You know there has to be something wrong when even the loopy Democrat Senator Rockefeller opposes the “Baucus” health bill , calling it “dangerous”
…a lot of middle class workers, like the coal miners in his state, will end up facing “a big, big tax” under the Baucus bill because they currently enjoy generous employer-provided health care benefits which they receive tax free.
Referring to Baucus, Rockefeller said, “He should understand that (his proposal) means that virtually every single coal miner is going to have a big, big tax put on them because the tax will be put on the company and the company will immediately pass it down and lower benefits because they are self insured, most of them, because they are larger. They will pass it down, lower benefits, and probably this will mean higher premiums for coal miners who are getting very good health care benefits for a very good reason. That is, like steelworkers and others, they are doing about the most dangerous job that can be done in America.”
“So that’s not really a smart idea,” Rockefeller continued. “In fact, it’s a very dangerous idea, and I’m not even sure the coal miners in West Virginia are aware that this is what is waiting if this bill passes.”
And on the Republican side our most liberal RINO’s oppose it:
Senate Democrats are going to have to move forward on healthcare without a single Republican supporter after Sen. Olympia Snowe said Tuesday she could not back the Finance Committee’s bill.
Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) failed to win any Republican backer despite weeks of intense negotiations behind closed doors to strike a deal.
“This partisan proposal cuts Medicare by nearly a half-trillion dollars, and puts massive new tax burdens on families and small businesses, to create yet another thousand-page, trillion-dollar government program. Only in Washington would anyone think that makes sense, especially in this economy.”
You think ACORN is in the bill as the group that will run the cooperatives?
My favorite line from the media reports:
People insured through large employers would not see major changes, but some of their health care benefits would be nicked to help pay for the cost of the plan.
Nicked eh? That can’t be all bad right? /sarc
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Should we start taking bets on when it will be put up for Reconciliation?
I wager 1 old toenail clipping it will be by the end of the month.
There will be no reconciliation! After a month of being ground down in town hall meetings, a sufficient number of democrats have finally seen the elephant(no pun intended). Oh, they will posture and huff and puff about the need for reform but in reality most of them want this issue to go away. I believe they have made a conscious decision that they would rather be re-elected in 2010 than go down in flames fighting for Obama’s legacy. The Dems will continue to come up with proposals that they know will repel conservatives as well as creating rifts within their own ranks. In doing so, they hope Health Care Reform will die, be buried and forgotten before the election next fall. That’s my theory and I’m stickin’ to it!!
@Palmetto Mike
Are you willing to bet a toenail on that? 🙂
I think the’ve bet the farm on this, because it’s the last cow in the barn. They will let the farm burn before they give up, then use it’s failure as a stick to beat repubs with.
I will go out on a limb and state, that even if (when) Reconciliation does not work, or goes badly, they will have Axelrod or Rahm fall on their swords to take blame off themselves and the Prez.
When elections go badly for them next year, you will see the true racism of this Congress emerge, and they will blame and/or abandon Obama for their losses.
Patvann
Not only will I bet a toenail…I’ll raise you two nose hairs. These guys are aware of what happened in 94 and are beginning to see the light. I agree with you that they have already done enough damage to cause the elections to go badly for themselves next year but you are going to see some scrambling to recover whatever they can from this debacle. Oh, and I also concur that “they will blame and/or abandon Obama for their losses.”