Jack & Jill Politics

I think what the Democrats need to understand is that many of the people who voted for Obama who were not Democrats or became Democrats to vote in the primaries- like me. Prior to this past election I was an independent because quite frankly the Democratic Party was not liberal enough. I have NO LOVE for the Democratic Party and I never have. It would not be a stretch for me to say kiss my Puerto Rican… because I want what I was promised. I want a Public Option. If they fail to get me what was promised, after I showed up and did my part to get ALL OF THE DEMOCRATS elected, then they are reneging on the deal and exposed as liars.

Democratic Congressmen better cut their vacations short because there are hospital and insurance death panels refusing treatments to sick people NOW.

I like the Ed show, but I found this clip to be very disturbing. Mr. Alter was trying to explain that there is more to the Health Care debate than the Public Option. I totally agree with him. The Public Option would only be a mean in getting the essential goal of universal health coverage. I would also like to add that I sincerly hope that the Obama administration will step up to the plate in trying to regain the trust of the American people. Lets go back to this clip. Ed did not give Alter the chance to finish any of his sentences. This gave me a Deja Vu feeling. This type of 'discussing', largely from Ed's side, is similar to the angry town hall uproars. This is not the right direction to go, because this may lead us further into a 'us versus them' debate. This could further galvanize people from the essence of the debate, which is what the GOP wants! I hope that in the next broadcast Ed will be more willing to listen to his guests.

I agree with you, Ruud. Ed was way out of line last night and wasn't an example of someone fighting for health care reform, but rather bullying someone into submission. He disappointed me.

Important parts of health reform that would be part of the reconciliation process that are dictated by The Byrd Rule

“Opponents would have the power under Senate rules to strike every provision of the bill that cannot be shown to reduce the federal deficit. “

It is true that any Senator may ask a provision of the bill be stricken if it is found to be “extraneous”. But a provisions will not be removed if the determination that it is extraneous is waived “by the affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Members duly chosen and sworn (i.e., 60 Senators, if no seats are vacant)”. This is incredibly important. Many of the provisions that can technically be removed, because they are extraneous, are incredibly popular.

These include regulations outlawing: excluding pre-exisiting conditions, charging women more than men for health insurance, dramatically raising someones insurance premiums after getting sick.

These regulations are not just very popular with the American people but also with the Senators. For these regulations to be removed Senators would need to publicly vote to eliminate them.

I can see the ad now. Senator (blank) supports discrimination against woman by voting to give insurance companies the right to charge women more than men. Senator (blank) voted to give your insurance company the power to refuse to pay your medical bills. Senator (blank) voted to give insurance companies the power to raise your premiums when you get sick.

Publicly voting against many of these popular regulations would be political suicide. No one wants to be labeled a defender of the insurance industry's most repulsive practices. While many important provisions can technically be stricken during reconciliation, the number that will are probably be much smaller.

I am not sure about the American people losing trust in the president. I think they question is whether the government can come through on its promises; the president doesn't have a hook around his neck yet.

People are stressed out by all the hullaballoo; the loonies are being stressed out by the political action groups which use them on a daily basis. Many on the left are stressed out by the progressive media and a WH who is not letting them in on the political strategy in this madness. The greater population is stressed out due to the socioeconomic decline they find themselves in. Finally, there are people like me who are a bit stressed watching others being stressed. The country needs an uplifting message to calm the anxiety.