On this historic day, remember President Obama has done what 7 prior presidents failed to do

[Politics_Guy25]

On this historic day, as a bipartisan health reform bill passes all 5 congressional committees responsible for legislating the industry for the 1st time in history, let us remember that in just 9 short months, President Obama has moved health care reform down the line to what is now almost inevitable passage. SEVEN prior presidents failed to pass meaningful health care reform. 7! He has done what no one else could.

This is a huge accomplishment and if he continues down this road of accomplishment, well, he truly will be remembered with the likes of FDR and LBJ.

The issue has been INTRACTABLE for decades. He has broken the log jam and managed to gain some republican support no less.

A truly great accomplishment.

P.S.: BTW, even Senator Snowe herself supports some form of a public option.

[tabatha]

1. It was an Herculean task.

Congrats, Obama.

[liberalhistorian]

2. I'm sorry, but I think we've gone in the opposite direction.

Mandated insurance with CRIMINAL penalties is NOT something to celebrate, AT ALL. It will make things far worse than they are now, and guess who will get the blame for that? I refuse to cooperate with any such "mandate", period. This is bullshit. I want access to health CARE not health INSURANCE, and I don't want to worry about being financially ruined just because I had the nerve to get sick. For-profit Health insurance, which goes against the "free market" model because it actually profits only from denying the services it's supposed to provide, is NOT a guarantee against that or a guarantee of access to care.

[joeybee12]

5. + 1 million....

...this is a joke...an absolute freaking joke.

[yodermon]

6. "Mandated insurance with CRIMINAL penalties" will NOT EVER become law.

bank on it.

[Politics_Guy25]

7. I don't support the Baucus bill at all either

But I am counting on Reid to fix it in committee and I am also counting on Snowe to at least vote for a public option trigger in the end as well. That's why I think this is a tremendous day.

I hate the idea of forcing people who can't afford it to buy health insurance as well. Again, though, Reid will fix it or at the very least the House-Senate Conference will fix it.

Nonetheless, it moves health care reform closer than it ever has been to passage and that's great.

Plus it saves us from electoral armageddon in 2010.

[Oregone]

11. "But I am counting on Reid to fix it" -- Tee hee

:)

Time will tell I guess. Thats a fragile basket to put your eggs in.

[joeybee12]

14. I get it now...the OP is from The Onion!

He should have added the link!

[liberalhistorian]

16. Counting on Reid to fix it?

You're joking, right? 'Cause ol' Spineless Harry not only will not do so, he'll probably make it even worse. This is a travesty, and Dems are the ones leading us off the cliff. It's nothing but a giveaway to the greedy insurance companies that already take so much from us yet give so little and, in too many cases daily, cost lives due to their denials, refusals and rescissions all in the name of making and maximizing a buck.

[kestrel91316]

20. I'm sorry - did I miss something? Exactly WHAT law did Obama sign that

calls for mandated insurance with criminal penalties?????

[vaberella]

41. People just want to blow steam on stupid. I'm telling....

Yesterday when I know I knew most of the facts I fell into confusion. People on here talked as though the Baucus bill was the final bill and there was no other bill on the table. It was just fuckin' stupid. People are still pimping that meme, I don't know if it's because they are disheartened, of if they just don't think the President to be successful, or if they don't want him to be...its just weird.

[WCGreen]

21. I remember back in the early 80's when they started to make auto insurance

mandatory...

My Auto Insurance is now lower, comparatively speaking, than it was before the law passed making it mandatory.

Now I have no idea if it will work that way for Health Insurance, but I do know that standing on the sidelines and harping about an ideal that I am sure most everyone here, including me, at DU would say was imperative is not going to change the fact most of those in power oppose what they feel is an extreme measure.

I look at mandatory insurance as a first step. If we don't take that first step now, we may never get another chance. Well, at least in my lifetime.

[vaberella]

40. Isn't that in only ONE bill, the Baucus one and not all?!

If that is the case, then I'm not wasting my time on it, because with enough pressure we can see to ge that removed. Remember the Baucus bill is NOT the end all and be all it's going to be merging with 4 others.

[NYC_SKP]

3. This means NOTHING to his detractors on the Left, they prefer to complain, to whine.

I'm still pissed about a thread on the Greatest Page from yesterday.

Some shit about Instant Gratification.

:mad:

Recommending this OP, thanks!

:toast:

[Cha]

28. Yeah, they call themselves the

"left" but I'm studying on another name for them..just like the "conservatives" aren't really that, are they?

If some group thinks they have to lie to get what they want then what good are they?

They're not living in my reality.

[mkultra]

35. and lying is what they do the most

[Cha]

39. And, not appreciating a damn thing..only

zeroing in on the WHINE DU JOUR.

[Birthmark]

4. LOL! nt

[Politics_Guy25]

9. Remember-also-foot in the door

Social security wasn't what it was now back in the 30s either. Step by step, it became what it is.

That's what we'll see here as well.

[Doremus]

24. Only if the senate Dems have a sudden epiphany.

SS benefited from a long period of liberal rule.

Today's Democratic senators are yesterday's Republicans.

If they were true liberals, Baucus and his brethren would have given us single payer healthcare on 1/21.

Contrary to popular thought, liberals are still in the minority and unable to fix anything.

That won't be changing any time soon.

[Birthmark]

27. No, SocSec wasn't what it is.

But neither was it a bad joke that lined the pockets of corporate contributors.

[uponit7771]

8. Haters: "...well, he didn't light his hair on fire or somethin like that..."

[Oregone]

10. To be fair, you do not know the reform will end up as meaningful, or net beneficial

The coming weeks will tell that story

[Bluenorthwest]

12. If you redefine words on whim

It is easy to feel great about anything. Other Presidents tried for actual reform, not a give away to the Industry at the expense of the people. This is not reform, it has no regulation of price and a mandate that everybody buy private insurance no matter the cost. Any President could have passed that. If we call a bagel 'reform' then I had reform for breakfast.

[108]

18. All the people who have been denied

for one reason or another, disagree with you

[glitch]

31. No, they don't. nt

[quiet.american]

13. As the shirt-rending continues, I agree. And I'm looking forward to being able to get insurance. nt

[Tom Rinaldo]

15. I await the final bill before passing judgement on this effort

Winning agreement on anything becomes progressively easier once you allow opponents of change to rewrite what they oppose to their own satisfaction. A bill that forces millions of Americans to buy new policies from the private insurance industry without a real and viable public option is not any "reform" that I can support. Reform is a hollow term. The right has taken to using it themselves for years. For example their idea of reforming Social Security was to privatize it.

I understand that it was important to get a bill, almost any bill, out of Finance. But it is premature to assert that real reform is now about to happen. There is a huge amount of wiggle room in the phrase: "some form of a public option". Yes, we may be on the verge of a great accomplishment, but we also may be on the verge of caving in to special interests.

[avaistheone1]

17. Yes, Obama blessed the handover of our tax dollars to Wall Street, and now Obama presides over the

handover of our hardworking dollars to the health insurance cabal. All for nothing.

Heckofjobobama!

[Sebastian Doyle]

19. This worthless piece of shit bill is NOT reform, it is the exact opposite.

Granted, it's not the final bill - and not one fucking useless word of it should be IN the final bill - but let's not delude ourselves into thinking this was a step forward at all, because it definitely is NOT.

Baucus is a tool and deserves to be tried for treason. So does Spineless Reid if he allows any of this shit into the final bill.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

38. Just wondering - how many of these words in the bill have you actually read?

If you haven't read them, how do you know that "not one fucking useless word of it" should be in the final bill?

[SemiCharmedQuark]

22. Depends what the final bill looks like, doesn't it?

Declaring "victory" this early is pointless.

[damntexdem]

23. Still waiting to see what comes out in the wash ... ington.

The historical record is so wretched, that saying the President has outdone prior presidents just sets the bar too low. First, let's see what we get.

And, by the way, my attitude is even more set against those who keep posting about how true health reform is doomed.

Let's all just wait and see what happens.

[Neecy]

25. Historic day?

We're celebrating that a Democratic Congress was able to pass a bill through 5 committees? Gee, that's never happened before.

None of this matters. The final bill matters.

[bigwillq]

26. It's not the final bill!!!1

I will celebrate only when a final bill is passed with a strong public option.

[depakid]

29. Talk about counting chickens,,,,

[eridani]

30. The bill is a historic piece of shit

To all the saps looking forward to getting insurance--kiss 10-12% of your income goodbye. You won't be getting much in return. When you file claims you may notice that you get nothing from the insurance companies, because of the co-pays and deductibles.

[Toasterlad]

32. Did I Miss Something? When Did He Sign the Bill?

When you're the president, you don't get points for TRYING. This isn't the special olympics.

[Better Believe It]

33. He gave trillions to Wall Street, the private health insurance industry and big Pharma?

Is this a quiz?

[mkultra]

37. Theres that trillion dollar lie again.

[vaberella]

42. Isn't that a right-wing meme? n/t

[mkultra]

43. yup

[Ozymanithrax]

34. You keep saying that word. I don't think it means what you think it means.

Many, Many bills fail to pass the Senate or the house.

This bill is not even close to inevitable.

It must pass the Senate.
It must pass the House.
They must decide on how to combine those two bills.
Then the Senate and the House must vote again to see if they approve it.

That is not inevitable.


This is inevitable:

in·ev·i·ta·ble (n-v-t-bl)
adj.
1. Impossible to avoid or prevent. See Synonyms at certain.
2. Invariably occurring or appearing; predictable: the inevitable changes of the seasons.

[Phx_Dem]

36. Really, I thought he hadn't accomplished anything!

Of course, I'm hearing that from the idiot brigade on cable news. :rofl:

This is a huge accomplishment and it's going to be even bigger when the final bill is passed! :woohoo:

[PVnRT]

44. Wow. Bills got out of committee.

Guess it's time to pack it in, no more work to do. Everything's fine.