Pelosi dials down expectations on Universal Health Care ... link

[Alhena]

Not a surprise to anyone who knows our fiscal situation- the dirty little secret is that we're only able to do as much as a nation as foreign bond purchasers will allow. Still, Pelosi didn't even give us a day to dream.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is seeking to limit expectations on what a new Democratic regime will be able to achieve in the 111th Congress.

"We have to choose our priorities" and decide "what is achievable," Pelosi told reporters this morning, adding: "A lot of it is about time." She saied that the current economic conditions and budget deficit "are going to make it harder" to do some big things dear to Democrats, like comprehensive health care reform, but said that smaller, "discrete," initiatives, i.e. SCHIP and stem cell funding, could be done quickly.

[LisaM]

1. Yes, Nancy, IT IS ABOUT TIME. n/t

[Thrill]

2. Why does Pelosi and Reid just assume they are safe as the leaders?

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. Why indeed?

[trudyco]

10. Exactly!

Not enough funding? Ban lobbyiests and then start taxing companies that ship jobs overseas and give CEOS too much pay. Also a windfall tax on oil companies that is backdated. Tariff on Chinese imports. Step up getting out of Iraq.

I'm sure we can find some money to cover all the things we need like Health Care regulation.

Hasn't she noticed the approval ratings of congress lately?
Time to get new leaders in that branch of the government.

[carnie_sf]

25. Cut the DoD budget

by 50%

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

32. Exactly! WTF - we're giving up before we've started?! I don't think so.

[Freddie Stubbs]

31. Probably because they have the support of thier fellow Democrats in their respective chambers

[trueblue2007]

36. i say......GET RID OF NANCY PELOSI

SHE SAID NO TO IMPEACHMENT. Now she is gonna take away healthcare??

I say TAKE AWAY OF HER. GET HER OUTTA THERE.

[glowing]

3. She better understand that we better have healthcare, or we will never

recover.. If Pelosi does so.. she will be mowed over.. I'm sorry, but I don't think Obama remebering his mother fighting with ins. over care is going to erase what all of us do all the time.

[chimpymustgo]

33. Let's cut all healthcare for Congress critters, then. That's save some money. And they can afford

to buy their own, anyway.

[Romulox]

5. Funny. We had enough money to bail out Wall Street, but no money for the sick and the poor...

[Alhena]

8. It's depressing. Hopefully Obama will deliver on his Iraq withdrawal promise

[mzmolly]

6. Got news for Nancy. She's not President.

n/t

[AllexxisF1]

7. Nancy needs to be removed NOW.

The Speaker of the house needs to fall in line with the President and his agenda. She even so much as stands in his way 1 I O DA , we kick her ass out pronto.

[AzDar]

9. Nancy Pelosi is part of the problem, IMNSHO.

Lead, or get out of the way, Dear.:mad:

[Webster Green]

11. "We have to choose our priorities"

That's one of her favorite lines, as she is backing down from the repukes. :scared:

What a wimp! :silly: We need new leadership to get anything done. :banghead:

I still want to see the war-chimp and his thugs face war-crimes trials. :mad:

[leftofcool]

12. Hey Pelosi! You can be voted out!

[Kitty Herder]

13. Nancy, STFU!! nt

[supernova]

14. For starters, Nancy & Harry could

at last pass insurance reform so that:

- Claims cannot be denied. Period.
- Outlaw the concept of preexisting conditions. There should be no reason to disqualify you based on your prior health status or genetic history.
- No more "in" or "out" of network price differentials. You go where you like the Drs and it's convenient for you.
- Make the gov't plan available to everyone who doesn't have emp. based insurance. (This was John Edwards plan. It will eventually starve the insurance business.)
- Emphasis on preventive care to the extent that we know.
- Get everybody signed up for a GP for routine care and get them out of the ER, to save them for real emergencies -- what a concept!

If we did that much, I bet it would ease the pain on A LOT of people in the interim.

[Fridays Child]

15. Note to Nancy: Some of us can't wait.

Enact 676 now.

[Zodiak]

16. Kiss my ass, Pelosi!

The single greatest disappointment of a Democratic leader in my lifetime. Bar none.

700 billion dollars for the rich bankers who fucked up our economy and "let them eat cake" for regular people?

Fuck you!

Honestly, can San Francisco finally get rid of this kneepad-wearing modern version of Neville Chamberlain?

[FloridaGrl]

17. Nancy speaks for Nancy

I believe Obama will get some in congress behind him and get it done.

[flpoljunkie]

18. Health care reform will require consensus and a lot of hard work from all of us. It will take time.

[Cleita]

19. Okay, time for us to start a letter writing campaign to get

another Speaker of the House, preferably Dennis Kucinich, then you'd get some action on universal health care and in bringing the Bush administration to justice. Fixing the economy is doable by raising taxes on the rich and on corporations.

[Dawgs]

20. Hey Nancy!!! I guess you didn't hear. We have a NEW leader.

It's not you anymore.

[HamdenRice]

21. Both the bailout and health care should be seen as investments, not costs

and therefore they should not be considered as strains on the budget or credit worthiness of the fed treasury.

[sandyd921]

22. Pelosi: we can find money to bail out Wall Street but not working Americans....

I was willing to cut her some slack for a long time, but no more. I've just about had it with her lack of vision and failure to understand the real problems that will continue to hold this nation and it's people back. Also, her timing of this messaging is just plain dumb (within the immediate aftermath of a huge electoral victory and as our President-Elect speaks to us of new beginnings and possibility).

[Me.]

23. Nancy Should Stop Trying To Take Things Off The Table

Or she may find the tablecloth pulled out from beneath her

[TornadoTN]

24. Take Note - This is PELOSI speaking, not OBAMA

Yes, some things will need to be looked at and revised, but Obama is committed to Healthcare reform. I believe it will open the door to Universal Healthcare once we get the current mess straightened out and put on a stable path.

To hell with Pelosi and Reid. The two worst "leaders" that our party has had. We get a strong majority and the Presidency, and this morons are still playing Chicken Little,

[Mojorabbit]

26. Time to fire off

an email to her. I am amazed at how disappointing she has been in her position.

[trudyco]

27. But Obama never promised Universal Healthcare, did he?

I thought he promised affordable, no prior conditions clauses, and a competitive government program if your private one sucks. Only healthcare that would be universal would be for kids.

Did I miss something?

Is she saying that she and Reid can't stand up to the lobbyist in the healthcare industry to pass this plan? With a majority in both houses and a Democratic president?

Say what?

[Bobbie Jo]

28. Maybe Biden " in charge as president of the Senate" can get in there...

and also...and make some good policy. :)

[Lumpsum]

29. If Rahm really is CoS

Then Pelosi and co. ain't going anywhere.

[berni_mccoy]

30. WE HAVE A HEALTHCARE CRISIS ON OUR HANDS! FORTY MILLION+ UNINSURED!

[dissemination]

34. oh crap. Time to hold the Dems accountable folks.

[squirecam]

35. No

Pelosi needs to STFU.

Obama, our president, will determine his *own* agenda, thank you.

Your job, Pelosi, is to pass it.

[dissemination]

37. Will Obama put his foot down and tell Pelosi we need to go

forward with coverage for all as promised during the campaign?

[TheKentuckian]

38. Energy and then healthcare

are non-negotiable in my opinion. If we don't get these two issues settled and settled correctly then we're on life support at best as a society.

[sandnsea]

39. Fixing health care will fix the economy

They better not go back on their word or we will never get these people out to vote again.

[happychatter]

40. The public component of Obama's plan could be the seed that becomes Single Payer

I'm NOT giving up. I'm not in the least bit dismayed by Pelosi's statements or Obama's stated policies.

my eyes are on the prize

edited to add: Howard Dean, openly and honestly stated the challenges we face, in his '04 Campaign.

until we ferret out the iron grip these corporations have on our electoral process... all efforts in this direction are ill fated

corporacare, as Obama has proposed it, is a BAD IDEA.... BUT, it has the pragmatic virtues of Dean's plan and will serve as an interim step toward true single payer

we need to get some kids in to see the doc, eh?

get it?