Olympia

[Winter_123]

Obama will be contacting Olympia with hat in hand now for support on a scaled down bill. As stated ad nauseum and proven by the facts, she will not support the monstrosity that the dems were rolling with and will be and has been Obama's biggest obstacle to making that happen.

Having said that, it is equally true that she will eventually support some type of more moderate plan so that is still coming at some point. Problem is, she is not Obama's only problem now. It has gone too far.
As discussed at length back in the fall, Obama chose Harry Reid over Olympia and that was a big, big mistake. Her job and popularity are totally secure and Harry's and Obama's are in the toilet. Olympia can be a tough one to read if you dont realize how stubborn she is. She went over to the White House a dozen times and they offered her all sorts of pork and she still voted against the bill. I expect to see her say many forward leaning things in the coming months. I dont think talking about health reform equates to lining up with Obama instantly though. But she is a moderate and will support something moderate somewhere, sometime.

Republican playbook now is to talk nice and talk cooperative and agree completely that we need to keep working on health reform but to not do anything concrete before the elections. That is good politics but probably also fair to the voters. They want to weigh in on this.

Obama is an ***.

 

[TXINSURANCE]

Scaled back plan = GI with no mandate.

ME style Indy market for the whole country is coming.

I am sick of hearing on CNN "...vote on items everyone agrees with like no denial for pre existing conditions,,,"

A watered down bill could actually be worse for agents depending on the details.

 

[Winter_123]

A watered down bill could actually be worse for agents depending on the details.

Oh I agree with that. As I mentioned the other day Pelosi said "that when we are done with this the insurance carriers will wish they had gone with the public option." I certainly believe that to be true.

I have not changed my view in five years despite all the hoopla of following the details. The only thing that is certain is that guaranteed issue is coming and that in and of itself is a gamechanger. Whether it includes mandate, whether there is a public option, whether medicare will be expanded, whether there will be interestate sale etc are all just add-on discussions. They may be critical factors but they are not certainties. In my view guaranteed issue is a certainty that is coming sometime. Could be later than expected due to current problems, could be sooner if it is one of the scaled down things that is coming (even though it is major).

Then we can churn the discussion about what it does to commissions but we have no idea and that is not the point. I think we all must look through this huge brush pile and decide for ourselves what the basics will be. I decided over five years ago that it would be guaranteed issue and have seen no reason to change that. Yes, we were still in the Bush admin then but it was clear that Hillary was going to drive that issue becuase it was clear that she was going to run. I didnt see Obama coming at that time but when he appeared it was clear that no one was going to get to the left of him. So guaranteed issue was and is coming. Obamacare as we knew it last summer is not. Maybe incrementally over time but not where the country is going to swallow the pig all in one shot.

There will never be another time in our lifetimes when some amendment to health reform is not in process. That is just the way it is. The responsibility been federalized now as in Canada and the UK even if the delivery system has not, yet.

 

[stuy119]

If the Pubs were smart, they would use this as a reason to trot out a new "Contract with America," complete with a strong health care reform option (not the crap they've trotted out to this point), along with a way to get the economy moving again. Throw in some way to address concerns about the 2 wars and how to move them forward, a few education reforms, and a way to pay down the deficit, and you win A TON of seats in the elections this year.

Will that happen? Probably not, as Steele is a slightly less effective leader than Obama.

 

[somarco]

I am not sure the independent, middle of the road group (on either side) is on board with health insurance reform any more. This was a wake up call to blue dogs as well as Republicans who may have been considering a run for a congressional seat held by a Democrat.

To paraphrase the movie, on any given Tuesday Democrats are not safe.

Just because Princess Nancy cobbled together enough votes to get something through the House and Prince Harry did likewise in the Senate, if a vote were to be held today on the bills already passed I doubt if either would make it.

Too early to tell if it is too late to save enough Democratic seats in both houses to keep a majority, but I do believe health insurance reform, even in watered down fashion, is going to be way down the list.

With the Bully in Chief beating the drum for taking over the student loan program, expanding control on education while battling the banks over exec comp, I don't think he has as much support in Congress as before.

The public is finally waking up and catching on that all this hocus pocus is not creating or saving jobs. While telling banks they are going to be taxed if they hand out nice paychecks the Oracle of Omaha has already decried that idea as stupid. If Barry insists on fighting that battle he will lose.

 

[Winter_123]

I am not sure the independent, middle of the road group (on either side) is on board with health insurance reform any more. This was a wake up call to blue dogs as well as Republicans who may have been considering a run for a congressional seat held by a Democrat.

To paraphrase the movie, on any given Tuesday Democrats are not safe.

Just because Princess Nancy cobbled together enough votes to get something through the House and Prince Harry did likewise in the Senate, if a vote were to be held today on the bills already passed I doubt if either would make it.

Too early to tell if it is too late to save enough Democratic seats in both houses to keep a majority, but I do believe health insurance reform, even in watered down fashion, is going to be way down the list.

With the Bully in Chief beating the drum for taking over the student loan program, expanding control on education while battling the banks over exec comp, I don't think he has as much support in Congress as before.

The public is finally waking up and catching on that all this hocus pocus is not creating or saving jobs. While telling banks they are going to be taxed if they hand out nice paychecks the Oracle of Omaha has already decried that idea as stupid. If Barry insists on fighting that battle he will lose.

The need for health reform will not go away but the attention that it has gotten of late will. It is just not sustainable given other issues. Obama had a shot at it and tied up the entire country with it and it was/is a mess. Problem is, when it rears up again, it will be even uglier. There are cost controls that must be found somewhere soon. You can see the pattern here. Hillarycare was batted down and it bought some time. Then when it came back it was bigger and stronger because the unresolved issues were bigger and stronger. This cycle will occur again. If we dont want a single payer system then both dems and repub are going to have to implement some system that staves that off. The issues are not going to go away, even if we get the commie solution to go away. Repubs beware, use your time well.

 

[somarco]

The easiest way to make health insurance more affordable is to eliminate ALL mandates, state & federal. Watch premiums drop like a rock . . . 50% or more.

No tax dollars.

No politics.

Very simple.

 

[Winter_123]

As discussed extensively last fall, before it is all over Obama will come back to Olympia, except she is burned out on the issue now and has other work to do. She will help when the time comes but she is not going to put duct tape and bondo on his crap.

Big, big, big, big, mistake on his part to side with Harry Reid over Olympia Snowe. As I said then, Olympia will be around for a long time to come and Harry Reid will be history in a year. Which one you want to go with? Olympia told him to take all the crap out of the bill and side circus amendments and that she could support a basic bill but, no, frigging Rahm Emmanual figured he they could outgun her and go around her and do the hustle Chicago style to see who could be bought and what kind of parliamentary gymnastics could be used to stick the while thing up the public's bo-bo. Didn't work. The bill was very, very dirty. Obama pretended to take the high road all while he was following the dirty road.

Maine's Snowe On Sidelines As Health Care Unfolds - wbztv.com

 

[Mr. Bill]

Speaking of Rahm, where is he these days? Awfully quiet...

 

[somarco]

Both Rahm and Axelrod are in the insider protection program.

Geithner and Bernanke might need to explore the same program as tax cheat Timmy is voicing doubt that Obama's proposal for stripping banks of their powers will fly. Apparently Prof. Bernanke is in danger of falling short of votes for renewing his contract.