by Mark Silva
President Barack Obama, summoning the House's Democrats to the White House midday for one more push before expected action on the healthcare legislation Sunday, is turning the focus of his weekly address to next week's start of action on financial regulatory reform in the Senate.
The bill which the Senate Banking Commmittee is taking up Monday "would provide greater scrutiny of large financial firms to prevent any one company from threatening the entire financial system - and it would update the rules so that complicated financial products like derivatives are no longer bought and sold without oversight,'' the president says in his weekly radio and Internet address.
"These reforms include a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency to prevent predatory loan practices and other abuses to ensure that consumers get clear information about loans and other financial products before they sign on the dotted line,'' the president says.
The fact that the president has moved on to another front -- after devoting 13 of his weekly addresses to healthcare -- suggests a certain confidence in passage of his signature domestic initiative after making one final public push for the healthcare bill Friday in Virginia.
The House's Republicans are focused on something else today in their weekly address: Putting a spotlight on the tactics that House Democrats are employing to pass a healthcare bill which has picked up a few more Democratic supporters in the closing days but still has more than 200 opponents in a chamber that will need 216 votes to pass it. The Rules Committee is meeting today to clear the way for a procedure that could bypass a roll-call vote on the Senate-passed healthcare bill as the House takes up a package on Sunday that reconciles differences between the two. The House on Sunday will debate both the Rules Committee's recommendation and the final bill.
House Republican Leader John Boehner, delivering the GOP's weekly address today, reiterates his party's complaints with the healthcare bill that the House is considering this weekend -- "government takeover,'' new taxes, Medicare spending cuts and more -- but also speaks of it as something of a lost cause for opponents.
He is demanding a roll-call vote on all matters this weekend, as House Democratic leaders weigh a "deem and pass'' procedure that could enable them to simply the deem the Senate-passed healthcare measure as having passed as they vote on their 170-page package of changes that will reconcile the House and Senate on the issue.
"Democrats are so afraid of the public's outrage that they have devised a strategy that would allow them to force this massive bill through Congress without even voting on it,'' Boehner (R-Ohio) says in the weekly address for teh GOP. "It's outrageous, and it's an affront to the principles of representative democracy.
"We were elected to make tough choices, not run from them. And this vote is certainly one of the toughest.,'' Boehner says. "With that in mind, I asked Speaker Pelosi to have the final health care votes recorded by a 'call of the roll.' Under this procedure, each lawmaker will have to stand before the American people and announce his or her vote.''
See the president's address above, the minority leader's address below, and read the texts of both below, here in The Swamp.
This is the text of the president's weekly address:
"On Monday, the Banking Committee of the United States Senate will debate a proposal to address the abuse and excess that led to the worst financial crisis in generations. These reforms are essential. As I've urged over the past year, we need common-sense rules that will our allow markets to function fairly and freely while reining in the worst practices of the financial industry. That's the central lesson of this crisis. And we fail to heed that lesson at our peril.
Of course, there were many causes of the economic turmoil that ripped through our country over the past two years. But it was a crisis that began in our financial system. Large banks engaged in reckless financial speculation without regard for the consequences - and without tough oversight. Financial firms invented and sold complicated financial products to escape scrutiny and conceal enormous risks. And there were some who engaged in the rampant exploitation of consumers to turn a quick profit no matter who was hurt in the process.
Now, I have long been a vigorous defender of free markets. And I believe we need a strong and vibrant financial sector so that businesses can get loans; families can afford mortgages; entrepreneurs can find the capital to start a new company, sell a new product, offer a new service. But what we have seen over the past two years is that without reasonable and clear rules to check abuse and protect families, markets don't function freely. In fact, it was just the opposite. In the absence of such rules, our financial markets spun out of control, credit markets froze, and our economy nearly plummeted into a second Great Depression.
That's why financial reform is so necessary. And after months of bipartisan work, Senator Chris Dodd and his committee have offered a strong foundation for reform, in line with the proposal I previously laid out, and in line with the reform bill passed by the House.
It would provide greater scrutiny of large financial firms to prevent any one company from threatening the entire financial system - and it would update the rules so that complicated financial products like derivatives are no longer bought and sold without oversight. It would prevent banks from engaging in risky dealings through their own hedge funds - while finally giving shareholders a say on executive salaries and bonuses. And through new tools to break up failing financial firms, it would help ensure that taxpayers are never again forced to bail out a big bank because it is "too big to fail."
Finally, these reforms include a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency to prevent predatory loan practices and other abuses to ensure that consumers get clear information about loans and other financial products before they sign on the dotted line. Because this financial crisis wasn't just the result of decisions made by large financial firms; it was also the result of decisions made by ordinary Americans to open credit cards and take on mortgages. And while there were many who took out loans they knew they couldn't afford, there were also millions of people who signed contracts they didn't fully understand offered by lenders who didn't always tell the truth.
This is in part because the job of protecting consumers is spread across seven different federal agencies, none of which has the interests of ordinary Americans as its principal concern. This diffusion of responsibility has made it easier for credit card companies to lure customers with attractive offers then punish them in the fine print; for payday lenders and others who charge outrageous interest to operate without much oversight; and for mortgage brokers to entice homebuyers with low initial rates only to trap them with ballooning payments down the line.
For these banking reforms to be complete - for these reforms to meet the measure of the crisis we've just been through - we need a consumer agency to advocate for ordinary Americans and help enforce the rules that protect them. That's why I won't accept any attempts to undermine the independence of this agency. And I won't accept efforts to create loopholes for the most egregious abusers of consumers, from payday lenders to auto finance companies to credit card companies.
Unsurprisingly, this proposal has been a source of contention with financial firms who like things just the way they are. In fact, the Republican leader in the House reportedly met with a top executive of one of America's largest banks and made thwarting reform a key part of his party's pitch for campaign contributions. And this week, the allies of banks and consumer finance companies launched a multimillion dollar ad campaign to fight against the proposal. You might call this 'air support' for the army of lobbyists already arm twisting members of the committee to reject these reforms and block this consumer agency. Perhaps that's why, after months of working with Democrats, Republicans walked away from this proposal. I regret that and urge them to reconsider.
The fact is, it's now been well over a year since the near collapse of the entire financial system - a crisis that helped wipe out more than 8 million jobs and that continues to exact a terrible toll throughout our economy. Yet today the very same system that allowed this turmoil remains in place. No one disputes that. No one denies that reform is needed. So the question we have to answer is very simple: will we learn from this crisis, or will we condemn ourselves to repeat it? That's what's at stake.
I urge those in the Senate who support these reforms to remain strong, to resist the pressure from those who would preserve the status quo, to stand up for their constituents and our country. And I promise to use every tool at my disposal to see these reforms enacted: to ensure that the bill I sign into law reflects not the special interests of Wall Street, but the best interests of the American people.
Thank you.''
This is the text of the Republican address by Rep. John Boehner of Ohio:
"I'm speaking to you from the Capitol, where in a matter of hours, the House of Representatives will vote on health care legislation sure to have a drastic effect on our economy and our lives.
"It was here 14 months ago that President Obama took the oath of office with a promise to govern from the center. Republicans stood ready to work with our new president and find common ground to address the issues Americans care about.
"Unfortunately, President Obama and Democrats in Washington chose a partisan path and a costly, big-government agenda.
"The trillion-dollar 'stimulus' isn't working as struggling families continue to ask: 'where are the jobs?' And taxpayers' hard-earned money is being spent so fast that two trillion dollars has been added to the national debt on President Obama's watch.
"Now Democrats want the federal government to take over health care, which represents one-sixth of our economy.
"From the beginning, the one thing the American people wanted out of health care reform was lower costs. That's why Republicans proposed a bill based on common-sense reforms that, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, would reduce premiums for families and small businesses by up to 10 percent. Our bill achieves these goals without cutting Medicare or raising taxes. All of the details are available at HealthCare.GOP.gov.
"The Democrats' bill, which runs more than 2,300 pages, actually raises premiums and ushers in a massive expansion of government - with roughly 160 new boards, bureaus, and commissions.
"Instead of finding a responsible way to pay for all this, Democrats impose more than half-a-trillion dollars in Medicare cuts and more than half-a-trillion dollars in tax hikes.
"In fact, this bill requires 10 years of tax increases and 10 years of Medicare cuts just to pay for six years of supposed benefits, many of which don't even go into effect until 2014. That's not reform.
"It's clear where the American people stand. They want no part of this bill, and they haven't been shy about saying so. We've seen standing room only crowds at town hall meetings. Rallies in towns and cities around the country. And now, jammed phone lines on Capitol Hill. All of this coming from citizens yelling 'stop' at the top of their lungs.
"But Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democrat Leaders are too blinded by their 'Washington knows best' attitude, too out-of-touch with the concerns of working families, to listen.
"Instead of trying to do better, Democrats have packed this bill full of kickbacks, payoffs, and sweetheart deals in order to buy the support of lawmakers and Washington special interest groups.
"Democrats are so afraid of the public's outrage that they have devised a strategy that would allow them to force this massive bill through Congress without even voting on it. It's outrageous, and it's an affront to the principles of representative democracy.
"We were elected to make tough choices, not run from them. And this vote is certainly one of the toughest.
"With that in mind, I asked Speaker Pelosi to have the final health care votes recorded by a 'call of the roll.' Under this procedure, each lawmaker will have to stand before the American people and announce his or her vote.
"The stakes are too high, and this bill is too controversial, for anything less than complete transparency and accountability. It's time to stand up and be counted.
"Don't let Democrats in Washington take this debate away from you. Don't let them make this about arm-twisting and backroom deals.
"And don't let President Obama get away with asking his fellow Democrats to vote for this bill to save his presidency.
"Because this vote isn't about saving a presidency or a politician. It's about doing the right thing for our kids and grandkids. It's about ensuring that freedom and opportunity remain the birthright of our people. And it's about listening to the hard-working taxpayers who sent us here.
"That's why the only responsible course of action is to scrap this health care bill. Let's start over with a clean sheet of paper. Let's work together on a step-by-step approach focused on lowering costs for families and small businesses.
"Republicans can't beat this bill, but the American people can. It's not too late to make your voice heard.
"Thank you for listening."
Comments
Welcome to Deemocracy
Meanwhile, Obamacare will result in the creation of at least 16,500 new jobs. Doctors? Nurses? Ha! Dream on, suckers. That’s 16,500 new IRS agents, who’ll be needed to check whether you — yes, you, Mr. and Mrs. Hopendope of 27 Hopeychangey Gardens — are in compliance with the 15 tax increases and dozens of new federal mandates the Deemocrats are about to “deem” into existence. This will be the biggest expansion of the IRS since World War II — and that’s change you can believe in. This is what “health” “care” “reform” boils down to: fewer doctors, longer wait times, but more bureaucrats.
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http://article.nationalreview.com/428594/welcome-to-deemocracy/mark-steyn
Posted by: Bobby Mobbie | March 20, 2010 9:33 AM
I do hope there are provisions in the bill to get the Weasels of Wall Street and the Bagmen of the Boardrooms. They belong in jail and I hope President Obama and the Democrats will create that investigating panel, which will ferret out those shadowy people and prosecute them, right into jail.
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, IL | March 20, 2010 9:39 AM
Will Democrats in Congress stop at nothing?
NOT UNTIL THE WHOLE COUNTRY IS NOTHING. THANKS DEMS!
Democrats in Washington are determined to ram their agenda through Congress and - possibly as soon as this weekend - transform national health care from liberal dream into legislative reality. To do so, they are willing to ignore:
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•Public opinion. Large majorities of Americans continue to oppose the health care plan; as of March 8, Rasmussen reported 53 percent against, including 41 percent who strongly oppose. A recent CNN poll found only 25 percent of Americans in favor of the plan, while the balance favor Congress starting over or scrapping work on health care altogether.
But never mind the noisy din of the rabble; the Democrats have convinced themselves that the public is too stupid to know what is good for them, and that once the bill passes, Congress will be showered with thanks from a grateful nation that suddenly will have discovered what wonders the Democrats have bestowed on them. Has there ever been a more reckless, delusional disregard for public opinion in the history of our democracy?
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•Their own political futures. The disregard for the public's strong opposition will of course have terrible political consequences. As Patrick Caddell and Douglas Schoen, pollsters for the last two Democratic presidents, recently warned in TheWashington Post: "Democrats are pursuing policies that are out of step with the way ordinary Americans think and feel about politics and government. Barring some change of approach, they will be punished severely at the polls." How severely? An "unmitigated disaster" awaits Democrats in November, predict the pollsters, and they are not alone. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid don't care; they seem perfectly willing to sacrifice the political lives of their foot soldiers (and in Mr. Reid's case, his own political career) for the sake of health care reform.
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•The Constitution. Remember that part in the Constitution that gives the federal government the power to force you to buy something, under threat of fine or jail? No? Oh, that must be because the Constitution contains no such odious provision; in fact, it's a fair bet that the fellows who gathered in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 would have reacted to such a suggestion with a mixture of horror and laughter.
But never mind. Nancy Pelosi responds to a question from a journalist about the constitutionality of the individual mandate with, "Are you serious? Are you serious?" You can understand her incredulity; imagine, an American journalist daring to bring up something so frivolous and antiquated as the United States Constitution! What a fool.
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•Our untenable fiscal situation. Greece and other European countries are teetering on the brink of societal collapse due to years of profligate fiscal policy. Our own nation is right on track to follow suit: , In February, the United States racked up a record $221 billion in debt, the 17th straight month that the federal government produced shameful deficits.
Can we be frank? We are worse than dead broke. We are bankrupt. And yet, the Democrats claim they can compel, expand and subsidize health coverage to 30 million more Americans and not make things worse. Does anybody in Washington really believe this? Perhaps, but in the rest of the country, this is seen for precisely what it is: insanity.
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If the Democrats are willing to ignore the public, their own political futures, the Constitution and the nation's empty coffers in pursuit of their health care chimera, my question is this: What won't they ignore? What legal, moral and political stricture won't they bend, break or disregard? In short: What won't they do?
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http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.healthreform19mar19,0,7066729.story
Posted by: Bobby Mobbie | March 20, 2010 9:47 AM
DUMP TRUCK FITZ,
From this analysis done by CNN:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/How-Democrats-will-pay-for-hmoney-2591485595.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=8&asset=&ccode=
The idea is that an excise tax would persuade workers and employers to choose lower-cost plans. While technically a tax on insurers, they are expected to pass along those costs to policyholders.
Once employers spend less money on health care, they will use the money saved to pay workers higher wages, or so the economic theory goes. The workers will then owe income tax on those higher wages, providing revenue to help pay for health reform.”
I guess the geniuses didn’t consider that the corporation might not pass on that savings to the employees. The geniuses also didn’t consider that the money that used to go to the insurance company was passed on to doctors and nurses – who by the way are in higher tax brackets than the average American. Therefore, the gov’t will lose money on this.
Can you explain this one Blago Backer?
SUPPORT SMALLER GOV'T - DUMP THE DEMOCRAT-SOCIALIST-FLATLINERS
Posted by: Terry | March 20, 2010 9:50 AM
What is wrong with the American public in regard to this Healthcare bill?How can anyone in their right mind, vote for this outlandish bill. Its all smoke and mirrors, or to put it another way its hokus pokus. It won't even go into effect for 4 years. In the meantime you will be paying for coverage your not getting. Would you buy a car or a house and pay for it for 4 years before you can driver your car or move in to your house. Wake up and smell the coffee folks. Your being taken advantage of. Also they now have something on the books for amnesty for all the illegals, does that mean they will automatically on the insurance roles. Will they be allowed to go on unemployment right away, What will that do to our unemployment roles? We could have unemployment at 20% or higher.
Posted by: Paul | March 20, 2010 10:50 AM
Predictions
Our future under Obamacare.
The bill will cost more than advertised.
Insurance premiums will keep rising.
The quality of care will be worse.
The Left will keep pushing for more.
Republicans won’t really try to repeal it.
http://article.nationalreview.com/428647/predictions/michael-tanner
Posted by: Bobby Mobbie | March 20, 2010 10:54 AM
On the morning of Sunday December 7, 1941 a Japanese admiral was watching his squadrons return after their attack on Pearl Harbor and realize that he had just woken a sleeping giant. I believe this Sunday, March 21, 2010 will be the day that the giant is woken once more. But this time not to defend America's freedom from a outside threat but this time it's one from within. This threat will not be a show of arms but a battle at the ballot box. The vast majority of voters have let it be known they do not support this bill and will not support those that vote for it. I believe by the end of this year calling yourself a liberal or a Democrat will be detrimental to your future success. Remember the years 1854 and 1941 both of which were major turning points in this country's history. In one the beginning of a political party being wiped off the landscape of American politics and in the other the start of the dismantle of a empire.
Posted by: Crooks_In_DC | March 20, 2010 11:03 AM
Two Stories, Too Little Press
. . . Besides, I would add, isn’t this supposed to be a health care bill and not a civil rights bill?
Joe Hicks, a California advisor to that civil rights commission, concludes his observations by writing, “Some say that life is a game of winners and losers. This might be true, but we shouldn’t allow Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid to pick the people who win or lose just because of skin color or their last name:” http://bit.ly/9yenqa
Good point, Joe. Another good point is, Why won’t anyone hear anything about it or about Dutch gays allowing a massacre to happen?
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=1575)
Posted by: Berlet98 | March 20, 2010 12:00 PM
....and, as president panty waist gets ready to ban off-shore oil drilling, the Russians are planning to drill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Combine this with his socialist health care agenda and you get a new Rasmussen low of 43% approval.
Paulo
Posted by: Paulo | March 20, 2010 12:14 PM
"We were elected to make tough choices, not run from them. And this vote is certainly one of the toughest.,'' Boehner says.
Republicans are the ones who are "running away" from this important reform. It is quite often that "tough choices" are not popular ones. So it would appear, what Boehner is saying, is that it is better to just "go with the crowd" than to do what is right. He is more concerned with how he looks politically than doing the right thing for the American people.
What a coward Boehner is.
Posted by: Davey S | March 20, 2010 12:32 PM
Crooks, you are correct....the people are pissed and something big will happen. What you are failing to point out though, is that the vast majority of American's have not read the bill.....the vast majority of American's really have no clue what is in the bill, and finally, the vast majority of Ameircan's only have the attention span to absorb sound-bite media, which the pugs and the insurance companies have perfected.
I REALLY hope that this administration continues its crackdown on big companies. They are such weasels. I could write a book on all the evil instruments that I have seen them employ, but due to their actions, they deserve a huge crackdown.
Posted by: Xcellentform | March 20, 2010 12:39 PM
mobby booby:
does 4 TRILLION dollars mean anything to you?
how about 47 million people ?
where were you shills when GWB and company launched his wars without end ?
where were you and the rest of the GOP wall of noise when GWB et al bailout their friends on Wall Street to the tune of over 2 trillion dollars ?
paid shills and hired keyboards
doesn't speak for the majority, so deal with it.
Posted by: writerofwrongs | March 20, 2010 12:45 PM
Posted by: Bobby Mobbie | March 20, 2010 9:47 AM
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Since you're so outraged at monthly federal deficits, please list ALL of the months during G.W. Bush's presidency where there were NO federal deficits. Post links to your sources to support your claims.
Posted by: BC | March 20, 2010 1:21 PM
ObamaCare remains unpopular with — the people
As Congress moves toward a narrow partisan vote (however it turns out on Sunday) on what is probably the most far-reaching legislation since Medicare (which passed by solid bipartisan consensus-like majorities), the evidence is that the administration and congressional Democrats are still flying in the face of public opinion. The gap is not as dramatic as it was a few weeks ago, but the evidence of public opinion polls is still that most Americans still think that this legislation will make the country and themselves worse off.
The latest comes from a Gallup poll conducted Wednesday. It showed that for most groups in society Gallup’s respondents thought they would be worse off. Those polled did think lower-income families and those without health insurance would be better off, but the U.S. as a whole, middle-income families, hospitals, doctors, pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, “you and your family” and upper-income families would all be worse off rather than better off if the bill passes, by margins ranging from 5 to 25%. The highest percentage who thought it would “make things better” (except for the poor and uninsured) was 39%.
The results were extremely polarized as to self-identified Republicans and Democrats.
http://orangepunch.freedomblogging.com/2010/03/19/obamacare-remains-unpopular-with-the-people/19435/
Posted by: Bobby Mobbie | March 20, 2010 2:12 PM
OH THOSE CRAZY LITTLE DETAILS WHEN YOU'RE TRYING TO BEND (BREAK?) THE RULES
The Health Vote and the Constitution—II
The House can't approve the Senate bill in the same legislation by which it approves changes to the Senate bill.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703580904575131460390057440.html
Posted by: Bobby Mobbie | March 20, 2010 2:27 PM
Don Fitzgerald, can weasels identify other weasels?
No reason to have ever expected much from the Mustapha Gang of Socialists, but would not have necessarily predicted this. It’s just great how Mustapha says one thing and then proceeds totally unrestrained by anything he has boldly lectured us on, in that over-rated, loping, pork chop speaking style of his.
This has to be the most adept group ever at fraud, bribes, lies, and straight-up deceit. Bizarre and creepy, all in one package. When will folks wake up.
Posted by: Django - N Exile In/Around the 30th Parallel | March 20, 2010 4:52 PM
Last Chance to STOP Obamacare!
. . . Speaker Pelosi needs 216 votes on Sunday; 215 will mean defeat and will mean that congress will have to face more town halls where the people can express their opinions to their representatives.
Every vote counts. This may be your last chance to stop Obamacare by calling the House of Representatives at (877) 762-8762 (toll-free) or at (202) 224-3121 or (202) 225-3121.
Start with recently-undecideds, make yourself heard, and don’t take a busy signal for an answer. Their phone numbers may be found here: http://barackhatesthis.com/
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=1577)
Posted by: Berlet98 | March 20, 2010 5:08 PM
Obama knows that only dems will vote for this killer of the middle class. So, what does Obama do? He pushes a bill with no single payer, no public option, Hillary Clinton's mandate with penalty and still leaves over 30 million Americans--or quick-made illegal amnesty citizens--without health care. I am a registered dem. This bill looks like a huge rip-off to middle class workers. There are NO penalties in the bill for the health insurance companies if they continue to screw us. All is on the back of the working man and womwn. Obama needs to resign his reign for the lies he told during his campaign when he said he was flatly against a mandate. If this thing passes, many registered dems need to vote in all new republicans in the fall. I've heard this is how it will go. Get all dems who voted for this out of office. Better to be hated and kicked by the right, than to be lied to by the left who say they love us while actually hating us. There are no dem or progressive qualties to the bill. The only qualties are for the insurance companies and those politicians taking bribe money from the insurance companies. All is a lie. The government's act of forcing us to buy a shoddy and expensive product from greedy, private insurance companies is shameful and insulting to us as a free people. Just wait for all the IRS penalties to be given to free Americans who say 'hell no' to the forced mandate to buy a pile of crap from slime-ball insurance companies. If Obama hoped for anarchy, he will prolly get it now. It's time for everyone to go to the barter system in order to save their family from health care 'reform' ruin. Obama--friend of insurance and big Pharma money--could have put in the PO to keep costs down while putting a gun to our heads. He chose not to. The entire House membership will change this fall. The repubs for not caring in nine years, and the dems for taking the bribes and for all the lies. All the mandate $$$ and hardship on the middle class to pay for health care for 30 million extra people--yet isn't 30 million the outside figure of all illegal aliens in our country? Wow. Interesting. Something is very fishy in American politics.
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All those out of work can apply to the IRS and to law enforcemant so those in the middle class who can not afford the forced mandate can be taken to jail, lose their families--and homes--more homes will be lost through this forced mandate. This bill is a very sick maniac on steroids.
Posted by: Vivian | March 20, 2010 5:22 PM
Speaking of how the democrats operate - from the horse's mouth:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbHTJSu_2Lk
Posted by: Terry | March 20, 2010 5:38 PM
Still Writing Wrong,
Does $107 Trillion mean anything to you? That's the unfunded liability of Social Security and Medicare. In lay man's terms, that's the IOU from the gov't to the American people on these two Ponzi Schemes.
Makes that $4 Trillion look like spitting in the ocean.
Also, what do you think another major social entitlement does to the unfunded liabilities that the gov't owes the American people?
Posted by: Terry | March 20, 2010 8:21 PM
Xcellentform
That is where you are wrong. Because it is basically the same bill that the Senate has already passed. And they also know that the CBO scoring is accounting by Enron. I still do not believe this bill will hold up in the courts. Not when you have 36 state Atty. Gen.'s waiting to file their law suits. Sunday may just be a lost battle but not the end of the war on healthcare because that's what it will become and this November it will end. And please none of the liberal claptrap about how the Democrats cannot lose because they were saying the same thing for Massachusetts and New Jersey.
Posted by: Crooks_In_DC | March 20, 2010 11:24 PM
Terry, I agree SS and Medicare is the largest ponzi scheme in history. That's why the government will legalize 30-40 million illegal aliens in order to try and add new donors to the system. And they will bring in another 60 million. The only problem with the scheme is: these people are not exactly high income tax payers. So, we will be in a system where the majority of the payers are at lower levels of income. It's a recipe for disaster. But what the hell, just get it over with and give the country away dems.
Posted by: Free to Watch Liberals Meltdown | March 21, 2010 2:59 AM
Camel has nose in tent.
A very big nose.
Doctors have seen this coming for at least the last 18 years, ever since Hillarycare. They really hated Hillary, way more than they hate Obama.
How soon will this morph to single payer?
42% premium increases by big bad insurance companies will help speed up the process, no?
As they grasp for an even higher percentage of the family budget, the public is going to revolt.
Replicans as usual are fighting a rear guard action. Having lost the vote, you'd think they would move on to something else.
But Nooooo. McCain et al. vow to "fight on". Only problem: that 's like "Segragation now and forever" George Wallace type stuff.
Why so retrograde? I've a notion they have a signal or two from the new chief justice that he's willing to knock out part of the law, just like McCain Feinberg campaign finance law.
So they're emboldened......
Posted by: ornery | March 23, 2010 12:23 AM