Category: Barack Obama

Darcy Burner: The Senate bill is a recipe for national disaster. If it’s that bill or nothing, I prefer nothing.

by Joe Sudbay (DC) on 12/15/2009 08:10:00 AM

The fundamental failing of the newest Senate proposal is that it requires individuals to purchase health insurance, but does nothing to rein in what insurance companies charge. There is nothing to stop spiraling health costs from eating up an ever-increasing percentage of our national productivity.

Democratic leaders are going to have to explain how forcing a mandate on people to buy private health insurance, without controlling the insurance industry, makes sense. That concept might appeal to Joe Lieberman, but it doesn’t sit well with everyone else.

The fire this time

By: TBogg Monday December 14, 2009 10:28 pm

If Rahm Emmanuel is all he was supposed to be, we can safely assume that the Obama White House either never gave a shit about health care reform, or they managed health care reform so horrifically and incompetently that they are now willing to settle for a “win”, no matter how meager.

I hope they enjoy their Pyrrhic victory because they just burned the base.

Where We’re At On The Lieberman Health Care Industry Profit Protection Act Of 2009

By: David Dayen Tuesday December 15, 2009 5:00 am

Another major addition in the mystery “deal” on the public option, the extension of the medical loss ratio to 90% (meaning that insurance companies would have to spend at least 90% of premiums on medical care), took a major hit from the CBO, and an ideological one at that. Doug Elmendorf basically said that such a medical loss ratio would make the private insurance industry into a government entity, “so that all payments related to health insurance policies should be recorded as cash flows in the federal budget.” This would make the health care bill cost several trillion dollars in CBO’s eyes despite the fact that nothing would have materially changed, and so this arbitrary decision basically killed the medical loss ratio, at least at 90% (it’s unclear what the magic MLR number is that turns the private insurance market into a government entity; Elmendorf didn’t explain it, just saying that it was somewhere between 85% and 90%).

One question for those who argued that liberals could easily bargain away the public option for something really valuable and good – how does “nothing” sound to you?

So tonight the broad parameters of Barack Obama’s, Rahm Emanuel’s, and Harry Reid’s big sell out of “Health Care Reform” have become clear-

No reform at all, just a mandate that you spend 20% of your income so that Insurance Companies are guaranteed 20% profits.

Oh, and we’re going to take away your right to choose.

Thanks for nothing Democrats.

Updated!

Now with content!

A member of the House Progressive Caucus staked his reputation on restoring funding for a canceled Pentagon program and managed to secure $100 million for Lockheed Martin to keep the defunct and unwanted VH-71 presidential helicopter program alive.

President Obama said in Feburary that the project was “an example of the procurement process gone amok and we are going to have to fix it.”

However this Friday, The Hill reported Rep. Maurice Hinchley secured the $100 million commitment to the defunct program. Hinchley, a Democrat representing the 22nd congressional district of New York, said in a statement:

Although I was not able to achieve my complete objective, which was to fully continue all aspects of Lockheed Martin’s Increment 1 presidential helicopter, this funding will save about 250 jobs in Owego that would have been lost without it.

[I posted this diary On Daily Kos this morning.  It’s on the Rec List and well received by some on all “sides” of this divide, although a few people also personally attacked me and rejected any attempt at reaproachment and peace.  There are some who personally hate me and seek no coalition on Daily Kos.  Rather, they seek total victory in which many people leave, especially the “evil” TomP.  I think that is harmful to all of us, just as a total victory on Daily Kos would be harmful.  The left and center need each other now.

It is not fun to lose friends, to be called a racist or to be hated.  Nonetheless, I have to what I think is right and speak the truths I see.  Others may see different truths and I should strive to respect that they do see things differently.  As a human being, no doubt I will fall short in that, but I’ll try anyway.  

I thought I should I post this diary here, where many people are more critical of President Obama.  The two updates are very important, for they are comments from strong supporters of President Obama who do seek peace and coalition.  Peace happens with people who have been “enemies” find common ground and cease hostilities.  I have to let go of past anger just as they do.  Anyway, for your comments.]  

http://www.dailykos.com/story/…

On 60 Minutes last night, the President addressed many issues, including the economy.  One thing I found to be very important and encouraging was his strong statement regarding banks:

Obama: I did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of, you know, fat cat bankers on Wall Street.

60 Minutes

There has been a lot of support and criticism of Barack Obama here, often much of it personal and not issue-based on all sides.

I believe the President when he says this.  I believe he really wants some change.  My hope is that he will take stronger measures to obtain change in our economy.

More, after the fold

The wily liberals finally come clean on Obama and their own damn selves:

You didn’t really expect hope and change, did you?

Shorter Brad “Ich bin der Prozess” @Sadly, No!:

Barack Obama’s failings are OUR fault!

As the realizations begin sinking in, the excuses for Barack Obama’s loathsome and herculean efforts to prop up the status quo of the ruling class at all costs-and I do mean ALL COSTS, human and financial–are variegated and mind-numbing.  Not to mention schtupid and counterproductive.

Taibbi’s spanking the President on his massively corrupt Wall Street bail-out should cause the man to resign in disgrace.  Immediately.  Taxpayers could be on the hook for $24 trillion in gambling losses?  With no percentage in any upside, strong anti-reform measures, and potentially on the hook for further, ongoing, crippling gambling losses?  While we lose our livelihoods, homes, pensions, public services, AND get shafted on mandated private health insurance?  Maybe Brad fundamentally disagrees with Taibbi’s painfully accurate assessment of the President:

I basically agree with everything the guy says

Leider, nein.    Like many others, Brad is just relieved that Obama is not the second coming of Dick Cheney or Anton Chigur.  And that’s good enough for him.  I guess he’s still got his job.  And his home.  And his health insurance.  Your expecting anything more than not expanding torture to a mall near you  is not really Obama’s fault.  It’s our fault.  For reading the man’s signals wrong.

At the end of his Rolling Stone article, Taibbi asks

What’s most troubling is that we don’t know if Obama has changed, or if the influence of Wall Street is simply a fundamental and ineradicable element of our electoral system. What we do know is that Barack Obama pulled a bait-and-switch on us. If it were any other politician, we wouldn’t be surprised. Maybe it’s our fault, for thinking he was different.

To which Brad aka Joseph K “I am one who is on trial here!” responds:

Well, yeah, it sort of is.

Now I get what Obama really meant by “The Audacity of Hope,” subtitled, “The Recklessness.”    

I suppose the evisceration of Nuremberg is my fault too.  And torture.  And lying about Afghanistan.  While accepting a peace prize.   Well, yeah, maybe I should go to jail for abetting war crimes.  Can anyone tell me what is the procedure for prosecuting myself?   The rules are kind of opaque around here anymore.  A little help?  Anyone?  Please?

You didn’t really expect hope and change, did you?

Sadly, yes.

By believing passionately in something that still does not exist, we create it. The nonexistent is whatever we have not sufficiently desired.

Franz Kafka

He watched her, his chin in his hand. All right, he said. This is the best I can do.

He straightened out his leg and reached into his pocket and drew out a few coins and took one and held it up. He turned it. For her to see the justice of it. He held it between his thumb and forefinger and weighed it and he flipped it spinning in the air and caught it and slapped it down on his wrist. Call it, he said.

She looked at him, at his outheld wrist. What? She said.

Call it.

I wont do it.

Yes you will. Call it

God would not want me to do that.

Of course he would. You should try to save yourself. Call it. This is your last chance.

Heads, she said.

He lifted his hand away. The coin was tails.

I’m sorry.

She didnt answer.

Maybe it’s for the best.

She looked away. You make it like it was the coin. But you’re the one.

It could have gone either way.

The coin didnt have no say. It was just you.

Perhaps. But look at it my way. I got here the same way the coin did.

She sat sobbing softly. She didnt answer.

For things at a common destination there is a common path. Not always easy to see. But there.

Everything I ever thought has turned out different, she said. There aint the least part of my life I could of guessed. Not this, not none of it.

I know.

You wouldnt of let me off noway.

I had no say in the matter. Every moment in your life is a turning and every one a choosing. Somewhere you made a choice. All followed to this. The accounting is scrupulous. The shape is drawn. No line can be erased. I had no belief in your ability to move a coin to your bidding. How could you? A person’s path through the world seldom changes and even more seldom will it change abruptly. And the shape of your path was visible from the beginning.

She sat sobbing. She shook her head.

Yet even though I could have told you how all of this would end I thought it not too much to ask that you have a final glimpse of hope in the world to lift your heart before the shroud drops, the darkness. Do you see?

Oh God, she said. Oh God.

I’m sorry.

She looked at him a final time. You dont have to, she said. You dont. You dont.

He shook his head. You’re asking that I make myself vulnerable and that I can never do. I have only one way to live. It doesnt allow for special cases. A coin toss perhaps. In this case to small purpose. Most people dont believe that there can be such a person. You can see what a problem that must be for them. How to prevail over that which you refuse to acknowledge the existence of. Do you understand? When I came into your life your life was over. It had a beginning, a middle, and an end. This is the end. You can say that things could have turned out differently. That they could have been some other way. But what does that mean? They are not some other way. They are this way. You’re asking that I second say the world. Do you see?

Yes, she said, sobbing. I do. I truly do.

Good, he said. That’s good. Then he shot her.

To be fair to Anton Chigur, he actually flipped the coin, but I couldn’t otherwise resist the parallel.

The Anti-Imperialist League was founded in 1889 as an opposition group, intended to counter what was then seen as an imperialistic approach toward Cuba and the Phillipines.  

After the Spanish-American War (April-August, 1898), the Treaty of Paris, finalized in December, 1898, granted the United States control over Cuba, Guam, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico.  

I hope all of you have been following  the developments on Firedog Lake, especially on the FDL Action Page and FDL News Desk (dday).

I’ve been trying to find a way to summarize the posts, a quote or two that conveys the enormity of the sellout we’re experiencing, but I’m at a loss and perhaps you can help.

Drug Reimportation

Harry Reid, Crook for PhRMA, Tries To Kill Drug Reimportation

By: Jane Hamsher Thursday December 10, 2009 7:21 pm

Reid, White House Trying To Bury Reimportation Amendment

By: David Dayen Friday December 11, 2009 6:00 am

Basically, the deal between the White House and the pharmaceutical industry didn’t allow for any circumstance that would save consumers $106 billion over ten years by being able to purchase cheaper drugs. Some liberals have objected on the grounds that Republicans are making bad-faith arguments about the value of a single negotiator, but as a means to block drug customers from tens of billions in savings annually, it’s a weak argument. And it’s especially weak when the only reason it’s being held up, despite massive support, is that the White House doesn’t want to take a big bite out of Big PhRMa.

My emphasis.

Loophole Adds Annual Limits on Insurance Coverage For High-Cost Illnesses In Senate Bill

By: David Dayen Friday December 11, 2009 8:18 am

Why would this cap on treatments of cancer and other illnesses be instituted? The answer could lie in biologics. Under the current health care bills, drugmakers would be allowed to keep their exclusivity on expensive biologic drugs for at least twelve years and perhaps permanently, thanks to the evergreening clause. These are drugs that cost as much as $80,000 a year annually, and without the prospect of low-cost generic versions, that number will only increase. These drugs offer the hope of treatment for crippling diseases, but the cost is prohibitive to individuals. By preserving the drugmaker’s ability to charge that price, the insurance companies may not want to be stuck with the bill. So a cap on annual spending for the kinds of diseases these drugs treat would pass the costs on to the patient.

Obama and Reid’s War Against Bringing Down Americans’ Health Care Costs

By: Jon Walker Friday December 11, 2009 8:51 am

What is sickening is that Obama campaigned on this rather small, common sense cost controlling idea. Yet Obama traded away drug re-importation to PhRMA in a sweetheart deal. He also traded away direct drug price negotiation in the same deal. Obama and Reid have clearly taken the side of protecting corporate profits instead of bringing down health care costs for regular Americans. I shutter to think of all the other good cost control ideas Obama and Reid were able to more quietly kill as part of some secret industry deal that we still don’t know about. Next time they send Peter Orzsag to pimp all the awesome “bending the cost curve” ideas in the bill, the appropriate response from reporters is to laugh in his face. For the past few days, Obama and Reid have rather publicly fought against bringing down America’s health care costs.

Dorgan Does Right Thing, Holds Up Senate Health Care Debate Until He Gets Reimportation Vote

By: David Dayen Friday December 11, 2009 1:16 pm

The big story here is not that the White House wants to crush Byron Dorgan’s reimportation amendment and hold up their deal with Big PhRMa – that’s been clear for a while. The big news is that Dorgan’s fighting back:

It’s NOT Medicare

I Can Believe It’s Not Medicare: Get Ready For Fake Medicare Buy-In

By: Jon Walker Friday December 11, 2009 7:01 am

This change would result in this fake Medicare program having much higher premiums and a smaller provider network. It would also result in greater administrative overhead. This fake Medicare would lack almost all the benefits of Medicare. A Medicare buy-in program that does not actually allow people to fully buy into real Medicare is a farce. Beware: it looks like we are about to get fake Medicare for Christmas.

Benefit Caps

Harry Reid Slips Lifetime Limit Into Senate Bill

By: Jane Hamsher Friday December 11, 2009 8:34 am

Reid, who is solely responsible for crafting the bill that he introduced in the Senate, decided that there should be a limit on lifetime benefits. So when people get sick and have huge bills for things like biologic drugs that cost $50,000 or $100,000 a year, whose bills could become “unreasonable” because Congress is granting drug manufacturers “indefinite monopolies” (per Henry Waxman) that prevent generics from coming to market to compete with them, Harry Reid thinks they should eventually be cut off:

So Much For Health Care Consumer Protection: Reid Guts Ban On Annual Limits

By: Jon Walker Friday December 11, 2009 9:30 am

For all those apologists who say we should absolutely pass a health care bill, even without a public option, because it still “has so many great consumer protections,” I have a rude awakening for you. The AP is reporting that Harry Reid quietly gutted one of the most important consumer protections in the bill, the ban on annual limits:

HHS Knew About Reid’s "Annual Limit"

By: Jane Hamsher Friday December 11, 2009 12:23 pm

Funny that nobody thought to tell the public.  How many more of these things do we not know about?

You’re Right, Harry Reid, Fake Insurance Is Much "Cheaper" Than Real Insurance

By: Jon Walker Friday December 11, 2009 1:13 pm

The reason Reid dropped the annual limit from the Senate bill was to make his bill appear cheaper in the CBO score, and make insurance premiums appear lower.

No ‘Cost Savings’ in “Compromise”

CMS: Excise Tax On Insurance Will Make Your Insurance Coverage Worse And Cause Almost No Reduction In NHE

By: Jon Walker Friday December 11, 2009 12:31 pm

The new excise tax on employer-provided health insurance will result in most people getting worse health insurance from their employer, insurance that covers less. That is just not my conclusion, it is the conclusion of the CMS.

Highlights Of CMS Analysis Of Senate’s Bill

By: Jon Walker Friday December 11, 2009 3:47 pm

So my summary is this-

Harry Reid, with Barack Obama’s at least tacit complicity, has decided to turn “Health Care Reform” into “Insurance Industry/PhARMA Welfare”.

You will be mandated by the Government to pay at least 20% of your annual income for Health Care because of expensive, crappy insurance that doesn’t cover anything and artificially inflated medical costs.

And it won’t save the taxpayers a dime.

Not to mention taking away a Woman’s Right to Choose.

This is worse than nothing.  Thanks Democrats.

No Public Option, No Mandate.

Since today is my Father’s birthday, I thought I’d share a brief story about one of his experiences 40 years ago, and how learning about this experience contributed to my perspective today.

On November 15, 1969, my Father was in Washington DC for what is still the single largest anti-war protest in American history to date — the second Moratorium against the Vietnam War, in which it has been estimated that between 250,000 and 750,000 citizens arrived to demonstrate in the nation’s capital.  As a lieutenant commander in the United States Public Health Service, my Father was volunteering on site at a medical van as part of an emergency response team.  He helped treat several patients who were suffering from burns and injuries when police tear gassed a group of demonstrators who protested violently later on during the day.  In fact, he even suffered eye burns of his own from the tear gas, simply by being in the vicinity where police and demonstrators clashed.

buhdy says there is no key, but I might have picked it up on a side street! I’m not sure if it’ll fit in the lock, but it just might. So I would like your help and your feedback, if you can spare a few minutes to read this today.

Last night, in a fit of SheKos mania (wherein I examined all the diaries I had missed), I rejoined Dkos. It really sucks to have to un-GBCW. 🙂

But you guys have taught me a ton of shit in the sad little 5 days that I was away. The wool is no longer pulled over my eyes. And I have been hashing it out all morning on the GOS with Obama supporters who keep using extremist language and, in effect, putting words in my mouth.

And then it kind of hit me, like a ton of bricks: THEY TOTALLY NEED US! We don’t fucking need them. I mean, the country is in the shitter as it is – seriously, how much worse can it get? Not much. Come reelection time, some of us Dharma Bums will vote for President Obama again, some of us will stay home, and some of us will go indie/3rd party. And if they want the prez to get reelected, they’re going to need to learn how to kiss our collective ass.

WE’RE the ones in power. HA HA! SCORE!

So says John Aravosis.

Think it could have anything to do with this?

Don’t Be Shocked When The Democratic Base Does Not Turn Out In 2010.