together. Mary Frost, Glenda, diamond girl and carole65. I think that covers it.
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n--Y--cvillekidProgressive2
at the end of the day Snowe will vote for the bill just like Cao
winston1
cville That's a great idea and we will put up a dart board of the Democrats who voted for HC and take aim, and have a good time. Then we will go over your blogs and laugh at what an hysterical nut job you are. While we are sipping our wine. Oh, about brown shirts no-way that's the Dem's shirt of choice. We will have on "GO Sarah Palin" shirts.
wolverine1987
Love how SNL obliterated Obama in China Saturday:
Chinese Leader: How will extending coverage to 30 million new people actually save money?"
Obama: "I don't know."
He doesn't know, because it is literally economically impossible to add 30 million new customers to any market without costs INCREASING as a result. Now if the Dems were honest, they would simply say "yes, costs will go up, as will taxes, but that is because covering as many people as possible is the moral and ethical thing to do in America. This is the price we must pay to do the right thing and help as many people as possible."
That would be intellectually and politically honest and could be respected even if one disagreed. But you can't respect people who don't understand economics and have to lie about their program to get it passed.
nortonclybourn
Save the Insurance Companies! Save the exclusions of existing conditions! If we start making insurance companies pay benefits to sick people, how will they get huge profits? Stand up for your right to be excluded and uninsured!
kevrob
Insurance companies don't make huge profits. Most have @ 2-5 percent profit margins.
Do you even know what insurance companies do?
jus1drun
wolverine
there are cost savings to be pursued however the overall picture is as you described. i'm with you on this one, tell it like it is. let's make this decision honestly.
however before any of that, how about we back burner this and spend our precious legislative time on coming up with creative solutions to unemployment. a kick @ss economy solves many ills.
AlanD2
wolverine1987: Let me remind you and other conservatives that France, which has the best health care system in the world, pays only half as much per person as we do.
So Americans are wasting $1 trillion a year on health care. Any intelligent reform could have huge savings. Unfortunately, we may not get intelligent reform.
winston1
AlanD Not France again!!! France is wrestling with runaway health-care inflation. That has led to some hefty tax hikes, and France is now considering U.S.-style health-maintenance organization tactics to rein in costs.
diamondgirl
Alan pay attention to winston... He is much more in tune to todays news!
AlanD2
diamondgirl: I rarely pay attention to people who are in tune with Fox News.
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n--Y--cvillekiddebbieqd
No, no, no Mr. President! You compromised on the stimulus package that originally created jobs. Where did that get you? Stick with the bill we've got -- 51 votes. Screw the rest of them!
AlanD2
It will be very difficult to get the bill passed in the Senate without 60 votes, debbieqd. Getting one or two Republican votes would be good insurance against a defection by Joe Lieberman.
melissamsouza
We can try to get the 60 proceedural votes for cloture to move the Bill towards final passage. Once that is done, we can pass the Bill with a simple majority. Screw these centrists!! This is no time for timid action. We compromised on the Stimulus disastrously. These people are out of sync with the times and they can not hold the overwhelming majority of Democrats in the House and in the Senate hostage.
AlanD2
melissamsouza: Unfortunately, Joe Lieberman has stated he will stand with the Republican filibuster to deny a vote on the bill.
One or two conservative Democrats may also vote with Republicans.
So getting 60 votes may be impossible without any Republican support.
melissamsouza
Agreed completely. I stated as much. Obama catered to these women and gutted the Stimulus in roughly 200 billion that would have gone primarily to States. Now he is scrambling with his job summit and other measures to patch up this situation. That extra money would have equalled fewer budget cuts, and, consequently, fewer job losses. The umemployment rate would probably not be so bad, and Obama wouldn't be having such a headache. Lawrence Summers, Obama's tough economic adviser, warned that unemployment would reach 10% and that the Stimulus needed to be bigger. Unfortunately, Obama did not have a 60 majority at that time, and he needed to compromise with these Maine women (so fiscally concerned at the moment when our economy was contracting at 6% and we were losing 700 thousand jobs a month). The result was a limp Stimulus. And now these women want an equally limp health care bill.
diamondgirl
debb, he didnt compromise with that porkulus bill, he paid all his buddies back for getting him elected. SEIU got their cut, along with the states his liked got some, and those he didnt like got very little...He forgot to create jobs because he has no intention on creating private sector jobs. He wants to grow government so people will vote for him/Dems to keep their jobs.. Thats why the Health Care bill, full of new government jobs that the tax payers will have to pay for. We need private sector jobs, and thats what he is killing.
This is right out of the Rules for Radicals Bible, by Saul Alinski Obamas Mentor.
We in NJ kicked Corzine Out for doing just that, NJ IS a RED STATE, he created only Government jobs,and raised our taxes. WE VOTED HIM OUT, which is what we will do to the Dems in 2010 and Obama in 2012
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n--Y--cvillekidwinston1
cville JEALOUS!!
squiggy
Doesn't that perk up interest when Centrists and Blue Dogs question the bill????
nortonclybourn
Why can't people understand that the Insurance Companies are looking out for our best interests? We should trust the corporations, because they are Free Market, so we have the best system in the world. If you can't trust an insurance company lobbyist, who can you trust? Certainly not some government person. You don't see private banks and industries lining up for federal help, do you?
melissamsouza
Great. Loved it.
mzkitti
The Real
DEATH PANEL. these people want to Deny Life to 50 million people ?
(R) Michael Stephen Steele (R) Orin Hatch, Charles Schumer, (R) John Boehner, (R) Ben Nelson, (R) Jerrold Nadler, (R) Jon Kyl, (R) Michael Bennet, (R) Kent Conrad / (R) Charles Grassley (D) BLANCH LINCOLN, (D) Kit Bond, SARAH PALIN, (?) Joe Lieberman, (R) George Voinovich.
And STOP millions of JOBS this Public Option will produce.
All the time sending 10 BILLION dollars to Israel, that has Nationalized Medical Insurance.
ThinkAgain
It's just a matter of how many millions of dollars it'll take to buy their vote.
winston1
cville Can you imagine a little Marxist meeting in the oval office with cville bringing kaopectate because you have diarrhea of the mouth , cheen bringing Saul Alinsky books to give out, reasonable bringing his tin cup for more hand outs. Let's not forget obama asking his minons to express "100 words or less why am I so great". Then you little fools can chant mmm-mmm-mmm obama is so GREAT. This little get together should get you all in a Wee-wee'd mood.
AlanD2
Wash out your mouth with soap and water, Winnie.
You have been a bad little whatever-it-is.
winston1
AlanD Hey, I'm only retaliating from the stupid script Cville blogged yesterday.
diamondgirl
Love it winston!
Winston I found this article about Obama getting his peeps to attack Palin and raising 500,000. They think I made it up, I supplied the web site Hotair.com to conservative. This is what Stewart said below:
And of course, Stewart is showing just how dangerous this is - by exploiting it for every red cent he can find:
Stewart asks supporters to help raise $500,000 to "push back against Sarah Palin and her allies
Here is the quote from "Rules for Radicals, page 100
" The job of the organizer is to maneuver and bait the establishment so that it will publicly attach him as a "dangerous enemy." "This need is met by the establishment's use of the brand "dangerous,"for in that one word the establishment reveals its fear of the organizer its fear that he represents a threat to its omnipotence. Now the organizer has his "birth certificate" and can begin.
It amazing how predictable these views are to connect to this Communist's book with Obama and his peeps...
AlanD2
You still haven't given me any non-conservative sources for your claim, diamondgirl.
Since conservatives lie so much, I'm still going to believe that you are lying until I see a reputable source for your claim.
winston1
diamondgirl Good post.
winston1
Mary Landrieu is bucking for 1 billion next time around. and Blanche asked for four more pigs for her farm.
Maezeppa
Voinovich's absence from the floor vote was interesting.
AlanD2
The absence of all 40 Republican Senators would have made no difference at all.
Because they are just the party of "No".
diamondgirl
Democrat Talking point! You cant do better than that?
AlanD2
diamondgirl, you've got your Fox News talking points. Turn about is fair play.
democracyforall
puh-lease! not another Snowe job!
winston1
AlanD You go by your liberal playbook, Diamond girl gets her accurate resources from Fox.
AlanD2
Winnie, you can have "accurate", or you can have "Fox News".
But you can't have both at the same time.
tolatetocry
you can buy Snowe and Collins for a dime, they are the cheapest girls in the republican party.
bobj72
"late crier"; You expose yourself by saying the Ladies from Maine "are the cheapest girls in the republican party." They happen to be "The Best and The Brightest" - and they just happen to be independent thinking moderate republican'ts.
Since the other Republican't Ladies ALWAYS March in lock-step, what's that say; "that they do it for Nothing???"
Seems you object to politicians who make an effort to serve the interests of their constituents... right?
tolatetocry
ok, its ok if you like cheap girls, to each their own, no problem, dude
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