Thank You President Obama,,,and our Democraticly controlled congress

[Tippy]

I've said for some time..We will have a HCR Bill....we are so close, I just wish people could be as happy as I am. The bill is not perfect but it is a starting point...

We needed this bill...Democrats have fought long and hard...Republicans have hung themselves...

[freddie mertz]

1. Thanks for absolutely nothing. nt.

[ShortnFiery]

2. Yeah, thanks for SELLING-OUT to the Insurance Cartels and leaving the Middle Class with The Bill.

:grr: :puke: :grr:

[HillGal]

23. + 1,000,000 NT

[MissDeeds]

39. +1

Is Obama really a Democrat? I'm beginning to wonder.

[Webster Green]

3. Wierd

:silly:

[sandnsea]

4. My best friend just died at age 45

Cancer that wasn't detected because she had no health coverage. She was hospitalized and gone in a month.

There are things that could make this bill better, no question. But it's a huge step forward. By the time my grandchildren have children, health care will be available to everyone. That's what matters here.

[Tippy]

7. I am sorry your friend has passed...

I thank God every day my daughter is still with us. I look with confidence to the future.

[Garam_Masala]

32. My father-in-law died from stomach cancer and he was covered by insurance

through Veterans health benefit system. he saw doctors regularly
at the VA hospital but his cancer went undetected until it
had spread and grown beyond any help.

Cancer is so insidious mainly because it is so sneaky and very hard to detect.
Even regular visits with doctors is no guarantee it will be detected in time
for help. And even if it is detected early, that in itself is no guarantee
you will be cured.

[IndianaGreen]

5. Thank you for waging class warfare on the working class

[Tippy]

8. A Republican talking point...

"Waging class warfare on the working class" It's one they have used many times over the years...so tell me when have you ever known a a Republican who gave a shit about the working man.

[IndianaGreen]

9. The elites have been waging class warfare on American workers for years

Since Taft-Hartley was passed over Truman's veto, to Reaganomics, and NAFTA.

[jonnyblitz]

17. holy crap that is so NOT a republican talking point.

unless you are one of those "war is peace" people. :crazy:

[Garam_Masala]

35. Typical reply when you can rebut logically n/t

[HillGal]

24. + 1,000,000 NT

[treestar]

6. It is a real step forward

It is so difficult to sell any government involvement in anything in this country. In the past 20 years Reagan and his ilk have totally managed to get the idea that the government is no good at doing anything into the voters' heads.

[IndianaGreen]

10. a step forward into the precipice

Thanks for nothing!

[donco6]

11. Oh yeah. I'm all a-quiver.

:scared:

[IndianaGreen]

12. You will pay taxes on your employer's portion of your health benefits

and the health insurance industry keeps its antitrust exemption.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/12/19/816680/-BREAKING:-Important-Changes-in-Health-Care-Managers-Amendment

[donco6]

13. Sorry - I'm agreeing that we should be AFRAID of this bill passing.

It's a total unmitigated fucking disaster of as-yet incomprehensible proportions.

[IndianaGreen]

20. and we have yet to figure out the small print

Better to Start Over Than to Pass These Bills

By Athena Godet-Calogeras, Peter Mott and Andrew Coates

The Buffalo News, Dec. 17, 2009

You might think that all of us who have worked so long and so hard for comprehensive and affordable health care would be jumping with joy at the recent passage of a House bill and the opening of the Senate debate on health insurance reform. Not so.

In fact, many of us, including some in Congress who are ardent proponents of universal health care — like Rep. Eric Massa, D-Corning— are convinced that the route to comprehensive and affordable health care has taken a dramatically wrong turn.

The main features of the legislation have often seemed obscure, despite unprecedented amounts of attention. For instance, neither a “government takeover” nor a “public option” really have anything much to do with the final bills.

Instead the centerpiece of the House bill will not start until 2013 (2014 in the Senate bill) and at that time health insurance will become mandatory for virtually every person, every family. Being uninsured could become a crime, punishable by an annual fine of up to 2.5 percent of adjusted income under the House bill. The fine in the Senate bill is lower, $95 per person starting in 2014, rising to $750 by 2019.

To make insurance affordable, tax money will be used to subsidize private insurance premiums for those who earn up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level. Even with these subsidies, presently uninsured families with income between 200 percent and 400 percent of poverty will be required to spend 8 percent to 12 percent of their income to purchase insurance. Meanwhile the insurance companies stand to gain tens of millions of new customers and at least $447 billion in taxpayer subsidies.

The bills in Congress offer no meaningful cost controls. Mild promises to “bend the cost curve” fall short when even middle-income people will still end up being saddled with huge, unsustainable health care costs.

Neither will the bills make health coverage universal. By 2019 the House bill still leaves at least 17 million uninsured in the United States. The Senate bill would do less.

http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/december/better-to-start-over-than-to-pass-these-bills-0

[donco6]

21. Besides the fine, here's what will come with - mark my words:

You won't be able to apply for college financial aid with an outstanding fine.

Any return you earn on taxes will be forfeit until all accum fines are paid.

Any federal tax rebate will not come to you if you have an outstanding fine

You won't be able to participate in any other rebate programs (Cash for Clunkers, energy performance contracting, etc) with an outstanding fine.

[FrenchieCat]

36. The fine is $95.00 dollars.

According to Sen. Harkin.

[donco6]

38. Per year

And will be cumulative

[HillGal]

25. Exactly! this health care plan isn't free at all, and more people will be uninsured

then we have now.

[Tippy]

14. THIS BILL FOR MANY

Is not about HCR...It's about getting OBAMA out of office. I sickens me to see Democrats jumping ship, by trashing our President...Listen to Kerrys speach...Read what Vickie Kennedy had to say.

[IndianaGreen]

15. We are hearing the political elites telling us, the workers, what a great deal they cooked up

for us.

[graywarrior]

16. Kerry's speech was very clear

This is not perfect, but it's a start. If people don't like it, they can refuse to accept the coverage. I doubt many will refuse.

[IndianaGreen]

18. IOW, FRAK the American people

and Long Live our for-profit health industry.

[gaysonf]

19. obama

is a corp dem

[HillGal]

26. Listen to people who can afford to pay cash if necessary for treatment? you've got

to be kidding me? They're not impacted at all by this piece of crap legislation, they can afford it, I and others can't!

[HillGal]

22. Yes, Thank You for my insurance rates increase, which I currently pay myself

and can barely afford right now, and won't be able to afford in the future, and thank you from all the small businesses who won't be able to afford the regulations imposed on them and will have to cut staff to survive, if they can survive.

[Honeycombe8]

27. It will be a Republican Senate by next year. Congratulations, Prez Obama! You done it! nt

[HillGal]

28. I'm tired of all of them, I wish everyone would vote for a 3rd party or independent candidate. NT

[Milo_Bloom]

29. This bill does far more harm than good.

the blood is now on the hands of the democrats.

[secondwind]

30. I'm with you 100%......we need to push this sucker through NOW!!!

[Garam_Masala]

31. Thanks for making Big Insurance and Big Pharma RICHER

by mandating more locked in customers and no cost controls.
Yes baby, thanks a lot, was it as good for you as it was for me?

[silverweb]

33. Agreed. It's a start.

The work is far from over, but it's a beginning that we can build on.

:thumbsup:

[billh58]

34. K&R!

People tend to forget what a struggle it was for Democrats to get acceptance for the initial small steps it took to get the Labor Movement, or the Civil Rights Movement, started and moving forward. The "it's all about me" extremist crowd also forgets that it was past generations of Liberal Americans who are responsible for the social and economic progress they enjoy today.

We owe no less to future generations of Americans.

[angee_is_mad]

37. Wonder how long this will be on rec list

before the Anti-Obama people start clicking? 5,4,3,2,.....1:nuke:

[democrat2thecore]

40. A step BACKWARD

The insurance companies - which we need to eliminate all together - have more power (and more customers) than ever. To call this "reform" is stretching it. They are simply rearranging a few things. Tinkering, if you will. Getting a HCR bill for the sake of getting a HCR bill is nothing to be proud of.