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Today's Top News
Obama Takes Healthcare Reforms on the Road
President will have backing of trade unions but Republicans are preparing to mount constitutional challenge to block it
After the late-night drama on Sunday that saw the House vote 219 to 212 in favour of the health bill, Obama and his Republican rivals spent much of today preparing for the campaign ahead.
U.S. President Barack Obama is flanked by Vice President Joe Biden (L) as he makes a statement about the House of Representatives' final passage of health care legislation, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, March 21, 2010. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)
Obama will use the signing ceremony – at which he will be surrounded by doctors and nurses – to highlight what he sees as the benefits of the reform. After a year of divisive debate that produced a populist, rightwing backlash and led to the Tea Party movement, the bill expands health coverage from 83% of Americans to 95%.
Democrats cheered as the bill, passed by the Senate on Christmas Eve, reached the 216 majority. But the legislation – amounting to the biggest piece of welfare reform since the 1960s – is a messy compromise, with lots of loose ends. It leaves unresolved the question of whether it will, as intended, stop health costs spiralling out of control.
The health secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, described it as a major step for working-class Americans "who right now face bankruptcy because of unpaid health bills or are terrified their kids are going to get into an accident or can't go to a doctor. So it provides some health security for the first time ever in this country."
The campaign by Obama and Democrats will be backed by pro-health reform groups, and trade unions who are planning to spend millions on television advertising to win over a sceptical public. Gerald McEntee, leader of AFSCME, the biggest health workers' union in the US, told the Politico website: "We expect in three months, the American people will understand the bill and they will be happy and satisfied with it."
The White House is banking on health reform being a winner once the public becomes aware of the details of the package, while the Republicans express equal confidence that it will be a vote-winner for them. The test will come in the Congressional mid-term elections in November.
John McCain, the senator and Obama's Republican rival in the 2008 presidential campaign, said he was repulsed by the Democratic euphoria and warned the debate was far from over.
"Outside the Beltway [Washington], the American people are very angry. They don't like it, and we're going to repeal this," McCain told ABC television.
A rearguard effort to bring down the bill is already under way, with Republicans threatening to repeal or challenge the constitutionality of the legislation or block its implementation. At least 12 states, including Utah, Virginia, Florida and South Carolina, are planning to pursue legal action, arguing that the bill is unconstitutional. The Utah attorney general, Mark Shutleff, said: "This mandate and other provisions violate the US constitution and infringe on individual and state rights."
While much of the $940bn bill does not kick in until 2014, Obama, on his tours round the country beginning in Iowa on Thursday, will highlight the parts that will come in effect this year. His grassroots, web-linked organisation, Organising for America, today sent out an email listing points such as an end within six months of insurance companies dropping people after they become sick and an end to discrimination against children with pre-existing medical conditions.
The House vote has already challenged the view that Obama is too aloof and intellectual to get policies through and so was destined to become a one-term president.
While Obama is intent on milking the publicity that will be attached to the signing ceremony, the legislative process has at least a week or more to run yet. Both the Senate and House have passed the health bill but the House passed a second bill revising parts of the Senate version and that will go back to the Senate this week for debate and an eventual vote.
The second bill has tagged onto it a proposal that would fulfil another Obama campaign promise, to provide more funding for poor students.
Health stocks increased today after the vote, possibly because of the prospect of care being extended to 32 million more Americans. Leading drugs companies, including Pfizer, Merck and Bristol Myers Squibb, saw their shares rise by more than 1%, benefiting from an end to uncertainty. Shares in health insurers were mixed as investors picked over the potential winners and losers from the overhaul.
Despite dire warnings from Republicans about the cost of healthcare reforms to the US economy, Wall Street was relatively unflustered by the vote: the Dow Jones industrial average edged slightly higher on Monday morning, rising 28 points to 10,770 within the first hour of trading.
Much of the financial impact will be felt in 2014, when an expansion in healthcare coverage will take effect. But Brian Bethune, chief US financial economist for IHS Global Insight, said companies were likely to begin preparing now. "In the short-term, companies will be more restrained about hiring and they'll be controlling expenses because the cost of health insurance will be going up," he said.
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Show All*Comment deleted by site administrators for violating our Comment Policy* see: http://www.commondreams.org/comment-policy
Sounds like a red herring to me. His policies support the interests of the 5 families of the Corporate Mafia who are the real masters.
Big Oil is happy
The Banksters are happy
The MIC is happy
The Health-care insurance vampires are happy
Big Ag is happy
Now why would these groups allow their representative to be killed when they benefit so much from him? It makes no logical sense to me.
*Comment deleted by site administrators for violating our Comment Policy* see: http://www.commondreams.org/comment-policy
The author is mistaken in calling Obamacare the biggest welfare program since the 60s.
The 2008-2009 TARP bailouts and Federal Reserve guarantees made to the banksters was the biggest welfare program in history prior to the jumbo corporate welfare program disguised as health care reform that Obama is about to sign.
I think the meme we should be promoting to oppose them from the left is this is the privatization of health care reform. Even Obamabots I think understand that the Reagan/Thatcher privatization years in the 80s were bad.
I agree the banksters, corparation and MIC laugh all the way to the bank as the tea party v.s. Obamabot stage show takes all the heat off them. It seems even many smart people here can't see the stage lighting and scripts, talk about in tee vee land.
You're such a manly man why don't you run your sorry ass out there and see what those Secret Service guys will do to your stupid butt if you try to harm the President. You need to quit trying to incite others to do something that you yourself are too afraid and cowardly to do on your own.
I would not try to harm the President (I don't even live in your country).
Nor would I incite others to do so as you implied, and flagged my original comment for removal.
I was trying to draw a parallel between JFK standing up to the MIC, and the tragic events in Dallas of Nov. 22, 1963, and Obama tweaking the noses of todays Corporations and the so-called 'Tea Party' members, many of whom *DID* make threats that were documented and disseminated by the Media, against Obama while he was speaking at several public forum events last year. While they were armed. And in close proximity to the Presidential Person.
Please compare the apparent laxity of security for Obama in those situations versus the almost paranoid response by the Bush government to a teenager wearing an anti-Bush T-shirt to school... hundreds of miles away from Bush at the time.
As Mona Lisa Vito ("My Cousin Vinny") would say, "Oh my God! What a fuckin' nightmare!"
One-fuckn'-term Obama for me!
Obama (who is the chief representative of the 5 families of the Corporate Mafia) says: "hey nothing personal, this is just business".
Yes, insurance companies are so happy - that's why they're joining Obama on his tour. Not exactly. Did you all miss the part where insurance companies fought this tooth and nail?
As but one example,insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc. fell 3.2 percent today.
It doesn't seem to be obvious to some here that while the insurance companies will have millions of new customers, they will also have to pay out a lot more money because they can't kick people off the rolls anymore.
While insurance companies won't be able to drop victims, they will be able to price them out of the market.
I wish I could believe the author's claim that once Obamacare's details are revealed more Americans will support it.
Ever heard of kabuki theater. Thats all this shit has been pure and simple They are all laughing at us. We are the butt of the joke, nuff said.
"D"
Factually false according to Firedoglake Health Insurance stock is up 28% in the last couple of months. Nothing like a captive market with no regulations to gladden an oligarchs heart:
See item 2 on this fact sheet.
http://thetriteandstatic.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/mythfactshcr-2.pdf
Who do you think wrote most of the legislation?
Who spent over $1 million dollars a day for 18 months "lobbying" Congress?
This is a huge subsidy for the industry, anyone paying attention knows that.
Are you shillin' or did you hear that on CNN/Fox/PBS?
Tramaker, they may not be able to throw people off the rolls but they can increase premiums and deny claims. And if you think state panels will protect you when protesting a denial, think again. They've been stacking the deck with their folks to garner favorable rulings and continuances for the anticipated arbitration.
The reason insurance giants (supposedly) oppose the bill is because they only got 90% of what they wanted. And don't forget, wealth is overwhelmingly republican and never want to give credit to the other side. Didn't you read on this site where much of the bills were written with Big Pharma and insurance company reps at the table? It would not have gotten out of committee without their OK.
Health Secretary Sebelius (in the 5th paragraph)alludes to the fact that many Americans go bankrupt due to unpaid medical bills, and states that Obamacare "will provide some health security" (ambiguous at best). "Some health security" is not going to stop or even slow the rate of medical bankruptcy.
There is nothing in the 3000 page Obamacare Manifesto that prevents Americans from going bankrupt due to unpaid medical bills.
I'm having trouble picturing people supporting a bill being passed when the insurance companies are saying (Yeah, yeah -- this is a great bill. Pass it!). Already M. Moore has said that a good reason to pass the bill is because Republicans oopose it -- they are fighting it, so it MUST be good, is what he said). (And please, Br'er Fox, don't throw me in the briar patch.)
The bill is a huge head-fake and all the lies being told by Move On and other such groups will not undo the actuality of this bill. What I've learned very clearly about Obama is that he'll lie as often as he feels is necessary to win a political battle at the expense of the people who voted for him, including "retards" like me.
Quoting from Physicians for National Health Care:
The hype surrounding the new health bill is belied by the facts:
* About 23 million people will remain uninsured nine years out. That figure translates into an estimated 23,000 unnecessary deaths annually and an incalculable toll of suffering.
* Millions of middle-income people will be pressured to buy commercial health insurance policies costing up to 9.5 percent of their income but covering an average of only 70 percent of their medical expenses, potentially leaving them vulnerable to financial ruin if they become seriously ill. Many will find such policies too expensive to afford or, if they do buy them, too expensive to use because of the high co-pays and deductibles.
* Insurance firms will be handed at least $447 billion in taxpayer money to subsidize the purchase of their shoddy products. This money will enhance their financial and political power, and with it their ability to block future reform.
* The bill will drain about $40 billion from Medicare payments to safety-net hospitals, threatening the care of the tens of millions who will remain uninsured.
* People with employer-based coverage will be locked into their plan's limited network of providers, face ever-rising costs and erosion of their health benefits. Many, even most, will eventually face steep taxes on their benefits as the cost of insurance grows.
* Health care costs will continue to skyrocket, as the experience with the Massachusetts plan (after which this bill is patterned) amply demonstrates.
* The much-vaunted insurance regulations - e.g. ending denials on the basis of pre-existing conditions - are riddled with loopholes, thanks to the central role that insurers played in crafting the legislation. Older people can be charged up to three times more than their younger counterparts, and large companies with a predominantly female workforce can be charged higher gender-based rates at least until 2017.
* Women's reproductive rights will be further eroded, thanks to the burdensome segregation of insurance funds for abortion and for all other medical services.
See more: http://www.pnhp.org/news/2010/march/pro-single-payer-doctors-health-bill-leaves-23-million-uninsured
You are not retarded PST777.
You recognize that we all wanted to give Obama a chance to at least keep the sinking ship afloat and perhaps even steer it back to safe harbor. Instead, Obama and his band of pirates took the ailing ship and sailed it into the hands of the enemy.
The retards are the Obamabots who will be in denial until they find themselves living in a third world nation without ever having relocated. Many will still be apologizing for Obama at that time.
Me too I voted for Obama despite knowing better and Cynthia McKinney being my first choice. The only consolation I have is he lied to us so we aren't retarded we are gullible. Is that better? :)
I voted for Cynthis McKinney
You were smart to do so I voted for Nader in 96 didn't vote in 2000 and voted for Leonard Peltier in 2004. Yet I got fear mongered by the Sarah Palin as v.p thing and seduced by lies about a 150 billion dollar green jobs program, what I thought would be real health care reform, civil liberties reform, winding down war, etc. Of course none of that happened and I was gullible to believe a Dim party pol's lies after a lifetime of activism, mea culpa. I'll vote straight party ticket Greens in 2010 and 2012 fuck the crony capitalist war mongering Dims forever.
Kabuki Theatre by the Audacity of Ego
Shame on the person who would even give a glimer of hope that any president be assassinated. Please do not begin to encourage that by putting it in writing. It was a horrible day followed by more hideous deaths. Please never again
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kayfabe
All I can say is ditto to all those this thread who attack this phony reform.
When do we get a reality-based president?
QUOTE
"When do we get a reality-based president?"
END QUOTE
after the revolution
When there are no more Presidents and we do it ourselves, is that a deal?
"Mark Twain said "Those of you who are inclined to worry have the widest selection in history." Why complain? Try to do something about it! It's going on 9 months now since I decided that I was gonna declare that I am a candidate for the presidency of the United States. Oh yes, I am going to run.
I shopped around for a party. Well, I looked at the Republicans. Decided talking to a conservative is like talking to your refrigerator. You know, the light goes on, the light goes off; it's not gonna do anything that's not built into it. And I'm not gonna talk to a conservative anymore than I talk to my damn refrigerator. Working for the Democratic party, now, that's kinda like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
So I created my own party; it's called the Sloth and Indolence Party. And I am running as an anarchist candidate in the best sense of that word. I have studied the presidency carefully. I have seen that our best presidents were the do-nothing presidents -- Millard Filmore, Warren G Harding. When you have a president who does something, we are all in serious trouble. If he does anything at all, if he gets up at night to go to the bathroom, somehow, mystically, trouble will ensue.
I guarantee that if I am elected, I will take over the White House, hang out, shoot pool, scratch my ass, and not do a damn thing. Which is to say if you want something done, don't come to me to do it for you. You gotta get together and figure out how to do it yourselves. Is that a deal?"
Utah Philips
http://www.lyricszoo.com/utah-phillips-ani-difranco/candidacy/
Ah, the great talking tour by the Liar-in-Chief. Did anybody hear Obama said this bill was done the right way, from the bottom up? WTF! It was dictated to Obama by the MIC and then down to Congress. Does anybody think Obama is going on this tour to tell Americans this is just the beginning, that the bill will be improved? I would be surprised. So, now because this bill is such a piece of crap he's got to spend a lot taxpayer money going on tour to now try to convince everybody that this is what they've been waiting for.
Look what I just found regarding health insurance stocks today:
"However, as more circumspect investors look at the shares, it will be clear that uncertainty has been removed and that near and intermediate term ... there is relatively little in the bill that impacts companies, which should lead to upside for the sector," he wrote."
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=AP&date=20100322&id=11292033
What does that mean, "very little in the bill that impacts companies"?
Could that be more vague?
he's talking about the health care insurance companies
the only people who really matter to washington
you know the ones who wrote this bill
the health care insurance companies get the gold every body else gets the shaft
this bill will do nothing but make the insurance companies richer
no new meaningful regulations
no enforcement of the few meaningless regulations
no price controls
no public option
all it amounts to is forcing people to buy something they can't afford in the first place
to top it off the most out of control enforcement
agency in the government was put in charge of enforcing
the mandate
welcome to the new health care debtors prison system
NOW at long last here in the U.S. people can be put in prison for having no money maybe even with out a trial
Well the bright side is the Republicans are actually correct in a few criticisms such as Diminished Medicare,high premiums, triple premiums for seniors and copays etc.
But when the Republicans are correct in criticisms that means things are Really bad.
The Depraved Republicans can go to hell. They are not 'Correct' on Anything, due to the very nature of their corrupt Ideology, which automatically infers that they cannot possibly be correct... on Anything. They are lost to logic and empathy.
The bill IS bad, thanks to the work of Republicans Gone Wild and their enablers on the Democratic side, but really it actually contains some improvements from the current utter fiasco. Not hardly enough, but some. And, as Kucinich says, with this bill, improvements are possible. With nothing, there will be nothing, and the healthcare issue is dead for a generation. And what Republicans are really complaining about is paying for more poor people, instead of letting them just Die Off.
The Known Liar, Plutocrat, Major Drug Pusher(alcohol) and Complete Hypocrite, John 'Walnuts' McCain, as a Sure Contrary Indicator, says, "the American people are mad at the bill..." Hah, so he speaks for the American people- well, so do I then, and I say, "the true vast majority of the American People are furious at Republicans, and want all Republicans to go to hell." And that goes for the Democrats, too, if they don't shape up after the Republicans are Gone.
If Republicans had any souls, they would have gotten out of the way of single-payer and Kucinich. They could have done so. At least, if they had nothing positive to contribute, they could have stood aside and done no harm. Instead, they purposely placed themselves in the way of, and in opposition to, good government and a good healthcare bill. Big Time. And they played rotten political games to get this bill to bend Their Way, as it now truly has... with a tremendous assist from President Barack "can't we all just get along" Obama's Futile attempts to be the Uniter.
And STILL the Rips complain... instead of dancing in the street about their defeat of Medicare For All. Talk about hypocricy, and talk about examples of despicable politicians. There are your Reagan Republicans for you. Money over life, lies over truth, every time.
Sure, the feeble and compromised Dims are truly not doing even close to what many hoped they would do. But if someone is so cynical as to advocate throwing away the entire Dim base, and brush off as impure and imperfect any advance forward of whatever small amount, despite the odds, then there is no hope at all. Forget about it, and just go get permanently drunk. Unless, alternately, one wants to start Civil War II. And believe me, the 220-odd million guns in this country are mostly NOT owned by progressives.
But if all Republicans were defeated, as they should be, then the Dems would have no excuses left, no one to push them over. How can the Rips be defeated? By the Greens? By McKinney? Don't make me laugh, bitterly.
So don't throw away the Dem base. Instead, convert the whole Dem party to Real Progressivism and Democratic Socialism. Throw over the DLC control of the Dems, and take over the Party. And this is what Nader should have been doing ALL Along, changing that party from the inside, like a chrysalis, instead of gadflying around on the outside of the animal. He could really have been President if he had done. And this truly can be done, as this kind of takeover is what the DLC, in fact, did do. And this kind of takeover is what the NeoCons did to the rightwing Republican Party.
This nation actually was a shining star, at its beginning, not because it was anywhere close to perfect then (it was just cobbled together by a bunch of squabbly humans after all), but rather in comparison with the rest of civilization at that time. Ordinary people created a new social contract by and for themselves, not from and for kings or warlords, or gods or priests. And that Imperfect contract was designed to be, and must be, continually improved upon. And bit by bit, it has been. Bit by bit, with pain and with patience. That is what progressivism is, making some progress to and for a better world, to the farthest degree possible with each step and in each generation, and battling the constant enemies of progress.
What do you think will come first for the crazy-ass righties?
Repeal, Revolution, or the Rapture?
I would be willing to lay my life down today if it meant that a successful revolution would occur to rip this corrupt political system apart and replace it with a true Jeffersonian Democratic Republic.
The revolution that gave birth to the United States was started by wealthy landowners and businessmen, to enable them to keep more of their profits, instead of paying taxes to the English Crown.
The Constitution was written to protect those same wealthy land owners and businessmen.
The various amendments were tacked on as the country changed and grew, often displacing and dispossessing (if not slaughtering) the indigenous populations along the way. Resistance to specific provisions and amendments granting civil rights enjoyed by the white, wealthy majority to poor blacks continued throughout the 1960s, right up to today.
Just last month the Supreme Court passed down a ruling granting Corporations *ALL* protections, benefits and rights that so-called 'natural people' (meaning living breathing humans, not legal fictions) enjoy. Specifically, the Supreme Court granted Corporations the right of free speech as it pertains to election spending, meaning that Corporations can spend an unlimited amount of money in any way *they* see fit to influence and determine the outcome of *ANY* election, from dog-catcher to President.
So a 'Jeffersonian Democratic Republic' is what you already have, as provided by the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution.
N.B.: In Ancient Greece, the 'Birthplace of Democracy', democracy was only practiced by the wealthy, land owning elite. Women, foreigners, and slaves were forbidden by law and custom from participating.
Come November when the majority of the American People experience the benefits of this healthcare bill I want all of you nay sayers to eat your humble pie slowly. All you repugs(repugnant)can rant and rave, wear weird clothing, carry crazy misspelled signs, shout obscenities, spit on politicians, use racial slurs, disrespect the decorum of the House but it will not change the fact that a Black Man is the President of the USA and soon, VERY SOON, healthcare will be a reality for the majority of Americans. Yes Senator DeMint was spot on when he said that "healthcare would be President BHO's Waterloo" but he forgot to mention that this time around Wellington was portrayed by President Obama while the repugs played the part of Napoleon. When speaking of the repugs two words come mind - "SORE LOSERS".
Wow are you ignorant, deeply so, most opposing this bill on this web site are the hard left as opposed to your (generously) center right Dim Party Obama supporter stance. I *already* have county provided health care I love and I am going to be pissed if I lose it and it's replaced with high co-pay private insurance to line the pockets of big insurance corp (tm).
Next time read the actual comments before spouting off Daily Kos supplied Dim party talking points. Stale, and weak, next!
take off the head phone?
Wow, how did you manage to stumble in here and take this to come anywhere close to a right-wing site? Is it because we don't genuflect to the Obama? Is it because we feel he should be held accountable to the people and not the corporations? Would you like us to all disclose our race? I'm sure you'll find we're quite a variety here. This site is called Common Dreams. I can't imagine any right-wing site sporting a name like that -- at least I haven't seen and, and I've stumbled on more than a few. But if you want to go all race on this, do you really think that Obama's policies are going to help those poor communities, predominantly black, that have suffered for years? I don't. Right now Obama is working to crush the middle class and I guarantee it has already trickled down to those poor communities.
Here's what NASDAQ reported about the effect on health insurance stocks.
"Major managed-care players UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH), WellPoint Inc. (WLP) , Humana Inc. (HUM), Health Net Inc. (HNT) and Coventry Health Care Inc. (CVH) closed down in a range of less than 1% to 3%. Cigna Corp. (CI) and Aetna Inc. ( AET) closed up slightly." [Not a huge effect either way...]
"The outlook may not be so rosy for insurers. Though they will gain enrollees, they also face a raft of new regulations that would bar insurance companies from denying coverage to individuals with pre-existing conditions -- and limit their ability to differentiate insurance premiums based on a customer's age and other factors."
Also, MoveOn is claiming, and it appears to be partly true at least, that some of this is being paid for by taxes on the rich, specifically on investment income. If so, it's the first time the rich have had to pay for anything in a long time. Maybe that's a start.
I still hate it, but perhaps it's not as extraordinarily awful as we think.
The one-day stock market reaction means nothing, it is a reflection of the high levels of misinformation about the issue, thanks to the industry. Confusion is what is called for here to hide the truth. It will take a while for the legislation to kick in, when folks realize how bad they got screwed over it will already be too late. Those guys at the insurance companies don't get paid big money for nothing. I must admit, they did a cracking job.
Never too late.
The OMB claims a savings of over a trillion dollars these next two decades...I dont know but that seems like a bit of money.
So you've been peeking under the blanket, huh? Naughty, naughty.
Another Victory Lap already?
I still haven't recovered from the Nobel Peace Prize tour!
Best dark humor of the day I don't whether to laugh or cry.
I think either is OK for cathartic purposes, but try to avoid alternating them, especially involuntarily. ;)
Ah, but this is a prize-winning comment. Thanks for the chuckle.
Don't look to either the Republicans or the Democrats as your heroes because neither one of them are really interested in mounting any serious challenge to that bill. The Republicans have everything they want in that bill already. It's all just a dumbshow.