kerry wants TEN-YEAR delay in public option for health care

[niyad]

what in the name of sanity is going on with him?

Kerry Pushes For Public Option Trigger In Closed-Door Meeting

In a closed-door meeting of Senate Finance Committee Democratic members and their staff Wednesday evening, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) suggested that the committee bill include a ten-year delay between passage of health care reform and the implementation of a public option that Americans could buy into, according to two Democratic aides.

Under the plan floated by Kerry, a public health care option would only be triggered by private insurance companies failing to meet certain criteria after ten years. Known as the "trigger" in legislative lingo, the idea is vociferously opposed by health care advocates who consider it the death of reform.

Reform advocates say that the system is already broken and that there's no need to wait any longer, also warning that the insurance industry might be able to game the criteria and prevent the public plan trigger from ever being pulled.

One source familiar with Kerry's unexpected suggestion said that the idea seemed to have little impact on the meeting and that the senators quickly moved on.

. . . . .

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/25/kerry-pushes-for-public-o_n_220822.html

[CreekDog]

1. not exactly

oh well. :eyes:

[Lifelong Protester]

2. NO WAY!

...

[sasquatch]

3. Pink Tutu Kerry rides in to fuck up the day once more

:eyes:

[blm]

14. Article is a LIE. Kerry's the one advocating public option in these meetings and someone is against

him succeeding and using underinformed lefties to diminish his efforts and influence.

Grim is a TOOL. Always has been and always will be.

[Mojorabbit]

20. The I will wait for Kerry

to come out and deny it.

[blm]

32. Statement from his office:

UPDATE: Kerry spokeswoman Jodi Seth responds with a statement: "Let's be clear, if Sen. Kerry had his way, there'd be no debate: we'd have universal coverage tomorrow with a strong public plan at its core. Sen. Kerry strongly supports a robust public option and has been pushing for it since day one of this debate. When he ran for president, he campaigned on a public option and everywhere he went he reminded the country that Congress shouldn't deny them the public health care that Members of Congress give themselves. The past five years have only strengthened that conviction. Any suggestion that he prefers proposals that would delay or trigger the implementation of a public plan is outright false, end of story. But it's no secret that the Finance Committee is looking at a whole range of progressive options with an eye on what can make its way to the president's desk to become law, and obviously if it's the only way to get universal health coverage then people will consider a trigger that ultimately guarantees a strong public option."

The first paragraph of the story has been changed to make clear that Kerry suggested a trigger only if it becomes impossible to get the votes for a public option without one.

[Mojorabbit]

44. It seems a weasel position to me

either you are robustly for a public option or not. This trigger nonsense is a cave. I am glad he put out a statement though. I hope they all are feeling the pressure of what the population wants. Thanks.

[blm]

46. Jeezus....he has been the one STRONGLY ADVOCATING for public option. The discussion of

a trigger gave him a crystal clear view of those senators on committee who oppose public option NO MATTER WHAT, even if the insurance companies fail to act in good faith.

The weasels are the senators arguing the insurance companies' position against public option. Kerry put them on the spot and someone leaked Kerry's discussion OUT OF CONTEXT to get kneejerkers to rail against him, distracting from the REAL ENEMIES of public option.

Kerry's used to slings and arrows from the misinformed and the deliberately misinformed.

[karynnj]

47. The statement says he is strongly for a public option - now!

that is his position. The problem on that committee is not Kerry, nor is it Rockefeller, Stabenow, Bingaman, Menendez, or even Schumer - it is the other SEVENTEEN Senators not for the public option. Tell me how Kerry is suspose to get the committee to back a public option. From various accounts, Kerry has been a strong advocate of the public option on the committee.

There will be two Senate bills - one out of HELP, which will have a public option and one out of Finance. They had planned earlier to make them compatible, but that clearly is not happening. Now, from the strong statement from Kerry's office, it is clear that he would vote for a plan that has a public option.

[Inuca]

79. What part of

"Any suggestion that he prefers proposals that would delay or trigger the implementation of a public plan is outright false, end of story." seems weasely to you? The fact that he mentions the possibility of a trigger doe nto mean he is for it. It simply means he lives in the real world where you don't always get what you want no matter how much you want it or how hard you fight for it. It is easy to only see black and white from behind a keyboard.

[annabanana]

63. Ram the public option through if necessary.... 51 votes!

[LittleClarkie]

35. Or not.

But you go ahead and believe the same media that has lied to us before, as long as it suits your world view I'm sure everything will be fine.

More than one person has called the man's office. Story is false.

Next time, perhaps you could try looking into a story before you believe it outright.

Esp. one that uses anonymous sources.

Just a thought.

[ProSense]

38. Just like the idiot left, going right wing at the drop of an unsubstantiated story. n/t

[sasquatch]

40. Right Wing??? It's a bartcop term

[ProSense]

41. So?

It's moronic. Bartcop is an ass for pushing it.

[sasquatch]

43. So it's not right wing

[karynnj]

51. It is tasteless and ridiculous though

[karynnj]

50. Bartcop had a weird view of the world

It adored Bill Clinton, yet attacked people far to his left. It also didn't care about any facts and the pink tutu should be offensive to women and to gays and any other people preferring civil argument, not insult throwing - given the implicit messages involved.

[blm]

90. Ever THINK for yourself? Bartcop claims Clintons look tough supporting Bush's decisions on war

while any Dem who BELIEVED Bill Clinton's advisements about Iraq intel he SAW were attacked as Pink Tutu Dems. Bartcop didn't side with Kerry when he attacked Bush's decision to go to war and didn't bother to note that Bill Clinton used his summer2004 booktour to support and VIGOROUSLY DEFEND Bush's decisions on Iraq instead of siding with Kerry.

When he goes after the Bush crime family Bartcop USES the work Kerry did uncovering IranContra, Iraqgate, S&Ls, BCCI and CIA drugrunning, never giving him credit as he heaps praise on Bill Clinton who sided with Bush on some of those illegal operations and definitely sided with protecting the secrecy and privilege of the Bushes and their cronies as he deepsixed many of those matters, especially BCCI report, and did so throughout the 90s.


Bartcop is a great guy who lives in Bizarro World when it comes to Clintons and Kerry.

[rhett o rick]

71. Do you have a point or are you just being inflammatory?

How do you come to a conclusion that "the Left" goes right wing from the OP? Are you trying to say that only the right wing jump to conclusions? Aren't you jumping to a conclusion with your statement?

I am assuming you consider yourself a centrist or whatever. How do you differ from the Left? I have a hard time figuring out what centrists stand for. Most are just republiCons ashamed to call themselves republiCons.

Do you support a single payer health plan? or is that considered Left?

[fascisthunter]

77. idiot left huh?

[karynnj]

48. the story has already been disputed by Kerry's office

yet you chose to believe two nameless "Democratic aides" - even when it contradicts a position that Kerry has consistently taken.

Not to mention, given the committee has 23 members and only 6 supposting and immediate public option (Snowe wants one after a trigger), explain how there was anything that could be messed up!

[polmaven]

75. WTF does that even MEAN?

"Pink Tutu Kerry"? Sounds pretty asinine - not to mention sexist as hell - to me.

[Inuca]

81. Pink tutu?

How lovely and freeperish of you.

[Lex]

4. LOL!

"the idea seemed to have little impact on the meeting and that the senators quickly moved on."

Good.

[pleah]

5. WT...

Reform advocates say that the system is already broken and that there's no need to wait any longer, also warning that the insurance industry might be able to game the criteria and prevent the public plan trigger from ever being pulled.


Ding!

[fascisthunter]

6. how much money has Kerry Received from the Healthcare Insurance

lobbyists?

I hope this is a lie...

[karynnj]

56. Kerry recieves money from people

His first 4 Senate campaigns were all run without PAC contributions.

As to lobbyists, in 2004, when Dean was flaming out, he used obnoxious Trippi language connecting Kerry to lobbyists. Kerry's response was to disclose every contact he had with a lobbyist since 1989, stating he could defend each and every one. This was unprecedented, not just for a Presidential candidate, but for any law maker. (In 2008, NONE of the candidates did this - not Obama, not Edwards, not Clinton, not McCain .... )

The debate over the influence lobbyists have over presidential candidates continues to rage.

The latest salvo comes from the Center for Public Integrity's "Buying of the President 2008" project. The group is citing the "Kerry Precedent" — Sen. John Kerry's 2004 decision to release a list of nearly 200 meetings with lobbyists that dated back to 1989. According to the center, the move made Kerry the first presidential candidate and first member of Congress to make such a disclosure. Read their piece on the issue here.

This year, the center says, "The Clinton, Huckabee, McCain, Obama, and Ron Paul presidential campaigns did not respond to the Center’s inquiries, by telephone and e-mail, as to whether they are willing to make public their candidates’ meetings with lobbyists over the past five years." Should they?

http://legaltimes.typepad.com/influence/2008/02/lobbyists-on-th.html

John Kerry has maintained a high level of integrity over a lifetime in public service. The facts here are HE IS FOR THE PUBIC OPTION, unlike many of his peers. Please think before accusing people of something they are clearly not doing.

[fascisthunter]

59. believe me when I say this... I am Not accusing Kerry of anything

I am reacting to the article, and as I mentioned, I hope this article is not true.

[karynnj]

74. I was referring to the knee jerk comment on lobbyists

I hate the constant assumption that if someone votes or takes positions that differ from yours, that he is on the take. The truth likely is more mixed, some are essentially selling votes, but some may simply be voting that way as their values are different - people in an industry may give money to legislators who share their positions, rather than politicians vote because people in an industry may then give them money.

In Kerry's case, his authorship of the clean election bill with Wellstone and his Senate speech which brilliantly argues the damage the need to raise so much money causes, shows that this is something that he is strongly against, on principle, not just because it is illegal. I do apologize for using your post to make a stronger point than the post itself justified. It is just that a public person's reputation means something and the real ramifications of what you said are pretty bad.

Also, here you say you hope it is not true. At this point, even the original author has amended the story. One question that should have immediately been asked by any reader is 1) this story is based on 2 nameless aides and little context is given. 2) Even within the article, there is incredulity, because Kerry was (and is) a very strong proponent of the public plan. and 3) Given the weakness of the source and the fact that the author said it was surprising, why was Kerry's office not called? That is Journalism 101 - or even high school journalism.

[fascisthunter]

76. harsh, but true...

I have learned to withhold a lot of judgment when reading disparaging articles regarding my Senators... I've seen plenty of them in the past and frankly I'm sick of them.

So in effect, thank you for the apology, and just wanted you know, I am cool with you using my post to make your point.

PS - I never took journalism in high school :hide:

but I'm learning... :P

[endarkenment]

7. uck. How about making it retroactive, as in 10 years retroactive?

As the 'private option' has been manifestly broken for at least that long.

[BeyondGeography]

8. The Senate is where the country goes to die

[SoCalDem]

9. The government "needs" for the rest of the "greatest generation" and a significant

number of boomers to be "gone", before the "numbers" work.. It's just that simple

[undeterred]

10. Kerry needs to be replaced.

[karynnj]

61. Bright idea - he is one of the leaders of the left part of the Democratic party

and is doing a brilliant job chairing the SFRC.

He also is not up for re-election until 2014 and he just won with 67% of the vote. As Kennedy will not run in 2012, he will be the senior senator. Even if he were not the exceptional Senator he is, do you seriously think MA would prefer someone new to Kerry, running for a sixth term?

[polmaven]

78. Not THIS

Massachusetts voter. Kerry is one of the best Senators this country has. His vision and his intelligent, well thought out positions do the country well. Is he perfect? I certainly HOPE not. I wouldn't want anything to do with perfect. Is he admirable.......ABSOLUTELY!

[undeterred]

89. I can admire him for what he's done in the past

but he isn't representing the Democratic Party any more. He's representing elite corporate interests. And its not the first time he's been a huge disappointment.

I don't have health insurance and I can't wait 10 years.

[polmaven]

91. READ the f'ing FACTS!

He is not advocating for a 10 year trigger. If that is the ONLY way to get a positive vote, he will accept it for NOW because it is better than nothing at all. IT IS NOT HIS FIRST CHOICE! I suspect not even his second or third choices.

I just wish people would STOP jumping to conclusions without getting the FACTS straight.

[undeterred]

94. After so many years in the Senate he should

be able to do better.

[polmaven]

97. All by himself???

If the votes aren't there, they aren't there. He isn't a damn DICTATOR.

[undeterred]

98. He isn't even president, though he could have been.

And BTW, Hillary lost.

[polmaven]

107. Oh, good God!

Get the fuck OVER the Primaries.....What the HELL does any of this have to do with Hillary????? :shrug: What an idiotic statement THAT was.

Grow UP!

[undeterred]

110. You're the one with the Hillary banner.

Go get yourself something that calms you down, ok?

[polmaven]

117. Do you feel somehow threatened by that?

Are you also threatened by the people who have avatars for Kucinich, or Dean, or any other former candidate?

This conversation has nothing to do with Hillary, the primaries or, for that matter, President Obama, who, by the way, I have strongly supported since June 7, 2008!

I will say it again.....GET OVER THE PRIMARIES.......THEY ARE LONG SINCE FINISHED!

Grow up and live with it!

[karynnj]

115. He is NOT the one standing in the way

He would happily vote for a universal plan with a public option right this minute. However he can't get something in the Finance committee's bill that roughly a quarter of the committee, not including the chair wants.

You also missed the point, even if the story were true - this is after the bill has been drafted and there is NO public option - and there is no way to change that. It was none that Snowe wanted a public option only after a trigger. The most likely scenario is that her proposal was discussed and rejected. It then sounds like Kerry asked whether it would be accepted even with a 10 yr trigger and as they said, it wasn't seriously considered. Why? Some opposed to it absolutely don't want it in the bill. That should be the take away of this.

The question now is whether there is sufficient support in the entire Senate for it - (in the HELP plan).

Another question is whether or not it is possible that given the subsidies spoken of to help people above the Medicaid level with a portion of the costs would make it affordable. None of the plans were going to give free insurance to everyone.

[Inuca]

82. YAY!! What a great idea!

What a carefully thought out idea as well.

[AndyA]

11. I'm sorry to say I gave up on Kerry after the 2004 election.

He made too many mistakes, didn't do what he should have done.

I saw Kerry laugh as the protestors in that meeting were being arrested and hauled out. I hope this isn't true, but if it is I think his time to serve has passed, and we need someone better now. Kerry seems to have lost his way, at least on this subject.

[karynnj]

64. Kerry ran a decent campaign

He was far better than his VP, who was too vain to use the campaign's slogan or do anything he didn't want to do.

Kerry did not laugh at the protesters. He did laugh at one point at the situation - that they were repeatedly interrupted every time they started to speak. The words he said were something like "Is anyone here to watch the hearing?" This was good humor - the alternative could have been anger.

Kerry did not "lose his way"

Kerry is for a public option.

Kerry has been strong on healthcare for decades -he and Kennedy wrote the precursor bill to S-CHIP

Kerry had a strong, almost universal health care plan in 2004 - back when Edwards only wanted to insure kids and called Kerry's plan irresponsible and too expensive in a February 2004 debate.

[Deja Q]

100. I watched the debates. Bush was wiping the floor with him.

Or, rather, Kerry's performance was a limp as Bob Dole without Bob Dole's viagra.

[blm]

102. If you think Bush wiped the floor with Kerry during the debates, I question your competency

at ANYTHING.

[YvonneCa]

123. Same here. n/t

[karynnj]

103. That was not the general consensus

NO one even made an effort to spin the first one for Bush. It was not even close - even with Bush's wire giving him input. In each debate, we saw a new different, strange side of Bush. In the first, Kerry called out Bush very dramatically for saying Saddam hit us on 911. He had Bush responding "I know that, I know that". In the third, Kerry was able to use Bush's quote that he didn't care if we got Bin Laden. The fact is that after the Republican hate fest, Kerry was nearly 10 points behind. Those debates made a difference - and they weren't in Bush's favor.

[blm]

12. The article is a LIE - Kerry's advocating FOR public option in these meetings and someone is out to

diminish his position on this and using the left to try and do it.

Kerry's the fiercest advocate for public option in these meetings. Someone wants him taken down and planting smear articles to distort his position is a tactic.

[anigbrowl]

23. source please

Nothing personal, but talk is cheap.

[Bluenorthwest]

26. You keep saying that, but also just saying that

Is it a lie based on a factual article you could offer as proof? Declaring it is a lie does not make it one.

[blm]

30. I know it's a lie because people in his office say he's the one fighting FOR public option in these

meetings, and they are people I've known can be trusted with the truth about Kerry's positions for years.

This article was crafted for ONLY ONE THING - to distort Kerry's position and diminish his influence as an advocate for public option.

If ANY of you were TRULY for public option, you'd have known by now what Kerry's position is, and know which Dems on that Finance Committee are against it and would try to gum up the real advocates with bullshit articles like Grim's.

You want to believe Grim is honest yet you have no proof of that. I KNOW Kerry's honest and real public option advocates have known Kerry is with them for some time.

Read Dean's petition - Kerry's been with him and has been armtwisting these closed door sessions - someone is getting sick of it and it certainly isn't a FRIEND of public option.

[EFerrari]

13. Some of us don't have ten years to wait for health care.

:shrug:

[marmar]

15. Thom Hartmann read this on the air today and basically said Kerry needs to STFU with dumb ideas.

n/t

[karynnj]

86. Here, Tom Hartmann is a poor journalist -he needs to decide if he wants to be a serious commentator

Look at the original article and pretend you are in a high school journalism class - yes, high school. What is wrong with this article?

You have 2 unnamed sources who say something the author notes is surprising. So, what do you do - 1) print what you have with a sensational title. or 2) Call Senator Kerry for a response?

Beyond that, the story has been updated - which Hartmann would have known had he bothered to recheck to see if a Kerry spokesperson or even a blogger responded with newer information. Hartmann may be a favorite here, but this is just poor. I would give him a D- , but I am not a high school teacher, nor he a student.

[TayTay]

87. I am sorry to hear that Thom Hartman seems to have foresworn research

and truth and accuracy in his coverage of events. This is too bad as this movement needs all the truthful advocates it can get.

How sad.

[derby378]

16. Another reason why I voted for Dean in the 2004 primaries

Just sayin'...

[blm]

34. Because you STILL believe any lie about Kerry even when he's the one fighting FOR public option

in these closed door meetings?



UPDATE: Kerry spokeswoman Jodi Seth responds with a statement: "Let's be clear, if Sen. Kerry had his way, there'd be no debate: we'd have universal coverage tomorrow with a strong public plan at its core. Sen. Kerry strongly supports a robust public option and has been pushing for it since day one of this debate. When he ran for president, he campaigned on a public option and everywhere he went he reminded the country that Congress shouldn't deny them the public health care that Members of Congress give themselves. The past five years have only strengthened that conviction. Any suggestion that he prefers proposals that would delay or trigger the implementation of a public plan is outright false, end of story. But it's no secret that the Finance Committee is looking at a whole range of progressive options with an eye on what can make its way to the president's desk to become law, and obviously if it's the only way to get universal health coverage then people will consider a trigger that ultimately guarantees a strong public option."

The first paragraph of the story has been changed to make clear that Kerry suggested a trigger only if it becomes impossible to get the votes for a public option without one.

[Hannah Bell]

121. "a trigger only if it becomes impossible to get the votes for a public option without one."

uh-huh.

[Greyhound]

17. Let's see how he/his office reacts to this.

That should be a good indication of which side he is on.

[SharonRB]

18. This is bullshit

What's he thinking? I really thought we could count on him. I'm very disappointed.

[karynnj]

65. He is for the public option now - per his office

A better question is what was Huffington Post thinking writing something sourced from "2 Democratic aides" without even contacting his office for comment.

[Old and In the Way]

19. He's trying to get a bill out of the Finance Committee.

Knowing his history on this issue, I'm sure he's all in when the bill comes to the floor of the Senate. Obviously, someone is framing this to create strum and angst within the Democratic Caucus.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

21. Hey Sen. Kerry!!!......................

Why don't you do what the majority of the country wants and stop throwing bones to the insurance companies? How these folks feel its alright to ignore the will of their constituencies is beyond me.

[graywarrior]

22. ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! ! !

[monmouth]

24. I blame HuffPo for this if it's a lie. Since they got their new editor their

headlines are usually very misleading. I'll wait till it comes out of Kerry's mouth.

[Demobrat]

25. Kerry can afford the world's best health care.

Why should he piss off the insurance companies on behalf of a bunch of poor people who probably don't vote anyway?

[karynnj]

83. Actually Kerry himself often makes the point that others should have the heathcare he does

That has been true over his quarter of a century he has been in the Senate - and it still is.

[dysfunctional press]

27. i hope that massachusetts voters REMEMBER this when re-election time comes around.

we need to get the patsies of the oligarchs OUT of office.

[Arkana]

95. I will, and I'll vote for Senator Kerry anyway.

Because this story is grade-A bullshit and everyone seems to believe the worst of Kerry despite proof of the fact that this story is at best misleading.

[timeforpeace]

28. I liked him yesterday. Not today.

[YvonneCa]

125. Welcome to DU. n/t

[endarkenment]

29. On edit, not so much. It is Kerry being overly nuanced again.

"UPDATE: Kerry spokeswoman Jodi Seth responds with a statement: "Let's be clear, if Sen. Kerry had his way, there'd be no debate: we'd have universal coverage tomorrow with a strong public plan at its core. Sen. Kerry strongly supports a robust public option and has been pushing for it since day one of this debate. When he ran for president, he campaigned on a public option and everywhere he went he reminded the country that Congress shouldn't deny them the public health care that Members of Congress give themselves. The past five years have only strengthened that conviction. Any suggestion that he prefers proposals that would delay or trigger the implementation of a public plan is outright false, end of story. But it's no secret that the Finance Committee is looking at a whole range of progressive options with an eye on what can make its way to the president's desk to become law, and obviously if it's the only way to get universal health coverage then people will consider a trigger that ultimately guarantees a strong public option."

The first paragraph of the story has been changed to make clear that Kerry suggested a trigger only if it becomes impossible to get the votes for a public option without one."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/25/kerry-pushes-for-public-o_n_220822.html

I like Kerry a lot, gave him lots of money and worked my ass off for him in 04, but he nuances his positions into oatmeal. He is against a trigger unless he is for it.

[blm]

36. In DISCUSSION with majority OPPOSED Kerry asked if they'd CONSIDER a trigger

instead of no public option at all.

There is nothing nuanced about posing the question to those entrenched against public option.

You can be damn sure that someone AGAINST public option and pissed at Kerry's armtwisting for it framed this story and planted it with Grim to smear Kerry with the left.

REAL public option activists would know this story was framed to TARGET the guy fighting hardest in these meetings FOR public option.

[librechik]

31. A LOT of people could die waiting

if true, this is BS

[LittleClarkie]

33. Already repudiated

People have called his office. This story reported from anonymous sources is false. Kerry supports the public option.

[blm]

37. TRY SOME COMPREHENSION LESSONS. Kerry PUSHES FOR public option in those meetings and

those set AGAINST it are planting stories with Grim to distort what Kerry said to set lazyminded inattentive Dems ....against the guy actually doing all the fighting for public option in these meetings.

[ProSense]

39. "One source familiar with Kerry's unexpected suggestion " Wasn't that a clue

that this story is bullshit?

Why on earth would someone who fought for health care reform throughout his career, drafting the legislation that eventually became S-CHIP standing side by side with Kennedy, campaigning for President on one of the most progressive health care platforms at that point, which included a public option, coming out in support of a strong public option, try to push of anything less?

[lumberjack_jeff]

42. I don't believe this. n/t

[BlooInBloo]

45. Fuck your couch Kerry, you rich motherfucker!

[karynnj]

66. How brilliant

The story is not true

[dionysus]

72. they never should have gave that fool money. he doesn't appreciate shit!!11!111

:rofl:

[Sparkly]

49. "The first paragraph of the story has been changed to make clear..."

UPDATE: Kerry spokeswoman Jodi Seth responds with a statement: "Let's be clear, if Sen. Kerry had his way, there'd be no debate: we'd have universal coverage tomorrow with a strong public plan at its core. Sen. Kerry strongly supports a robust public option and has been pushing for it since day one of this debate. When he ran for president, he campaigned on a public option and everywhere he went he reminded the country that Congress shouldn't deny them the public health care that Members of Congress give themselves. The past five years have only strengthened that conviction. Any suggestion that he prefers proposals that would delay or trigger the implementation of a public plan is outright false, end of story. But it's no secret that the Finance Committee is looking at a whole range of progressive options with an eye on what can make its way to the president's desk to become law, and obviously if it's the only way to get universal health coverage then people will consider a trigger that ultimately guarantees a strong public option."

The first paragraph of the story has been changed to make clear that Kerry suggested a trigger only if it becomes impossible to get the votes for a public option without one.

[saltpoint]

52. This seems clear enough:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8497215&mesg_id=8497215

[L0oniX]

53. Good luck with your re-election mutha fucka n/t

[karynnj]

88. good luck learning to read and comprehend

Kerry is for universal insurance with a public option and he has been fighting for it. He can't change the fact that the 23 member Finance committee has only 6 people wanting public option now.

As to re-election, he just was re-elected with 67% of the vote and is not up until 2014, at which point, MA will likely re-elect their extraordinary Senator for his sixth term.

[KansDem]

54. Is this guy a former automobile-manufacturing CEO?

How many times have we heard, "A 60-mile-a-gallon car will be available in 10 years," or "A completely-electric car will be available in 10 years?" All the time, in 10 years. And nothing happens after that ten-year period. They say it all the time: You'll get want you want and need in 10 years.

And it never happens...

[Cass]

55. A lot of people will die in those 10 years because they still don't have healthcare.

I understand this is not necessarily Kerry's ideal position, but this kind of thing should not be on the table at all. Heck, it should not even be in the same room.

[polmaven]

85. Well sure, because

a bill with no mention of public option AT ALL is much more acceptable.

[Cass]

111. I don't consider a 10 yr trigger to be acceptable at all and think they can do better than this.

10 yrs is too long to wait, people need access to healthcare now, we are at a crisis point now. I strongly support a public option and think that it is quite possible to craft a decent bill with no ridiculous trigger points that includes the public option.

[polmaven]

118. So if the public option is not

going to be in the cards, you would prefer nothing at all? I, of course, would agree that the public option is worth fighting for, but I want reform, and "nothing" is not an option for me.

I am going to a "town hall" type forum with my Congressman on Tuesday evening, and will tell him that the public option choice is what the vast majority of his constituents want...but I suspect he already know that. I suspect, in fact, that he would actually prefer single payer, but will also be realistic enough to not reject a plan just because he hasn't gotten his way.

[Cass]

119. "Nothing" is not an option for me either.

I don't think we have 10 years to institute meaningful changes to our system. If we don't get the job done properly now, who knows when we will have an opportunity to do it again.

If the public option had no hope of passage I would want strict reform and regulation on the insurance industry to happen as soon as possible. Otherwise we'll be stuck with more of the same of what we have now.

[WI_DEM]

57. I think he is being a realist--there aren't enough votes for a public option.

[LAGC]

68. Then the insurance companies have truly won!

Keeping the profit in health-care -- endlessly making money off of people's misfortunes...

[Joanne98]

58. NO!

[saltpoint]

60. It's just past 10:00 a.m. Eastern, and this still seems plenty clear:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8497215&mesg_id=8497215

[saltpoint]

62. 'Outright false, end of story,' seems clear enough to me.

[madmom]

67. WOW just wow! I can't believe the way people were/are ready to throw Kerry under the bus for an

unsubstantiated story. Even after it was clarified people just kept vilifying, jeesh people haven't we learned anything in the last 8-10 years? VERIFY! VERIFY! VERIFY!

[politicasista]

106. They do it all the time. They do it to Obama too n/t

[backscatter712]

69. This is nothing but Beltway rumor. Kerry and his staff have outright denied this.

Kerry's staffer told me straight up when I called him that Kerry supports universal health care, wants a public option in place tomorrow, and is fighting hard for it.

[FormerDittoHead]

70. BTW: read the replies to this on HuffPo about those poor insurance co's.

this is an edit. I forgot that Huffpo feeds it comments most recent on top. (I always thought the first one should be the first one)

I was referring this scribe:

"The unfortunate reality is that, however much people want to demonize insurance companies as "profit whores" etc etc - that does not change the fact that they employ hundreds of thousands if not millions of hardworking Americans. The system of insurance was not constructed by some cabal of evil geniuses decades ago. It was created by a need in the market. As the cost of healthcare became more than what people could afford through their yearly income there needed to be a system devised that could account for deferred payment structures. If it were not for insurance coverage many would have died and gone untreated throughout the years...."

Funny how it sounds a lot like the tripe flowing from a certain "Professor" currently posting here all over like there's no tomorrow with his 'logic'...

[karynnj]

80. I agree with you on the order - it also makes it weird as

you have to read from the bottom or you don't get what some people are responding to.

He does have a limited point - though in the end he is wrong. In reality, we are victims of how health insurance developed in this country. It was great when unions were able to get this as a benefit and the companies eventually insured both their union and management employees. When I was young in the 1950s, a huge percent of people worked at the Big 3, the steel mills, the Bell System, the government - and through their jobs they had health insurance. In addition, many people stayed with whatever company they worked for decades. (One of my grandfathers worked 50 years at the steel mill - when I started work, it parties celebrating milestones like 25 years etc were not rare. But, just as that world even sounds like it should be pictured in black white with people wearing 1950s style clothes and hair, the idea of company based healthcare no longer makes sense - if it ever really did.

The legacy of that world is that there are big insurance companies that do hire many people. These people take the millions of forms we all fill out and process them - sometimes multiple times. But, everything from single payer to an effort to standardize the forms, both of which to different degrees gets rid of wasteful spending, will lead to some of these people losing their jobs. The problem is that preserving those jobs is bad for overall productivity - but good for the people having them.

[FormerDittoHead]

116. Yes.

The point is that there was a time decades ago, when people in most other educated countries saw that health care became more expensive as it became more advanced and that these financial constructs became obsolete when it crossed a certain threshold.

Now, as another poster there pointed out, they hire doctors, not to help people get better, but to find medical reasons to deny care to people to maximize their profitability, the very definition of which means that we pay for more than we get back in return.

The body of your message is spot on. Simply, in order to give up the horse and buggies, we had to see many blacksmith shoppes go out of business.

Boo hoo. We're dying here.

[dionysus]

73. all that shit was debunked last night.. try harder.

[theboss]

84. They can't get the numbers to work

Hence, trying to buy more time.

[WilliamPitt]

92. Never mind

.

[gort]

93. Senators, who will be the last American to die before we get single payer?

VIETNAM WAR VETERAN JOHN KERRY'S TESTIMONY BEFORE THE SENATE FOREIGN
RELATIONS COMMITTEE, APRIL 22, 1971:


"We are asking Americans to think about that because how do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Vietnam? How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"-John Kerry


I am sure Kerry's heart is in the right place. He did ask this question when it came to the mistake of Viet Nam.

Maybe if he were to hear more vocal support from us, the peanut gallery, he would know we have his back.

[cagesoulman]

96. Maybe he is worried about the perception of deficit spending

And the bailout of Wall Street has caused a BIG deficit.

[Deja Q]

101. Then Wall Street can help pay things back.

[Deja Q]

99. Senator John Kerry (R)?

:hide:

[LittleClarkie]

105. By your avatar and your sig I deduce that you should be smarter than this.

Think again.

[Deja Q]

108. Sorry; I've been in cynic mode all day...

I only recall, from 2004, that Kerry's performance was very lackluster. Even I was screaming at the TV on a couple of occasions at Kerry's pale answers, never mind asking why Kerry didn't lob some of Bush's own questions back at him - unless that's not allowed, in which case I am unequivocally in error.

[LittleClarkie]

112. Kerry could be great, but you had to get him pissed off first

Then the fun began. He was too much of a gentleman. He knew too much, and couldn't distill it into soundbites unless he was angry.

As for the current situation, all I'm asking is that the dude be given at least the benefit of the doubt. He's a good man, if not the best campaigner. If his office says he's for the public option, then maybe he is. The only other thing that would make sense would be pragmatism. If he can't get everything he wants, he'll at least try for a portion of it.

He is by no means a Republican in any way, shape or form.

[politicasista]

113. He is a better

public servant than a politician. If that doesn't sound harsh. Politics is nasty and there too much triangulating. Too much me tooism.

I don't know how Obama does it with all the ego-feeding involved, but he is doing a really fine job and playing the game of politics. :) Even if some don't always agree with all his decisions.

[politicasista]

109. Nah.

Kerry bashing is a spectator sport.

[politicasista]

104. This is now Trash Hardworking Democrats Underground without knowing the real story

Go figure.

[YvonneCa]

122. Unbelievable, isn't it? You'd think by now that we..

...Democrats would have learned the importance of paying attention. :hi:

[politicasista]

128. Bingo

:hi:

[Cha]

124. Yeah, a bunch

of whining ignorant bullies.

You'd think we were infested with rw instead of just ignorance.

[YvonneCa]

126. We may be infested...

...with both. :7

[politicasista]

129. Yep.

Looks like the mods need to stockpile on cans of Raid or something everytime a poutrage fumigates DU. :rofl:

[Cha]

130. Here's another Raid worthy

OP.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5937788

[politicasista]

134. Good

Lawd.

Obama is just channeling Bush is just as delusional as saying Bush wiped the floor with Kerry in the debates (as posted above). :eyes: :crazy:

Friday and the weekend are so silly (if not zooish) I have been staying away until Monday since the Inaguration ended. :)

[Cha]

135. Monday through Thursday

is getting just as loaded with snipers.

[politicasista]

137. Exactly n/t

[sarcasmo]

114. Silver spoon ASS who doesn't get the concept.

[YvonneCa]

120. No he doesn't. Never has, and never...

...will. PAY ATTENTION, people! :)

[JI7]

127. this isn't true you fucking idiots

even when people have corrected the OP, dumb asses still jumping in to puke out their crap to bash Kerry.

shouldn't be surprised that the article with the lies has a bunch of comments while the assholes never comment on the threads with the correction.

[Cha]

131. Oh, you mean like

# 114?

[JI7]

133. yup, and another one jumped in right after your post also

[Cha]

136. The ignorance

Reeks!

[lame54]

132. how about a delay in re-electing him

[debbierlus]

138. No, he doesn't. Read the link. The lobbyists are winning, though.