Posted on 12/15/2009 3:55:01 AM PST by Scanian
WASHINGTON -- Senate Democrats last night dropped a key Medicare expansion plan from the proposed health-care bill in a major last-minute concession to save the legislation from going under.
The plan would have allowed people as young as 55 to enroll in Medicare.
The decision to scrap the idea -- which would have considerably expanded health-care coverage, a key promise made by Democrats in last year's elections -- came as President Obama put heavy pressure on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his fellow Democrats to reach a compromise that they could still call "health-care reform."
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
I’m grateful to Lieberman for having the integrity to stand up against the government-run health care Trojan horse Reid tried to slip in. I’m not yet confident, however, that the ‘government-run’ element of this is gone for good.
The irony of this whole process is that this bill ensures it is going to cost way more than it would to just provide free private health care to that segment of the uninsured who can’t afford to pay for their own. It’s essentially a huge spending bill that does little to address those things in US health care that need fixing, but will assuredly add more bureaucracy to the system and actually make it more expensive. All of this so that the democrats can crow that they ‘passed health care reform’.
One more point. Any federal version of health care is unconstitutional since Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution does not specifically grant Congress the power to regulate health care. This is the point people should be driving home with their politicians!
LIEberman is DEEP into the pockets of the insurance industry.
This is bad news as a bad bill will now go forward with all of the bad placed back into it before passage.
The thing needs to be scrapped all 2,000 pages of it.
I understand and respect your opinion, but he could have easily found political cover and ‘middle ground’ in many other ways in this fiasco. To some extent, most if not all politicians play both sides against the middle. That’s why I can’t stand the concept of career politicians. Ultimately, however, it is our own populace we have to blame for the type of government we’ve had over the past several decades.
LLS
So how was Social Security constitutional? I'm asking in all sincerity as I don't think it is constitutional.
He might change. The question for me is: who has a bigger hold on him, the Conn. insurance companies or the Democrats.
He told the Dhimmis to buzz off about the war and ran as an independent. Let’s see if his “maverick” streak is still intact.
It might not matter anyway - we still have Collins and Snowe to contend with. They might have been bought by the changes made to the bill.
You and I and most FReepers care about that but the current roster in Congress uses the Constitution the way country people used the Sears and Roebuck catalog.
“It might not matter anyway - we still have Collins and Snowe to contend with. They might have been bought by the changes made to the bill.”
Which might have been the plan all along.......
You know, we’re broke. This will not make it better. It’s like trying to put a bandaid on a leg whose foot has been blown off. $12T and counting in debt. All kinds of things manufactured and imported here, probably including bandaids.
Bet they’re gonna try to go the back door....and change the Medicare rules and $$ contributions. No matter how you cut it...they’re after your paycheck...
as the health care debate goes. I wish we hhad Ted Stevens and Norm Coleman. Both Stolen. Stevens sgould never beed indicted
Dare I say it ain’t over till it’s over?
Stevens should have retired and most likely another Republican would have succeeded him. I have to wonder also how many voters who oppose this monstrous bill voted Dem in ‘06 and ‘08 just to teach Bush a lesson? A shift of just a tiny percentage of votes in a few states would have left us with 44 or more GOP senators and almost certain defeat for this bill. Now the “fed up with Bush” independents are getting what they deserve. Too bad the rest of us have to deal with it too.
By calling it a tax. We'll have another payroll tax called the Healthcare Tax, just like we have a Medicare Tax and Social Security tax.
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