Even if it's a load of crap--we are going to pass it because that's what our bank-rollers tell us to do--just like the f*&#inf wars--right?

If the ‘so called’ two tiered plan does not contain a vigorous public option than it is neither reform nor is it a bill worthy of our support. The fact is any Bill that circumvents a public plan is the Dems capitulating to the insurance industry who will benefit from millions of mandated subscribers which will create massive profits for an already out of control profit based industry. This article avoids any mention of a public option. We were told that single payer was off the table and that the Dems compromised toward a public option. When the Republicans did not give their permission for a public option we were then told that co-ops were the next compromise even though most experts on co-ops note it is a non-starter and a weak way to proceed. Nevertheless, all we ever see is the Dems compromising to the insurance industry and selling the serfs down the river. More change we can believe in apparently

This bill is a regulatory insurance bill. As the banks chipped away at usury laws and changed banks into houses of gambling and turned car manufacturers in banks so the insurance industry will make this bill more worthless than it is on passage.

We people are watching the democrats who will pass a law that does not one thing until after 2012 give the election back to the repugs.

I doubt the democrats will ever recover. Bush the worst president in history passed more legislation in the first 200 days without a majority in congress and with the filibuster in place. Obama and the democrats will go down in 2012 and history as the weakest party in history.

I love this photo of Harry Reid, taken from a low angle, left shoulder forward in the best "heroic" mode, the kind of thing you see in brutal dictatorships, whether of the right or the left. This is how the Democrats like to think of themselves: heroes, courageous, taking on the entrenched MoFo's, friends of the little guy. The photo is a satire of itself.

This article says that they CAN pass the public option through reconciliation. All major news is reporting that that cannot be part of reform passed this way. Which is it?

The whole enterprise smacks of Democratic desperation to get something accomplished for its own sake. The quality of what gets accomplished is of lesser importance, and perhaps none at all. This is why we may expect that the result will be inoffensive to the insurance industry.

Were Harry Reid and others to stand as bravely on principle as the posed photo implies, we'd have single-payer health care.

serious professor your dead on in your analysis. led by
harry reid a spineless wimpy little man. this guy is jello
and at the end of the day being nice often gets much less
then twisting arms. see tom delay. i'm not a repug but
you have to admire how they know to circle the wagons
and take care of legislation that they felt was important
to them. if the democrats are serious about remaining
in power as long as the gaffes and decline of the repugs
have afforded they have to come to the realization that muscle and strong will are the tools that will continue their reign
of error. but to all who say a weak bill will be delivered
AGREED!

SUPER SMOKE SCREEN

Capitalist medicine is a super money maker for the rich, and how their paid actor politicians are going to keep it safe and secure is beyond me.

A majority vote in the Senate is all they need, they have enough Democrats to do it, but they absolutely will not do it and the super intelligent rich have us in store for a super surprise.

My thought is, it will be all about trust and sucker in our gullible majority with some super new kind of trust.

I watched a town hall on C-Span in Mississippi with Rep. Gene Taylor. He was telling the audience that he didn't think a healthcare bill would get passed. Afterward, he and others would be pushing for real reform. For example, he asked if people were aware that insurance was exempt from anti-trust laws, and briefly referred to property insurance as an issue on the minds of people in the gulf states.

A doctor got up and started talking about how Medicare cost about 3 cents on the dollar while insurance companies cost 20. He asked the audience if they thought that was good capitalism, and went on to the single payer idea. Here is my point: HE WAS CHEERED by the town hall - you know the angry Republican mob. These folks are the THEY to US and they were clearly supporting what we've been talking about here. Rep. Taylor also seemed sympathetic because he went on to talk about the larger problem with insurance companies.

Meanwhile, television news covers the protestors outside Obama's event today. They say that most of them support Obama and pan to the crowd, some of whom are holding single payer signs. But it is as if they don't exist! They are simply redefined as democrats who support Obama.

So, you see a Republican audience and media tells us they are against gummit-run healthcare. You see a Democratic audience and the media says they support Obama's plan whatever it is. But the truth is that lots of ordinary people have a pretty good idea what is wrong, not only with the healthcare bill, but with our government. They want to see the profiteers and rule by corporate special interests reined in. We have common ground that we aren't seeing because of the way perceptions and language are managed.

Brian Beutler writes that “perhaps, the public option--could be included in the reconciliation bill.”
I was led to believe that the rules restrict including the “public option” in the reconciliation bill, so that if the Democrats are forced to use that approach then the public option would be off the table. Please correct me if I’m wrong…..