|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
|
|
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6 |
 Nambla Zick's insistence on retitling this thread "health care" is instructive in his (and the typical liberal's) way of operating.
"Health care" is, of course, a very broad term. Generally, it applies to the treatment and management of illness (ie, the services provided by a doctor). In fact, a thread about "health care" could be about medical procedures, physician experience or any of a myriad number of topics.
Lately, however, liberals have tried to make it refer to, basically, how we PAY for health care. For example, the bills in Congress relate, not to health care per se, but to insurance and other methods of paying for health care.
The reason for this is simple. They don't want to talk about a government takeover of 1/6 of the economy. So they label this a debate about medical treatment and not economics, taxes and the like.
In fact, they so don't want to talk about what this is really about that I predict that Nambla Zick won't even respond to what I've just written. He'll either try to change the subject or just quote himself again so that he can try to shift the debate (and thread title) to something more in line with his Soros-generated talking points. At best he'll put forth a brief "no YOU ARE" response just so he can re-title the thread.
Emphasis added. I was right again.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
|
|
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6 |
The $100,000 Obamacare Policy: Polls show that our number-one health-care concern — by far — is lowering costs. But the proposed Democratic health-care overhaul would raise health costs
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 16,203 Likes: 80
Fair Play! 15000+ posts
|
|
Fair Play! 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 16,203 Likes: 80 |
Fierce GOP Opposition Slows Senate's First Healthcare Votes
December 1, 2009
E-mail Print Share Text Size
Senate Democrats, facing stiff Republican opposition, were forced Tuesday to delay votes on the first set of amendments to the gargantuan healthcare bill – underscoring the fiercely partisan nature of the floor debate and threatening Democrats' tight timeline for achieving final passage.
Party leaders, scrambling to pass a bill by Christmas, had hoped to be able to approve a proposal Tuesday designed to expand women's access to preventive services such as mammograms, a provision favored by leading advocacy groups for cancer patients.
But instead, lawmakers spent much of the day tussling over the healthcare bill's potential impact on the 44-year-old federal Medicare program for seniors, a debate that has shadowed the healthcare legislation for months.
Democratic leaders are proposing to offset the cost of expanding coverage to some 31 million people over the next decade in part by cutting future Medicare payments to hospitals, nursing homes and other providers.
Insurance companies that contract with the federal government to provide Medicare Advantage plans with extra benefits to about one in four Medicare beneficiaries also face major cuts, which could prompt some insurers to drop their plans.
Many healthcare policy experts believe cuts are necessary to make the nation's healthcare system more efficient and to provide incentives for higher quality care--critical goals if the Medicare program is to remain solvent. Without changes, Medicare's main fund is slated to run of money in 2017.
The Senate healthcare bill has also won praise from independent groups such as the AARP, the nation's leading advocate for seniors, which has been working to reassure its members that healthcare legislation does not jeopardize their Medicare benefits.
Yet many seniors remain nervous about a health overhaul, and Republicans took to the Senate floor all day Tuesday to renew their claims that the cuts would harm seniors.
"How many times have you heard from senior citizens in your state saying, 'I paid into this trust fund. I paid for my Medicare all my life. Now it's going to be cut. How is that fair? How is that fair to my generation, the greatest generation?,'" Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) asked.
McCain pushed to send the healthcare bill back to committee with instructions to restore more than $400 billion in proposed cuts in federal healthcare spending over the next decade, much of it in Medicare.
The GOP charges infuriated Democrats, who pointed out that many Republicans have voted for even deeper cuts to Medicare spending in the past. When McCain was running for president, his top aide talked of trimming Medicare spending to fund new tax credits to help Americans buy health benefits.
"Talk about crocodile tears," Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said on the Senate floor Tuesday. "Was it not Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House, leader of the Republican revolution, that said he wanted Medicare to, quote , "wither on the vine?" Was it not Senator Bob Dole, the (Republican) standard-bearer for president in the 1990's, who said he had fought against Medicare and was proud he voted against it?"
Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe, a centrist from Maine who objects to portions of Reid's bill, also took issue Tuesday with the allegations that the legislation would hurt Medicare beneficiaries.
"There are going to be a lot of rewards for seniors in this and no reductions in their benefits," Snowe said. "Ultimately, it buoys the system overall in the future."
... I'll just keep requoting till G-man the pedophile settles down.
Fair play!
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 17,801
terrible podcaster 15000+ posts
|
|
terrible podcaster 15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 17,801 |
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 16,203 Likes: 80
Fair Play! 15000+ posts
|
|
Fair Play! 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 16,203 Likes: 80 |
Quick Fact: Baier distorts CBO report to claim premiums "will actually go up" under Senate bill
December 01, 2009 11:47 pm ET — 1 Comments
On Fox News' Special Report, anchor Bret Baier misrepresented the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) analysis of the Senate health care bill's effect on insurance premiums by claiming that "depending on how you read" the report, insurance "premiums for many people will actually go up" under the bill. In fact, CBO estimated that premiums would only increase for individuals purchasing insurance on their own -- about 17 percent of the insurance market in 2016 -- and that affordability credits would substantially lower costs for many of those individuals, a majority of whom would receive those subsidies through the exchanges.
...
Fair play!
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 17,801
terrible podcaster 15000+ posts
|
|
terrible podcaster 15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 17,801 |
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
|
|
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308 |
Quick Fact: Baier distorts CBO report to claim premiums "will actually go up" under Senate bill
December 01, 2009 11:47 pm ET — 1 Comments
On Fox News' Special Report, anchor Bret Baier misrepresented the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) analysis of the Senate health care bill's effect on insurance premiums by claiming that "depending on how you read" the report, insurance "premiums for many people will actually go up" under the bill. In fact, CBO estimated that premiums would only increase for individuals purchasing insurance on their own -- about 17 percent of the insurance market in 2016 -- and that affordability credits would substantially lower costs for many of those individuals, a majority of whom would receive those subsidies through the exchanges.
...
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
|
|
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308 |
Quick Fact: Baier distorts CBO report to claim premiums "will actually go up" under Senate bill
December 01, 2009 11:47 pm ET — 1 Comments
On Fox News' Special Report, anchor Bret Baier misrepresented the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) analysis of the Senate health care bill's effect on insurance premiums by claiming that "depending on how you read" the report, insurance "premiums for many people will actually go up" under the bill. In fact, CBO estimated that premiums would only increase for individuals purchasing insurance on their own -- about 17 percent of the insurance market in 2016 -- and that affordability credits would substantially lower costs for many of those individuals, a majority of whom would receive those subsidies through the exchanges.
...
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
|
|
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308 |
Quick Fact: Baier distorts CBO report to claim premiums "will actually go up" under Senate bill
December 01, 2009 11:47 pm ET — 1 Comments
On Fox News' Special Report, anchor Bret Baier misrepresented the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) analysis of the Senate health care bill's effect on insurance premiums by claiming that "depending on how you read" the report, insurance "premiums for many people will actually go up" under the bill. In fact, CBO estimated that premiums would only increase for individuals purchasing insurance on their own -- about 17 percent of the insurance market in 2016 -- and that affordability credits would substantially lower costs for many of those individuals, a majority of whom would receive those subsidies through the exchanges.
...
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
|
|
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308 |
Quick Fact: Baier distorts CBO report to claim premiums "will actually go up" under Senate bill
December 01, 2009 11:47 pm ET — 1 Comments
On Fox News' Special Report, anchor Bret Baier misrepresented the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) analysis of the Senate health care bill's effect on insurance premiums by claiming that "depending on how you read" the report, insurance "premiums for many people will actually go up" under the bill. In fact, CBO estimated that premiums would only increase for individuals purchasing insurance on their own -- about 17 percent of the insurance market in 2016 -- and that affordability credits would substantially lower costs for many of those individuals, a majority of whom would receive those subsidies through the exchanges.
...
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
|
|
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308 |
Quick Fact: Baier distorts CBO report to claim premiums "will actually go up" under Senate bill
December 01, 2009 11:47 pm ET — 1 Comments
On Fox News' Special Report, anchor Bret Baier misrepresented the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) analysis of the Senate health care bill's effect on insurance premiums by claiming that "depending on how you read" the report, insurance "premiums for many people will actually go up" under the bill. In fact, CBO estimated that premiums would only increase for individuals purchasing insurance on their own -- about 17 percent of the insurance market in 2016 -- and that affordability credits would substantially lower costs for many of those individuals, a majority of whom would receive those subsidies through the exchanges.
...
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
|
|
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308 |
Quick Fact: Baier distorts CBO report to claim premiums "will actually go up" under Senate bill
December 01, 2009 11:47 pm ET — 1 Comments
On Fox News' Special Report, anchor Bret Baier misrepresented the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) analysis of the Senate health care bill's effect on insurance premiums by claiming that "depending on how you read" the report, insurance "premiums for many people will actually go up" under the bill. In fact, CBO estimated that premiums would only increase for individuals purchasing insurance on their own -- about 17 percent of the insurance market in 2016 -- and that affordability credits would substantially lower costs for many of those individuals, a majority of whom would receive those subsidies through the exchanges.
...
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
|
|
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308 |
Quick Fact: Baier distorts CBO report to claim premiums "will actually go up" under Senate bill
December 01, 2009 11:47 pm ET — 1 Comments
On Fox News' Special Report, anchor Bret Baier misrepresented the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) analysis of the Senate health care bill's effect on insurance premiums by claiming that "depending on how you read" the report, insurance "premiums for many people will actually go up" under the bill. In fact, CBO estimated that premiums would only increase for individuals purchasing insurance on their own -- about 17 percent of the insurance market in 2016 -- and that affordability credits would substantially lower costs for many of those individuals, a majority of whom would receive those subsidies through the exchanges.
...
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
|
|
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308 |
Quick Fact: Baier distorts CBO report to claim premiums "will actually go up" under Senate bill
December 01, 2009 11:47 pm ET — 1 Comments
On Fox News' Special Report, anchor Bret Baier misrepresented the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) analysis of the Senate health care bill's effect on insurance premiums by claiming that "depending on how you read" the report, insurance "premiums for many people will actually go up" under the bill. In fact, CBO estimated that premiums would only increase for individuals purchasing insurance on their own -- about 17 percent of the insurance market in 2016 -- and that affordability credits would substantially lower costs for many of those individuals, a majority of whom would receive those subsidies through the exchanges.
...
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
|
|
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308 |
Quick Fact: Baier distorts CBO report to claim premiums "will actually go up" under Senate bill
December 01, 2009 11:47 pm ET — 1 Comments
On Fox News' Special Report, anchor Bret Baier misrepresented the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) analysis of the Senate health care bill's effect on insurance premiums by claiming that "depending on how you read" the report, insurance "premiums for many people will actually go up" under the bill. In fact, CBO estimated that premiums would only increase for individuals purchasing insurance on their own -- about 17 percent of the insurance market in 2016 -- and that affordability credits would substantially lower costs for many of those individuals, a majority of whom would receive those subsidies through the exchanges.
...
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
|
|
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308 |
Quick Fact: Baier distorts CBO report to claim premiums "will actually go up" under Senate bill
December 01, 2009 11:47 pm ET — 1 Comments
On Fox News' Special Report, anchor Bret Baier misrepresented the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) analysis of the Senate health care bill's effect on insurance premiums by claiming that "depending on how you read" the report, insurance "premiums for many people will actually go up" under the bill. In fact, CBO estimated that premiums would only increase for individuals purchasing insurance on their own -- about 17 percent of the insurance market in 2016 -- and that affordability credits would substantially lower costs for many of those individuals, a majority of whom would receive those subsidies through the exchanges.
...
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 17,801
terrible podcaster 15000+ posts
|
|
terrible podcaster 15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 17,801 |
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
|
|
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308 |
[quote=Matter-eater Man] Quick Fact: Baier distorts CBO report to claim premiums "will actually go up" under Senate bill
December 01, 2009 11:47 pm ET — 1 Comments
On Fox News' Special Report, anchor Bret Baier misrepresented the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) analysis of the Senate health care bill's effect on insurance premiums by claiming that "depending on how you read" the report, insurance "premiums for many people will actually go up" under the bill. In fact, CBO estimated that premiums would only increase for individuals purchasing insurance on their own -- about 17 percent of the insurance market in 2016 -- and that affordability credits would substantially lower costs for many of those individuals, a majority of whom would receive those subsidies through the exchanges.
... [/quote]
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
|
|
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308 |
[quote=rex][quote=Matter-eater Man] Quick Fact: Baier distorts CBO report to claim premiums "will actually go up" under Senate bill
December 01, 2009 11:47 pm ET — 1 Comments
On Fox News' Special Report, anchor Bret Baier misrepresented the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) analysis of the Senate health care bill's effect on insurance premiums by claiming that "depending on how you read" the report, insurance "premiums for many people will actually go up" under the bill. In fact, CBO estimated that premiums would only increase for individuals purchasing insurance on their own -- about 17 percent of the insurance market in 2016 -- and that affordability credits would substantially lower costs for many of those individuals, a majority of whom would receive those subsidies through the exchanges.
... [/quote] [/quote]
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 17,801
terrible podcaster 15000+ posts
|
|
terrible podcaster 15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 17,801 |
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
|
|
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6 |
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
|
|
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308 |
 fox news
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
|
|
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6 |
The bridge called. You're late for your shift under it.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 16,203 Likes: 80
Fair Play! 15000+ posts
|
|
Fair Play! 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 16,203 Likes: 80 |
G-man really can't handle it when Media Matters busts up one of his partisan talking points.
Fair play!
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 17,801
terrible podcaster 15000+ posts
|
|
terrible podcaster 15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 17,801 |
G-man really can't handle it when Media Matters busts up one of his partisan talking points.  media matters has never helped your cause and never will. the only thing I'm interested in reading from you is a suicide note. stop fagging up this forum worse than it already is.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
|
|
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6 |
G-man really can't handle it when Media Matters busts up one of his partisan talking points. media matters has never helped your cause and never will. the only thing I'm interested in reading from you is a suicide note. stop fagging up this forum worse than it already is.  Zick can't get it through his skull that printing editorials from a website he once admitted is partisan hardly "disproves" anything.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
|
|
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308 |
mem, partisan doesn't mean conservative. Learn what words mean and we might take you seriously.
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 17,801
terrible podcaster 15000+ posts
|
|
terrible podcaster 15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 17,801 |
stop giving him false hope reax.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
|
|
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308 |
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 16,203 Likes: 80
Fair Play! 15000+ posts
|
|
Fair Play! 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 16,203 Likes: 80 |
Fierce GOP Opposition Slows Senate's First Healthcare Votes
December 1, 2009
E-mail Print Share Text Size
Senate Democrats, facing stiff Republican opposition, were forced Tuesday to delay votes on the first set of amendments to the gargantuan healthcare bill – underscoring the fiercely partisan nature of the floor debate and threatening Democrats' tight timeline for achieving final passage.
Party leaders, scrambling to pass a bill by Christmas, had hoped to be able to approve a proposal Tuesday designed to expand women's access to preventive services such as mammograms, a provision favored by leading advocacy groups for cancer patients.
But instead, lawmakers spent much of the day tussling over the healthcare bill's potential impact on the 44-year-old federal Medicare program for seniors, a debate that has shadowed the healthcare legislation for months.
Democratic leaders are proposing to offset the cost of expanding coverage to some 31 million people over the next decade in part by cutting future Medicare payments to hospitals, nursing homes and other providers.
Insurance companies that contract with the federal government to provide Medicare Advantage plans with extra benefits to about one in four Medicare beneficiaries also face major cuts, which could prompt some insurers to drop their plans.
Many healthcare policy experts believe cuts are necessary to make the nation's healthcare system more efficient and to provide incentives for higher quality care--critical goals if the Medicare program is to remain solvent. Without changes, Medicare's main fund is slated to run of money in 2017.
The Senate healthcare bill has also won praise from independent groups such as the AARP, the nation's leading advocate for seniors, which has been working to reassure its members that healthcare legislation does not jeopardize their Medicare benefits.
Yet many seniors remain nervous about a health overhaul, and Republicans took to the Senate floor all day Tuesday to renew their claims that the cuts would harm seniors.
"How many times have you heard from senior citizens in your state saying, 'I paid into this trust fund. I paid for my Medicare all my life. Now it's going to be cut. How is that fair? How is that fair to my generation, the greatest generation?,'" Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) asked.
McCain pushed to send the healthcare bill back to committee with instructions to restore more than $400 billion in proposed cuts in federal healthcare spending over the next decade, much of it in Medicare.
The GOP charges infuriated Democrats, who pointed out that many Republicans have voted for even deeper cuts to Medicare spending in the past. When McCain was running for president, his top aide talked of trimming Medicare spending to fund new tax credits to help Americans buy health benefits.
"Talk about crocodile tears," Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said on the Senate floor Tuesday. "Was it not Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House, leader of the Republican revolution, that said he wanted Medicare to, quote , "wither on the vine?" Was it not Senator Bob Dole, the (Republican) standard-bearer for president in the 1990's, who said he had fought against Medicare and was proud he voted against it?"
Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe, a centrist from Maine who objects to portions of Reid's bill, also took issue Tuesday with the allegations that the legislation would hurt Medicare beneficiaries.
"There are going to be a lot of rewards for seniors in this and no reductions in their benefits," Snowe said. "Ultimately, it buoys the system overall in the future."
...
Fair play!
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 17,801
terrible podcaster 15000+ posts
|
|
terrible podcaster 15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 17,801 |
I did once. the nurse came and loosened the helmet straps and reminded me to keep breathing.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 17,801
terrible podcaster 15000+ posts
|
|
terrible podcaster 15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 17,801 |
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
|
|
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6 |
Zick's basically at Tommy Tantillo levels of broken now. I don't know whether to keep laughing or shake my head with pity.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 17,801
terrible podcaster 15000+ posts
|
|
terrible podcaster 15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 17,801 |
but tommy at least has entertainment value.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 16,203 Likes: 80
Fair Play! 15000+ posts
|
|
Fair Play! 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 16,203 Likes: 80 |
Fierce GOP Opposition Slows Senate's First Healthcare Votes
December 1, 2009
E-mail Print Share Text Size
Senate Democrats, facing stiff Republican opposition, were forced Tuesday to delay votes on the first set of amendments to the gargantuan healthcare bill – underscoring the fiercely partisan nature of the floor debate and threatening Democrats' tight timeline for achieving final passage.
Party leaders, scrambling to pass a bill by Christmas, had hoped to be able to approve a proposal Tuesday designed to expand women's access to preventive services such as mammograms, a provision favored by leading advocacy groups for cancer patients.
But instead, lawmakers spent much of the day tussling over the healthcare bill's potential impact on the 44-year-old federal Medicare program for seniors, a debate that has shadowed the healthcare legislation for months.
Democratic leaders are proposing to offset the cost of expanding coverage to some 31 million people over the next decade in part by cutting future Medicare payments to hospitals, nursing homes and other providers.
Insurance companies that contract with the federal government to provide Medicare Advantage plans with extra benefits to about one in four Medicare beneficiaries also face major cuts, which could prompt some insurers to drop their plans.
Many healthcare policy experts believe cuts are necessary to make the nation's healthcare system more efficient and to provide incentives for higher quality care--critical goals if the Medicare program is to remain solvent. Without changes, Medicare's main fund is slated to run of money in 2017.
The Senate healthcare bill has also won praise from independent groups such as the AARP, the nation's leading advocate for seniors, which has been working to reassure its members that healthcare legislation does not jeopardize their Medicare benefits.
Yet many seniors remain nervous about a health overhaul, and Republicans took to the Senate floor all day Tuesday to renew their claims that the cuts would harm seniors.
"How many times have you heard from senior citizens in your state saying, 'I paid into this trust fund. I paid for my Medicare all my life. Now it's going to be cut. How is that fair? How is that fair to my generation, the greatest generation?,'" Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) asked.
McCain pushed to send the healthcare bill back to committee with instructions to restore more than $400 billion in proposed cuts in federal healthcare spending over the next decade, much of it in Medicare.
The GOP charges infuriated Democrats, who pointed out that many Republicans have voted for even deeper cuts to Medicare spending in the past. When McCain was running for president, his top aide talked of trimming Medicare spending to fund new tax credits to help Americans buy health benefits.
"Talk about crocodile tears," Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said on the Senate floor Tuesday. "Was it not Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House, leader of the Republican revolution, that said he wanted Medicare to, quote , "wither on the vine?" Was it not Senator Bob Dole, the (Republican) standard-bearer for president in the 1990's, who said he had fought against Medicare and was proud he voted against it?"
Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe, a centrist from Maine who objects to portions of Reid's bill, also took issue Tuesday with the allegations that the legislation would hurt Medicare beneficiaries.
"There are going to be a lot of rewards for seniors in this and no reductions in their benefits," Snowe said. "Ultimately, it buoys the system overall in the future."
... [/quote]
Fair play!
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 17,801
terrible podcaster 15000+ posts
|
|
terrible podcaster 15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 17,801 |
even his quote tags are broken!
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
|
|
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6 |
but tommy at least has entertainment value. Yeah, at this point, reading Zick's posts is kind of like watching someone have a seizure.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 53,734 Likes: 2
Educator to comprehension impaired (JLA, that is you) 50000+ posts
|
|
Educator to comprehension impaired (JLA, that is you) 50000+ posts
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 53,734 Likes: 2 |
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 16,203 Likes: 80
Fair Play! 15000+ posts
|
|
Fair Play! 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 16,203 Likes: 80 |
Fierce GOP Opposition Slows Senate's First Healthcare Votes
December 1, 2009
E-mail Print Share Text Size
Senate Democrats, facing stiff Republican opposition, were forced Tuesday to delay votes on the first set of amendments to the gargantuan healthcare bill – underscoring the fiercely partisan nature of the floor debate and threatening Democrats' tight timeline for achieving final passage.
Party leaders, scrambling to pass a bill by Christmas, had hoped to be able to approve a proposal Tuesday designed to expand women's access to preventive services such as mammograms, a provision favored by leading advocacy groups for cancer patients.
But instead, lawmakers spent much of the day tussling over the healthcare bill's potential impact on the 44-year-old federal Medicare program for seniors, a debate that has shadowed the healthcare legislation for months.
Democratic leaders are proposing to offset the cost of expanding coverage to some 31 million people over the next decade in part by cutting future Medicare payments to hospitals, nursing homes and other providers.
Insurance companies that contract with the federal government to provide Medicare Advantage plans with extra benefits to about one in four Medicare beneficiaries also face major cuts, which could prompt some insurers to drop their plans.
Many healthcare policy experts believe cuts are necessary to make the nation's healthcare system more efficient and to provide incentives for higher quality care--critical goals if the Medicare program is to remain solvent. Without changes, Medicare's main fund is slated to run of money in 2017.
The Senate healthcare bill has also won praise from independent groups such as the AARP, the nation's leading advocate for seniors, which has been working to reassure its members that healthcare legislation does not jeopardize their Medicare benefits.
Yet many seniors remain nervous about a health overhaul, and Republicans took to the Senate floor all day Tuesday to renew their claims that the cuts would harm seniors.
"How many times have you heard from senior citizens in your state saying, 'I paid into this trust fund. I paid for my Medicare all my life. Now it's going to be cut. How is that fair? How is that fair to my generation, the greatest generation?,'" Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) asked.
McCain pushed to send the healthcare bill back to committee with instructions to restore more than $400 billion in proposed cuts in federal healthcare spending over the next decade, much of it in Medicare.
The GOP charges infuriated Democrats, who pointed out that many Republicans have voted for even deeper cuts to Medicare spending in the past. When McCain was running for president, his top aide talked of trimming Medicare spending to fund new tax credits to help Americans buy health benefits.
"Talk about crocodile tears," Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said on the Senate floor Tuesday. "Was it not Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House, leader of the Republican revolution, that said he wanted Medicare to, quote , "wither on the vine?" Was it not Senator Bob Dole, the (Republican) standard-bearer for president in the 1990's, who said he had fought against Medicare and was proud he voted against it?"
Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe, a centrist from Maine who objects to portions of Reid's bill, also took issue Tuesday with the allegations that the legislation would hurt Medicare beneficiaries.
"There are going to be a lot of rewards for seniors in this and no reductions in their benefits," Snowe said. "Ultimately, it buoys the system overall in the future."
...
Fair play!
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 17,801
terrible podcaster 15000+ posts
|
|
terrible podcaster 15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 17,801 |
|
|
|
|
|
