House Could Delay Until 2010

[Crabcake Johnny]

Obama seeks out skeptics at Montana town hall - CNN.com

When the Dems can't even decide on the language in the House it gives everyone a clue on just how long this entire process is going to take.

I was almost certain that some form of legislation would be signed this year. Now I'm back on the fence again. This entire thing could get killed in the Senate. Likely not but we'll see.

 

[Mr. Bill]

It really is beyond incredible. You would think that after all of Obama's vast experience "fixing things" like corporations, non-profits, his toilets, he would want to first prove himself by doing something really important, you know, like fixing the postal service. I mean, c'mon. Start slow and work your way up to 1/5 (1/6? 1/7?) of the entire freaking economy.

 

[Full Throttle]

He's definetly put his presidency and reelectability (is that a word?) at risk taking on a project this large.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

I think what Congress is looking for on this issue is a little leadership from Obama, which so far is non-existent. He refuses to detail exactly what kind of bill he'll sign. Kinda makes it hard to draft.

 

[Rivers1]

I've never witnessed in my lifetime a president trying to sell a piece of legislation as he is attempting. He's holding public meetings with every group possible to get himself on TV daily. It's desperation at it's finest.

BO really loves to hear himself speak. No one can get a word in edgewise as he spouts off for ten minutes on a twenty second question. Now he's on "tour" around the country trying to sell this thing? When the president is on TV more than my favorite show each week that's a sure sign of despair.

 

[Justin Bilyj]

Its exactly that "elitist" mockery that Al exhibits, reminding us why the liberals feel the need to take care of us, since we are so stupid not to understand anything.

 

[Justin Bilyj]

Al, I hope you fall into a puddle of AIDS buddy....

D o w n s i z e r - D i s p a t c h
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Quote of the Day: "It is the competition of profit-seeking entrepreneurs that does not tolerate the preservation of false prices . . ." -- Ludwig von Mises, "Human Action" 3rd edition, pages 337-338

Subject: Have you noticed that there's a rebellion underway?

The latest Rassmusen poll released on August 11th is bad news for the Big Government health care bill . . .

* A majority oppose the bill -- 53% to 42%
* That's down 5 points from two weeks ago and 8 points from six weeks ago

The intensity numbers are even better -- 44% strongly oppose the proposal while only 26% strongly favor it.

This intensity is being demonstrated in the rebellion members of Congress are facing at town hall meetings. While we dislike the rude tactics some citizens are using, we completely understand and agree with the anger.

One thing driving this is the spreading realization that the so-called "public option" is really a Trojan Horse that will lead to a "single payer" system . . .

* The "public option" is tax-subsidized government insurance that would charge lower premiums than private companies could afford to match -- that's the whole point of the tax subsidy
* This would eventually drive private health insurance out of business, leaving us with a "single payer" government system
* The so-called "single payer" would really be ALL taxpayers, because taxes would fund all health care
* In other words, public-option equals single-payer equals socialism

But here again, the news is encouraging . . .

Rassmusen reports that a whopping 57% oppose a single-payer system, while only 32% favor it.

And here's the best news of all . . .

51% percent fear government health care more than they do the insurance companies.

We've long felt that public hatred of insurance companies is the main source of support for increased government involvement in health care. But now people seem to be realizing that the real reason to hate the insurance companies is because of . . .

The United States of Corporate Welfare

Big health care interests have used the coercive power of government to erect thickets of Corporate Welfare Regulation, to reward themselves, punish their competitors, and harm consumers.

Cato Institute scholar Michael Tanner provides startling examples of how these regulations have strangled competition between health insurance companies, allowing 30% of the market to be controlled by just 1 company in 299 out of 313 of the largest metro areas.

So the problem isn't that insurance companies charge too much and pay out too little under free market conditions. Indeed, the profit margins of the health insurance industry rank only 86th among American industries!

Instead, the problem is that government regulations retard competition and consumer choice, leading to inefficient service and false prices.

We don't need a 2,000-page bill that re-engineers our entire health care system. Instead, the first thing we need is a 1-page bill that restores competition between insurance companies by allowing you to sidestep the corporate welfare regulations erected by state-governments.

This is something the federal government can do using its Constitutional authority under the Commerce Clause.

A rebellion is underway, and we DC Downsizers need to give that rebellion a direction, not only by opposing the Trojan Horse health care bill, but also by promoting positive reforms that will restore consumer choice.

Please use DownsizeDC.org's Educate the Powerful System (sm) to send your Congressional employees a letter on our campaign to "Make Health Insurance More Affordable."

Tell Congress to give you a 1-page bill that allows you to buy health insurance regulated by the state of your choice.

If you want, you can use your personal comments to paste-in some of the poll results listed in this Dispatch.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

[Rivers1]

typical for a neo-con... which is why you are tagged with "neo."

Al

If you're going to sling labels upon me, at least get it right. It's paleo-con, make a note for your record.

Bye-Bye, dolt!

 

[Dave020]

Please can we not have these threads going on tangents all of the time?

 

[Rivers1]

Yeah. Good luck in Albania.

Al

Not witty enough. I've read much better from you, cmon. Lacks sex appeal severely. More oomph please!