Hm, "a system of "nonprofit cooperatives,"
Sounds like the bullshit health care those of us not fortunate enought to have an employer already get.
Charity health care.
I went to an appointment with one of the only free health care providers here in LA last week..
-I waited for the appointment to become a patient [just to BECOME a patient] for 4 months
-I inquired about dental, apparently the dental program is full. Sorry.
-I inquired about eye, we only do exams for glasses. If you have contacts, sorry.
-I made an appointment to get my cholesterol checked, per doctors suggestion, I can go in and get the results in October.
Can we get someone in office to give up their EMPLOYER health care and navigate what you actually get when navigating through the BS of not having insurance?
I don't care make that s*&^ work nomatter how it is or who gets pissed off. Always assume that you aren't going to be in power much longer so make the best thing possible for the people.
You know what that means, fellow liberals! Let's haul our crazy-suits out of the closet and get our asses down to those town halls to make our voices heard.
"Obama wants us all to die, which is why he refuses to give us health care!"
@My_Latest_Incarnation: Reassuring - I guess it was to see how pissed off people would get. Regardless, I'm gonna write my reps, even though they're all liberals who support the public option, just to add a voice to the chorus.
If there is not a strong public option in the healthcare reform bill not only will I NOT be aiding you come re-election. I will actively be campaigning against not only you, but every single Democrat that Rahm Emanuel got into office.
Pres. Obama,
I understand that the president has to make concessions once he is in office, but this is ridiculous. You're backing down on something you heavily emphasized during the campaign and throughout the first months of the presidency. Health care equity can't exist without a public option. Take care of this shizz.
Thanks,
HappyHydrozoan
I'm late to the party, but I just found out about this and I am friggin bummed. Especially tomorrow I was starting a job as a canvasser to get money to push for public health insurance! WTF?!!
PISSED describes how I feel right now, and given that my congressman and both senators are Reps who fought against this, I don't even want to write to them because I'm sure that would make them feel more smug.
Maybe going to bed will give me a clearer head tomorrow. I'm so disappointed in the WH right now.
I read today that you are dropping the public health care option. I may as well vote for Sarah Palin in the next election. At least I know that when she speaks she is lying to me, I had been holding you to a higher standard.
Health care reform without a STRONG public option is no reform at all. You have the power, you have the votes, push it though with reconciliation if you have to, that is why we elected you.
I can't tell you how many letters and phone calls that my congress woman, senators and the pres. have recv'd from me on this one issue.
Obama is much more of a centrist than I would like in my prez. I knew this from the beginning and had no illusions. However, he has no excuse here. If he caves on this for the sake of bipartisanship or so that they have a victory (no matter how watered down), I feel that I may actually may feel even worse about my country and it's leaders than I did when GWB was pres.
@WashingMyHair: I had no illusions either, but he is especially centrist to the point of making one cynical about his aspirations having been the presidency so he could lead this country, or the presidency so he could run for a second term. Between health care and the plight of the homosexual he is a non-starter, and has done very little to give me confidence that either of these issues will have rectification by 2012. Good thing the world is prophesized to end not long after Palin's election as Queen Of Poundcakes and America will take place.
So, wait... does this mean we should all start hating Obama now? I know we're kind of disappointed in him now, but does that mean we should collectively turn our backs on him for the rest of his term?
Someone help me out here, please. I realize this is discouraging, but I just need to be sure we're not throwing the baby out with the bath water.
@ladyM2000: We should not start hating Obama. We should get the message that those of us who are pro-public plan really need to get off our assess and get vocal.
I'm about as liberal as you can be, and I find certain lefty reactions to shit like this disturbing. There's an AP report out that the White House is softening on public plan, and people start throwing up their hands and declaring they're done with the Obama Admin? Fuck no! Hold him accountable, hold them all accountable! Fight for it! There's nothing noble about melodramatic pronouncements and abandoning the cause at the first sign of trouble.
Suit up, liberals. No one said this would be easy.
@limber: You're absolutely right. Why is it that the other side is so damn effective at organizing at manipulating the discourse? We need more shrewdness in the democratic party.
@ladyM2000: It's not about "hating Obama," it's about having some STANDARDS as to insisting people we elect to enact certain reforms enact the reforms that we elected them to enact.
Obama said he would work for healthcare, getting out of Iraq, and ending DADT even though his record on all 3 of those issues has been far from progressive. And now he's bailing. He deserves to have his feel held to the fire. That's not "hating Obama", that's holding him accountable for what he said he would do. (Not that it is surprising that he is bailing on these things, given that his record is hardly progressive on these issues.)
@AvantGardenia: YES, esp the DADT bit. I feel taken for a ride on that one, but at least it's not costing me prohibitively the way that not having insurance is. Jesus, people aren't crazy for being upset that their elected leader has party leadership in the House and in the Senate, including a pretty bulletproof majority in the latter, and he can't get this shit together. What's the fucking holdup? This bipartisanship crap isn't going to undo the last eight years, and it's not going to give us any sort of progressive legislation when the minority is run by zealots who run opposed to anything he says and does. I'm so confused about President Obama's intentions right now to the point where I'd rather Joe Biden have the seat. At least that crazy old coot shoots from the hip.
Okay, I haven't done this since I was in sixth grade, but I have just fired off a letter to one of my senators (one of those 'blue dog' assholes), another to the president, and now I'm working on my representative and Kathleen Sebelius.
It gets my goat that despite the overwhelming mandate from voters, a Dem. house and senate, the right has controlled the health care debate from the get-go.
@American as Apple Pie: I need a form letter to send off. Otherwise it'll just come out as, "Jesus H. Christ, grow a freakin' pair!" And that, I think, would probably not be very effective.
@dj_chick: I wrote a stupid letter to one of my congresspersons but they are in favor of it anyway. I would love a well written form letter at all. I sound so stupid when I write letters.
@dj_chick: I'm drafting a different letter for each of them (like I said, I'm fired up). But even a short and sweet paragraph should get the job done. "Dear X, I'm writing to tell you how I feel about Y, which is blah blah blah. And by the way, grow a pair (if you want it to have your personal touch). Signed, dj_chick."
@Miss Scarlett is made of sugar and spice and...: I'd say a personal letter is better than a form letter. It shows you're really pissed. Cut and paste just shows you go to the right websites.
It doesn't need to be eloquent, you can write a few sentences. "This was promised, this is needed. I voted for you on that premise, and if you balk, I won't forget it next election." Terse might actually be more useful in this instance.
@limber: I know and am working on a short one now. Like millions of Americans I have no insurance right now due to a job loss of my spouse so I am mentioning that.
@American as Apple Pie: I wrote a short little something, including a few health care facts that I pulled from the 'net. They all got the same one, but I suppose since I actually wrote it myself, that'll work. ;)
@Miss Scarlett is made of sugar and spice and...: Something I don't understand at all is that I know a few people who don't have health insurance right now, and they're still against this! Seriously? You don't want health care? *headdesk*
@dj_chick: Even before the job loss I was for a public option. My company has it but a) it would be 600$ for the 2 of a month and b) I can't enroll now because it is the middle of the year.
@ClementinedeWinter: The sad thing is, I think he's doing this because he DOES want to. It's probably his view that a centrist gets reelected with any discernible mandate of the *entire* spectrum of the country, and anyway there's no other real reason for him succumb so easily to the whims of the Republican Party. What is so sad, though, is that this isn't winning him any conservative votes, and it's losing him liberal votes. Ted Kennedy ran against an incumbent Jimmy Carter in 1980; if the next three and a half years are going to be like this, I would vote for a liberal Democrat going against Barack Obama in a heartbeat. Kennedy of course lost to Carter, and then Carter lost to Regan, but at least my grandparents voted knowing that they'd picked someone who they believed in during the primaries.
Seriously, Mr. President: this shit shouldn't happen with Democrats occupying the White House, the Senate, and the House. This should've been rammed through in June and be applicable before the year's end. Oy humbug.
@ampersandparade: I'm not on board with the idea that a man's objectives should have been achieved within the first 6 months of his presidency, and I'm going to need more evidence of chicanery before I change my vote.
Putting it simply, I don't think the "ram it through" technique works very well in the long run, especially at this stage in a presidency. I don't see a lot of this as centrism or succumbing, I see it as chess. Not everything has to be confrontational and a fierce victory. An example would be Wilberforce and abolition in England -- just keep shuffling the pieces until things are lined up in a way you can make a decisive strike.
I have immense trouble with people who expect immediate returns on their investment, ignoring climate and logic. Curiously, the Republicans are pretty good at celebrating each minor success as a towering victory, while Democrats are masters of nitpicking each and every grain of sand that makes up a momentous task.
@limber: Your sentiments are not shared. I have no time to wait for long moves of chess, no patience or means to wait until every single congressman or person is happy. I voted for results, and if this is what Obama is delivering I'll be more than happy to vote in someone else who will be willing to bash heads and take names.
@RollRoll: To be clear, I don't think there's middle ground here, I think we need a public option. If he doesn't get it through, then Obama and I have issues. However, I also don't think that a single report from the AP that the WH is considering dropping the public option is the same as "The WH has decided to drop the public option entirely, forever, the end! All our promises were lies and evil!"
I think this rumour is a trial balloon, to gin up the pro-public forces who have been standing back while the TeaBaggers lose their shit on CNN. But we're in trouble if people focus on bashing Obama, rather than advocating fiercely for the public plan to press him into adherence. I mean, what's the point of focusing anger at Obama and writing off his presidency? The goal here is healthcare reform. So fight for THAT, not the next election cycle.
To interpret the AP report as a white flag is a mistake. It's a red flag, and should be reacted to as such.
This makes me sick. When I think of all the people (myself included) who calmly protested the Iraq war and how we were ignored and then see these people going batshit about nothing getting the administration to cave I just want to puke.
@AmbivalentAlumna: I wish I could promote comments. You are so right, it's such a stark difference. I felt so helpless protesting Iraq before we went in, because it didn't matter how many voices were strongly against it, it was what the country was doing. If you don't like it, too bad. Now, some people get up in arms about fictional "death panels" and we change OUR agenda?
I actually voted for Obama wanting an end to the partisanship. I'm all for listening to the other side and making reasonable compromise, but that's not what this is. I don't want to give up a public option because of outcry over concerns that don't exist. I don't believe Obama needs to be bully like GWB was. But, damn... the administration should only allow for *reasonable* debate and *reasonable* concessions! Not this B.S.
08/17/09
Sounds like the bullshit health care those of us not fortunate enought to have an employer already get.
Charity health care.
I went to an appointment with one of the only free health care providers here in LA last week..
-I waited for the appointment to become a patient [just to BECOME a patient] for 4 months
-I inquired about dental, apparently the dental program is full. Sorry.
-I inquired about eye, we only do exams for glasses. If you have contacts, sorry.
-I made an appointment to get my cholesterol checked, per doctors suggestion, I can go in and get the results in October.
Can we get someone in office to give up their EMPLOYER health care and navigate what you actually get when navigating through the BS of not having insurance?
08/17/09
08/16/09
"Obama wants us all to die, which is why he refuses to give us health care!"
That's how we do it here in the USA.
08/17/09
08/16/09
Press sec'y didn't say it's off the table:
[rawstory.com]
08/16/09
[politics.theatlantic.com]
08/17/09
08/16/09
08/16/09
If there is not a strong public option in the healthcare reform bill not only will I NOT be aiding you come re-election. I will actively be campaigning against not only you, but every single Democrat that Rahm Emanuel got into office.
08/16/09
I understand that the president has to make concessions once he is in office, but this is ridiculous. You're backing down on something you heavily emphasized during the campaign and throughout the first months of the presidency. Health care equity can't exist without a public option. Take care of this shizz.
Thanks,
HappyHydrozoan
08/16/09
08/16/09
08/16/09
Maybe going to bed will give me a clearer head tomorrow. I'm so disappointed in the WH right now.
08/16/09
08/16/09
I read today that you are dropping the public health care option. I may as well vote for Sarah Palin in the next election. At least I know that when she speaks she is lying to me, I had been holding you to a higher standard.
Health care reform without a STRONG public option is no reform at all. You have the power, you have the votes, push it though with reconciliation if you have to, that is why we elected you.
08/16/09
Obama is much more of a centrist than I would like in my prez. I knew this from the beginning and had no illusions. However, he has no excuse here. If he caves on this for the sake of bipartisanship or so that they have a victory (no matter how watered down), I feel that I may actually may feel even worse about my country and it's leaders than I did when GWB was pres.
08/16/09
08/16/09
Someone help me out here, please. I realize this is discouraging, but I just need to be sure we're not throwing the baby out with the bath water.
08/16/09
I'm about as liberal as you can be, and I find certain lefty reactions to shit like this disturbing. There's an AP report out that the White House is softening on public plan, and people start throwing up their hands and declaring they're done with the Obama Admin? Fuck no! Hold him accountable, hold them all accountable! Fight for it! There's nothing noble about melodramatic pronouncements and abandoning the cause at the first sign of trouble.
Suit up, liberals. No one said this would be easy.
08/16/09
08/16/09
08/16/09
Obama said he would work for healthcare, getting out of Iraq, and ending DADT even though his record on all 3 of those issues has been far from progressive. And now he's bailing. He deserves to have his feel held to the fire. That's not "hating Obama", that's holding him accountable for what he said he would do. (Not that it is surprising that he is bailing on these things, given that his record is hardly progressive on these issues.)
08/16/09
08/16/09
It gets my goat that despite the overwhelming mandate from voters, a Dem. house and senate, the right has controlled the health care debate from the get-go.
Damn, I'm pissed.
08/16/09
08/16/09
08/16/09
08/16/09
It doesn't need to be eloquent, you can write a few sentences. "This was promised, this is needed. I voted for you on that premise, and if you balk, I won't forget it next election." Terse might actually be more useful in this instance.
08/16/09
08/16/09
08/16/09
08/16/09
08/16/09
08/17/09
Here
08/16/09
08/16/09
Seriously, Mr. President: this shit shouldn't happen with Democrats occupying the White House, the Senate, and the House. This should've been rammed through in June and be applicable before the year's end. Oy humbug.
08/16/09
Putting it simply, I don't think the "ram it through" technique works very well in the long run, especially at this stage in a presidency. I don't see a lot of this as centrism or succumbing, I see it as chess. Not everything has to be confrontational and a fierce victory. An example would be Wilberforce and abolition in England -- just keep shuffling the pieces until things are lined up in a way you can make a decisive strike.
I have immense trouble with people who expect immediate returns on their investment, ignoring climate and logic. Curiously, the Republicans are pretty good at celebrating each minor success as a towering victory, while Democrats are masters of nitpicking each and every grain of sand that makes up a momentous task.
08/16/09
08/16/09
I think this rumour is a trial balloon, to gin up the pro-public forces who have been standing back while the TeaBaggers lose their shit on CNN. But we're in trouble if people focus on bashing Obama, rather than advocating fiercely for the public plan to press him into adherence. I mean, what's the point of focusing anger at Obama and writing off his presidency? The goal here is healthcare reform. So fight for THAT, not the next election cycle.
To interpret the AP report as a white flag is a mistake. It's a red flag, and should be reacted to as such.
08/16/09
08/16/09
I actually voted for Obama wanting an end to the partisanship. I'm all for listening to the other side and making reasonable compromise, but that's not what this is. I don't want to give up a public option because of outcry over concerns that don't exist. I don't believe Obama needs to be bully like GWB was. But, damn... the administration should only allow for *reasonable* debate and *reasonable* concessions! Not this B.S.