Newt Gingrich Slams Fail-Mongers Like Rush Limbaugh
Politics Daily — ... If that's the "nuance" on which Limbaugh wants to hang his hat, I'm happy to let him do it. Most Americans favor some form of universal health care, and even more of them are unlikely to think of our President in the same terms that got Limbaugh ...

Talk of Legislative 'Nuclear Option' Just a Warning Shot
Politics Daily — ... I think Orzag is trying to cow the Republicans into not filibustering, but I think it's a bad move. The tent-pole of the Obama administration's policy agenda, universal health care, enjoys huge popular support. If the Republicans make their stand there, not only will they fail, they will be punished for it at the polls. Before long, the Democrats will be opposing ...

Progressive Caucus Draws a Line on Health Care
Open Left - Front Page — Something unexpected just happened on Capitol Hill today--the Congressional Progressive Caucus drew a line in the sand on something. In a letter sent to Speaker Pelosi, Representatives Woolsey and Grijalva stated that most of the 77-member progressive caucus will not support a health care plan that lacks a public option with a level playing field. I like it: ...

Long-term, Center-left Victory on Public Spending Highly Likely
Open Left - Front Page — Given the current sate of the country and the world, it is easy to be pessimistic. Unemployment is at a 27 year high, health care continues to become more difficult to attain and afford, Wall Street keeps ripping us off, climate change appears inevitable, and seemingly every day comes news of another natural disaster or mass killing somewhere in the world. The Senate doesn't help either, as it seems to be an almost intractable barrier to the progressive legislation Speaker Pelosi and the Obama administration attempt to pass. ...

Your Abbreviated Pundit Round-up
Daily Kos — Friday punditry!! Paul Krugman: Banking needs to be boring. From First Read on this year's dominant college basketball women's team: "The President congratulated Coach [Gino] Auriemma on his team's undefeated year and was impressed to learn that UConn had only one senior who started in the title game.  Coach Auriemma put center Tina Charles on the phone, and the President congratulated her on a great game and for going 11 for 13 from the floor, but jokingly asked what happened with the other two shots. The President told Coach Auriemma that he’s ...

Dick Morris' Concern About Universal Health Coverage: Not Enough Doctors To Go Around
News Hounds — ... Barack Obama of wanting to provide taxpayer-funded health insurance to illegal immigrants. On last night's (4/16/09) Hannity, Morris came up with a new excuse to oppose the universal health care coverage most Americans want. After making the ...

National Review: GOP Should Block Health Care Reform Because Most Americans Think Our Health Care System is Awesome
Firedoglake — The National Review discovers a compelling reason for the GOP to block meaningful health care reform: no one wants it! Most people are satisfied with their own insurance arrangements and standard of care — more so, indeed, than they were in 1993, the last time Washington Democrats took ...

The Trigger Fight As A Template For Obama's First Term
Open Left - Front Page — Right now, the main fight over a public health care option appears to be whether it will be instituted immediately, or only sometime several years down the road once certain market conditions have been met (aka, a "trigger"). Yesterday, Mike discussed why the trigger for the public option was such a bad idea, and would signal the end of meaningful health care reform. I want tot ake this a step further, and argue that if the public option is watered down to a "trigger," then don't expect any major progressive legislation to come from this Democratic trifecta. On any issue. Ever. Real health care reform--aka, ...

Obama Driving Dems Left on Healthcare Takeover
Patterico's Pontifications — ... That last paragraph outlines the main obstacle over which the Clintons — and others before them — have stumbled. Polls almost always show a plurality of people say they want big healthcare reform and think it is a government responsibility. But when Democrats try to takeover the system, the same polls showing that people like their coverage and do not want government making it worse tend to foreshadow the outcome. This time, the Democrats are trying to sell reform cost-containment, but ...

Musings Over Morning Coffee: The Public Option
Daily Kos — Lots of bandwidth and pixels have been spent on discussing health reform, and that's perfectly appropriate given the importance of the issue. We've been writing about health reform for some years now, but though you'll hear from the likes of mcjoan, Kos and myself, none of the Contributing Editors "own the issue"... that privilege belongs to the American people. What we have written in the past is this: When Can We Expect Health Care Reform (Whoever Wins)? from 3/08, a follow up on Daily Kos posts here (Medical Crisis: The Shape Of Things To Come), here (Perspective on ...

Paul Loeb: Gutting the Health Care Plan: The Scorpion and the Congress
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — Will serious health reform meet the fate of the scorpion and the turtle? In that fable, the scorpion pleads with the turtle to carry him across a river. The turtle resists, fearing the scorpion's sting, but the scorpion reassures him that he'd do nothing so foolish, since both would drown if he did. Finally the turtle agrees. Halfway across, the scorpion betrays his promise with a lethal sting. As the turtle begins to drown, he asks why he took both their lives. "It's just who I am," the scorpion replies. I fear we're about to get stung again. When people look back at the failure of the Clinton-era health care ...

Public Option First, Attacking Republicans Second
Open Left - Front Page — Sign up now to fight for the public option Here is a message that progressive organizations and media outlets need to start sending to all Democratic party committees and members of Congress: We are done attacking Republicans until you pass a public option for health care. Until a public option is passed, I don't want to hear about the latest hate and idiocy spewing from Limbaugh, or Tancredo, or Palin, or Gingrich, or whoever. And to tell you the truth, I don't want to attack them for it, either. Because, right now, Republicans are not the obstacle to progressive governance. Instead, ...

Gutting the Health Care Plan: The Scorpion and the Congress
Commondreams.org Views — Will serious health reform meet the fate of the scorpion and the turtle? In that fable, the scorpion pleads with the turtle to carry him across a river. The turtle resists, fearing the scorpion's sting, but the scorpion reassures him that he'd do nothing so foolish, since both would drown if he did. Finally the turtle agrees. Halfway across, the scorpion betrays his promise with a lethal sting. As the turtle begins to drown, he asks why he took both their lives. "It's just who I am," the scorpion replies. I fear we're about to get stung again. When people look back at the failure of the Clinton-era health care initiative, they ...

Policing the Debate on Health Reform
Commondreams.org Views — ABC 's Diane Sawyer claimed ( CNN , 6/22/09 ) the network's June 24 forum on President Barack Obama's healthcare plan would feature "questions from every single vantage point." Yet, ignoring calls from FAIR (Action Alert, 6/22/09 ) and advocacy groups such as Health Care Now! , the special did not include a single question from an advocate of single-payer national health insurance—despite the fact that the single-payer option polls well with the public ( New York Times / CBS , 1/11-15/09 ) and is seen by many experts as the best way of expanding coverage to the uninsured while also ...

Poll-itics: Americans Cluing In to Obama's Healthcare Reform Problems
The Political Carnival — By GottaLaff A new Bloomberg poll is out: As Congress returns this week to craft the legislation, Obama's push to revamp an industry that makes up 17 percent of the nation's economy will need support from American families ...

Democrats Will Reveal How They Want to ‘Pay’ For Healthcare
RedState: Conservative News and Community — We may know by the end of the week how the Democrats are claiming they will pay for their healthcare plans. News out of the House of Representatives is that they will introduce their bill on either Thursday or Friday of this week. In the mean time, on Tuesday a caucus meeting with Energy and Commerce Chair Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) will be held on Tuesday to discuss the funding plans. This will be followed by a brief by House Education and Labor Chairman George Miller (D-Calif.) while Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) will speak on Friday. Rangel is last because his committee is in charge of finding the ...

Democrats Will Reveal How They Want to ‘Pay’ For Healthcare
Stop The ACLU — Democrats Will Reveal How They Want to ‘Pay’ For Healthcare Posted on July 7, 2009 -By Warner Todd Huston We may know by the end of the week how the Democrats are claiming they will pay for their healthcare plans. News out of the House of Representatives is that they will introduce their bill on either Thursday or Friday of this week. In the mean time, on Tuesday a caucus meeting with Energy and Commerce Chair Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) will be held on Tuesday to discuss the funding plans. This will be followed by a brief by House Education and Labor Chairman George Miller (D-Calif.) while Ways and Means Chairman Charles ...

Hospital Cost Savings: Important, But Not the Total Picture
Daily Kos — Today, Joe Biden (in Barack Obama's overseas absence) issued the formal announcement we heard about yesterday. From the WaPo: Vice President Biden today formally unveiled the latest attempt by the White House to rally the health-care industry behind its reform effort, announcing an agreement with hospitals to cut $155 billion in government costs over the next 10 years. Cost is tremendously important. When looking at public reaction to health reform, costs (54%) beat expanding coverage to those who don't have it (38%) in the latest Q-poll, and cost has always been of ...

Censored by ABC, Obama's Doc Speaks Out
Commondreams.org Views — In the wake of Republican charges that ABC was attempting to "exclude opposing viewpoints" from its June 24 forum on healthcare reform , the media was awash in concerns that the "town hall" would not allow for challenging questions to President Barack Obama. Conservative talk-show host Sean Hannity proclaimed that "Journalism in America is dead." Meanwhile, Washington Post columnist Howard Kurtz expressed concern that the forum would marginalize "stakeholders" such as private insurance companies and pharmaceutical corporations. As it turned out , Republican talking points and ...

Fox News "Asks" If Obama Health Plan Puts Us "One Step Closer To The United Socialist States Of America"
News Hounds — ... Street and the corrupt banking industry than they’ve done to themselves.” Toby jumped in. “The actual core problem is the business model is wrong… which is they get paid to perform stuff, number one. And number two, people get this health care for free because it’s paid without paying taxes on it and they never see a bill… If you solved that problem, then all your fakakta ideas maybe would work.” Buttner did not allow Papantonio to respond further. Comment: Polls consistently show a strong desire for major health care reform as well as a desire ...

Every Objective Poll on the Planet Indicates Americans Don’t Trust Republicans on Health Care
Firedoglake — It seems like everytime I get on the Internets or turn on the teevee, someone's telling me how badly Obama and the Democrats are doing with health care reform and how the concerns of "moderate" Republicans should be heeded, because Americans Want A Bi-Partisan Solution.  While it's true that Obama's numbers have dipped under the weight of the seemingly-endless sausage-making on the Hill, the "concerns" of bought-and-paid-for Blue Dogs like Mike Ross and Big Health propaganda -- no one really cares what Jim DeMint or John Boehner has to say about health care. Republicans ...

Prescription for a Real Healthcare Debate
Commondreams.org Views — The debate about health reform is clearly in critical condition, with the prospects for President Barack Obama's proposed "public option" looking increasingly uncertain. The U.S. is the only industrialized nation where insurance for primary healthcare is largely in the hands of private corporations, but despite overwhelming public support for a greater government role in health insurance, pundits are now advising us that even Obama’s modest proposal of making private insurance corporations compete with a public insurance fund may have to be scrapped. Sen. Max Baucus (D.-Mont.) -- the politician who played one of the most ...

Obama, Democrats Flunking Health Care Sales Pitch
FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right — ... There is a long history of support for the concept of major health care reform, something that has not really changed to this day. As recently as last week, a USA Today/Gallup poll found 56 percent in support of Congress passing a "major" health care reform bill this year, versus just 33 percent opposed. ...

The Public Option Versus Single-Payer Non-Argument
Open Left - Front Page — Although I still haven't read it all, from what I can gather there were, and still are, a lot of single payer vs. public option advocate fights on Open Left during the past two weeks. This post is my take on that argument, which has been bubbling in a number of places where lefties gather online in recent weeks. ...

The Rude Pundit — ... of the nation, in poll after poll, wants single-payer insurance or, at least, a government plan to compete with health insurance companies. Instead, what we're getting is the bullshit dance of Democrat Max Baucus actually thinking that Republicans like Charles Grassley are going to do anything but negotiate a watered-down bill that they'll reject anyways as too radical. ...

Grassley Admits That GOP Leadership Is Urging Him To Block Public Option
Think Progress — In an article over the weekend, the National Journal highlighted congressional Republicans’ strategy to defeat efforts to reform health care. With Democrats having such a large majority in the House, the article noted that “Senate Republicans know they may be the last chance to stop the legislation this fall.” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), ranking member on the Senate Finance Committee, has taken the lead role in negotiating the bill for the GOP. But at the same time, Grassley said Senate Republican leadership is encouraging him not to negotiate: Grassley contended that ...

Fox News Conservatives Gripe Over North Korea’s Release Of Journalists
News Hounds — ... ), people have turned against health care (not really), …and then this news breaks. This is gonna be the news in every newspaper across the country, every newscast across the country… When you have bad news like this, you want to change the topic.” ...

The Release Of Laura Ling and Euna Lee-- John Bolton And The Right Wing Skunks At The National Picnic
DownWithTyranny! — ... ), people have turned against health care (not really), …and then this news breaks. This is gonna be the news in every newspaper across the country, every newscast across the country… When you have bad news like this, you want to change the topic.” ...

Chickenhawks Hannity And Levin Ramp Up The Belligerence: "If Something Happens At One Of These Town Hall Meetings, I Think The President In Part Can Be Held Accountable... He’s Literally At War With The Citizens In This Country, In A Political Sense"
News Hounds — ... Levin falsely claimed that Americans “don’t want” the Obama health care plan and that “Ladies and gentlemen, you will lose your private health care – so they don’t want it.” Actually, “Great One,” the polls ...

The Dearth of Republican Attacks on Individual Mandates
Open Left - Front Page — Awhile back, Ian Welsh wrote: Republicans understand opposition politics: when you're in the opposition, you don't smile bipartisanly, you gnaw at the ankles of the ruling party.  Nothing they do is right, everything they do is wrong. Generally Ian is spot on, and he's right in terms of the burnt earth style of Republican opposition to Obama/Democrats but I'm going to quibble on this one because I've detected a dog that is not barking, and I think the silence of this particular hound says a lot about the utter sham and fraud that is movement conservativism. ...

Fox News Interrupts Obama Town Hall To Spin And Distort It And Complain Not Enough "Screaming And Yelling"
News Hounds — ... Is Gallagher trying to be the next Hannity? This is nothing more than a further distortion. Polls clearly show that while Americans have doubts, they just as clearly want health care reform and very often want a public option. ...

Deepak Bhargava: Deflating the Fight for Real Health Care Reform
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — Co-operatives: A Failure on all Fronts Trial balloons are part and parcel of politics in America. President Obama recently floated one by calling the government-run public health insurance option a mere "sliver," and other White House officials spoke openly about accepting a compromise solution: health insurance co-operatives. It's a balloon that seems to be deflating quickly on all fronts. Politically, they are a loser because progressives won't accept such a do-nothing compromise, the GOP, truly earning their nickname as the party of "no," has of course immediately rejected the idea, and the ...

Comment on In Which I Intentionally Attempt to Antagonize LarryE by tgirsch
Comments for Lean Left — Judd: The “so much resistance” is based largely on widespread belief of right-wing lies, which tells me two things: first, that the Democrats have done a shitty job of messaging on this (as usual); and second, that this vindicates Obama’s push to get a bill passed before the August recess to improve the chances of passage. The “why the rush” people were wrong, in other words. As many of us who support reform predicted, opponents of reform would just spend the whole recess beating up the bill, and they’ve got no interest whatsoever of getting anything passed. ...

Comment on In Which I Intentionally Attempt to Antagonize LarryE by tgirsch
Comments for Lean Left — Judd: Health care is to Democrats what abortion is to Republicans? Puh-lease! As recently as late June, the public option — not just health care reform in general, but the public friggin’ option — was supported by 50% of Republicans, 86% of Democrats, and 66% of independents. When you can find some abortion polls that show those kinds of numbers — where the group that opposes abortion the least is still 50% against it — then maybe we’ll talk. Until then, I’m afraid you’ve laid an egg. tgirsch´s last blog ..In Which I ...

David Moore: Those Bobblehead Polls on Health Care
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — A recent series of polls brings to mind a bobblehead doll, whose head wags from side to side and from front to back in a random fashion. That disconnected movement seems to be a visual representation of what the polls have been saying about the general public and its views of President Obama's efforts to reform the health care system. Before the president's nationally televised speech to a joint session of Congress, for example, several polls announced that either a majority or plurality of Americans disapproved of the president's performance on health care. They didn't tell us if the people were dissatisfied ...

Jack Kelly Sunday
2 Political Junkies — Not sure what to make of this week's column by Jack Kelly. It's a confusing mush as he seems to be advocating a "strategy" that doesn't have the support of the general he describes as nothing less than "no greater expert in the U.S. military on this strategy". But first, some fact-checking. As always, Jack just can't help himself. In a gratuitous slap more or less completely beside his point, he spins on Health Care in a column on Afghanistan. Take a look: If President Barack Obama supports the recommendations of Stanley McChrystal, the general he picked to run the war in Afghanistan, ...

Bobby Jindal: Democrats Lack Public Support for Health Care Reform, Should Listen to Republicans
Firedoglake — In today's WaPost, Kenneth Jindal writes, Democratic plans for a government takeover are passé. The people don't want it. Believe the polls, the town halls, the voters. [...] Washington is the only place in the country that doesn't realize that this debate is ...

CBO: Baucus bill would reduce deficit by $81 billion over 10 years
Hot Air » Top Picks — CBO: Baucus bill would reduce deficit by $81 billion over 10 years posted at 5:36 pm on October 7, 2009 by Allahpundit Share on Facebook | printer-friendly Tough stuff. I think Stephanopoulos is right about how the GOP will spin it — $829 billion over the next decade to ensure fewer than 10 percent more of the population? — but this does give The One political cover on his heretofore Big Lie about ObamaCare being “deficit-neutral.” Especially since CBO is the agency that’s been tormenting him for months with projections that the program will cost vastly more than the White ...

Ben Nelson Does Not Support the Opt-Out
Open Left - Front Page — I know the focus is on the House today, but... Ben Nelosn apparently does not support the opt-out: The state opt-out provision is considered a possible way to get moderate Democrats to support a bill with a public option. However, the spokesman for Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, a key moderate, said Nelson opposes the idea of a national public option with an opt-out for the states. In addition, the idea is opposed by Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, the only Republican to support any kind of health care proposal so far. Snowe's spokesman, John Gentzel, confirmed to CNN her opposition to the ...

Carry It On: The Public Option and the Health Care Debate
Desert Beacon — In the interest of some form of disclosure, I'm a “Single Payer,” “Medicare for Everyone,” enthusiast. Therefore, the announcement by Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) that the Senate version of a health care reform bill would incorporate a public option with an “opt out” clause wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear. [LV Sun] However, it's certainly better than doing nothing at this juncture, and it does bode well for final passage. It also assists Senator Reid's re-election chances: “Reid’s visit with Obama came the day after ...

GOP Takes Courageous Preexisting Conditions Stance
MyDD — From the Associated Press's write up of the political document the Republicans are dressing up as a policy statement on healthcare: The bill is 230 pages long, compared with Democrats' 1,990-page measure. Unlike the Democrats' legislation it has no requirement for people to buy insurance and no prohibitions against insurance companies denying coverage to people with pre-existing medical conditions. [emphasis added] To get an idea of just how courageous this stance is by the Republicans, look at how massively unpopular their positions are: ...

FOLLOW-UP: Health Reform and Public Opinion
Swampland — It isn't often that you get to give a Harvard professor a homework assignment, but that's what Swampland commenters did yesterday. This came after I posted this Kaiser Health News column ...

Hume Corrects O’Reilly’s False Claim That ‘Folks Don’t Want’ The Public Option: It’s Actually ‘Kind Of Popular’
Think Progress — Last night on Fox News, host Bill O’Reilly and analyst Brit Hume discussed the prospects for the Senate passing a health care reform bill. After struggling with the terminology for the “public option,” O’Reilly ultimately concluded that “all the polls say” that “the folks don’t want it.” Hume, a regular Fox News misinformer, surprisingly corrected O’Reilly, noting that Americans actually support the public option: O’REILLY: They call it, you know, the public sector. What is the – HUME: Public option, you ...