I'm with Krugman, Kerry & Franken on the HCR bill - PASS IT!

[AVID]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/19/franken-dems-unified-behi_n_398183.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/12/18/816370/-Krugman:-Pass-the-bill

http://www.alternet.org/rss/breaking_news/100925/_john_kerry_breaks_out_oppo,_takes_on_howard_dean_for_%27kill_the_bill%27_comments/

And I'll do all I can to fund raise for a more progressive opponent to Nelson and Lieberman in 2012.

[gateley]

1. Is your reasoning the same as theirs? (I didn't realize Franken -- one of my bellwethers) is

supporting it. I'll take another look. I've been back and forth on this almost daily.

[Undercurrent]

2. Count me in.

The list grows of people I admire and respect who are saying Pass the bill.

[bluestateguy]

3. I agree

and I am certainly with you on primarying Nelson and Loserman.

Hopefully the Nebraska and Connecticut Senate primaries in 2012 will be a nice unifying experience for us at DU.

[Telly Savalas]

21. There's no primarying Lieberman. He left the Democratic Party when Lamont beat him in the primary.

He's currently caucusing with the Democrats, but he's not part of the party. We gotta beat him in the general. But I think you're right that despite all the differences here, pretty much everybody would be happy to see that asshole go.

The idea of primarying Nelson sounds good but is just a lot of hot air until somebody can name the person who will challenge him. I'm not exactly a close follower of Nebraska politics, but I'd be pleasantly surprised if there was someone there who would both represent a major improvement over Nelson and would have enough appeal in a very red state to beat an entrenched incumbent.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

4. Damn straight, it's a start and it can be "upgraded" over time when

people see the benefits from passing it creeping in.

[Armstead]

7. Just the opposite -- This will make it more difficult to "upgrade"

This further increases the power of the insurance industry. The "controls" over them are a fig leaf compared to the additional power and money they are acquiring.

Why not take a little more time, take a deep breath and do it right -- or at least enough better that we are not preventing real reform in the future?

No matter. The poobahs have spoken and the insurance industry will get its gift thanks to our weakness and gullibility.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

9. Damn it.... I don't or rather haven't paid enough attention to what

has been done in the past several days.... I'll tell you what. I'm going to keep doing what I do in order to keep some of my money from going into their coffers. I have educated myself concerning more natural methods for disease prevention and I am sticking with the program. I'm no spring chicken and I take 0 medications. Plenty of supplements and 0 medications. May this be the pattern for the next 20 years or so.

[Top Cat]

18. The american people have waited long enough.

People with no insurance don't have the time to continue to wait... We have something to work with it's a start. 32 million more people will be able to have health insurance so why deny them from coverage now. The bill can be upgraded later. This is better than what we currently have. God knows the GOP will never pass any kind of healthcare reform, and the last Dem President which was Clinton could not get it though so the time is now...

[treestar]

5. rec'd for being constructive

Though I don't know if it will work in Nebraska. That's a conservative state. So it might end up sending a Repuke.

Lieberman is another story though. Conn. is blue and pro-Obama and might just be willing to kick Lieberdick out for a Democrat.

[Armstead]

6. They all agree it's basically a bad bill but should be passed -- Sorry not buying

The message from the Democrats is "yes, this is a crappy bill but its the best we can do if we want to pass something by Christmas."

That's a lame rationale for something that is going to set the future tone of healthcare forever.

(They don't say crappy, but you can read between the lines)

[lunatica]

8. They know it's pass it now or give up for a few more generations

They'll try and fix it afterward.

[Captain Hilts]

10. I think we have to, as much as I HATE the bill and the process that made it. nt

[IndianaGreen]

11. I am with my wallet (or billfold in this case)

KILL IT!

[EndElectoral]

12. I'm with Dean and NOW. Kill this terrible bill

[Laelth]

13. I think you (and they) are desparately wrong.

We'd be better off doing nothing and letting the states address this issue individually. The current system is unsustainable, and everyone knows it.

I honestly believe that the Senate bill is the best that Congress can do. Frankly, I don't think the Federal Government is capable of reforming the system right now. If this bill is the best the Federal Government can do, then the Federal Government should do nothing. It's time to let the states try.

Passing this bill will prevent the states from addressing this issue.

Kill the bill.

Forcing people to buy insurance is no more the answer to a failed health care system than forcing people to buy houses is the solution to homelessness.

:dem:

-Laelth

[AVID]

14. kick to ADD to the *PASS IT* List: Bernie Sanders

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/12/19-0

[FrenchieCat]

15. Pass the damn bill, and let's start on the road to progress!

[Kahuna]

16. I'm not satisfied with the bill, but we have to start somewhere...

and with the present environment, this is the best we can do right now. :patriot:

[jeanpalmer]

17. They're all wrong

Whatever improvement this bill brings about comes at a high cost -- mandated payments to support a bloated insurance system. The bill leaves intact a high cost system that costs the average American somewhere between $6667 to $8000 a year. The goal of HCR should be, was, to bring down overall healthcare costs so that healthcare would be affordable. This bill, in the case of the subsidized, merely transfers part of the high cost to the government/taxpayer. In the case of the middle class who have to foot the entire cost, it transfers the entire excessive cost to them. We shouldn't accept anything less than full healthcare reform. Because if we accept this high cost system they're proposing, we're going to be stuck with it forever. There's no way to gradually improve off what's being proposed.

Right now Congress is under tremendous pressure to pass "a" bill. So there's a real likelihood they'll pass something bad. Instead of applying pressure to them to pass this bill, how about accepting that there's no good solution on the horizon right now and telling them to back off, don't pass a bad bill. That way, we don't lock ourselves into something bad and somewhere down the road under different circumstances we actually get real HCR.

So instead of calling my congress person to encourage him to support this bill, I'd call and say "don't pass this bill, it's not what we need, back off and take more time to get real HCR." After all, it doesn't take effect for 4 years anyway. So there's no rush, especially to pass a bad bill. It would give them some breathing room and avoid a bad result. What we really need to do is take time to educate the American people about the facts of health care, about the possibilities of real reform, and take the time to do it right. In other words, we have to lay the groundwork to convince the American people, which we haven't done so far. The current approach of tinkering, not informing the people, and passing something just to get a bill is the wrong approach.

[vaberella]

19. Agreed---but I must ask...how much Kool-Aid did you OD on? n/t

[SpartanDem]

20. I'm with them too

pass the bill