Bottom line... Ted Kennedy would enthusiastically be behind this bill

[scheming daemons]

...and all the carpers looking for something to carp about KNOW IT, deep down.

Ted would be voting "yes". Just like Bernie is voting yes. And Sheldon is voting yes. And Russ is voting yes.


All the "heroes" of the gnashing-and-wailing crowd, with only the exception of maybe Dennis, will be voting for the bill.


It's nowhere near perfect. But it is a major improvement over the current situation. And the 10%-ers (those Dems that are upset with Obama and the Senate) can go froth about it not being utopia.


The legislation will pass. It will greatly improve the lives of 10s of millions of Americans.

...and a decade from now, all those currently pissing and moaning will claim they were for it all along.

[Skittles]

1. I completely disagree

[ProSense]

10. Yeah, you knew him better than his wife. n/t

[firedupdem]

2. Agree, and this legislation will be improved upon in time. n/t

[pocoloco]

4. Keeping the powder dry?

Been collecting it since 2006.....when you gonna use it?

[Cha]

18. No, it's called getting something started that would

otherwise be dead.

Nothing to do with powder.

[roguevalley]

9. really? You know this to be true? Teddy would be spitting nails over

this abomination.

[sandnsea]

20. Did you read the HELP Bill?

It's not that much different from the bill we've got.

[Skittles]

33. yes he would

I don't think it would have disintegrated to this travesty if Kennedy had been around

[Mimosa]

38. You know this how?

What a joke. How do corporate giveaways get improved on? They make their money from extorting it from us then it's GONE, baby, GONE!

[Oregone]

3. Strange that he fought so hard against its idealogical predecessor

Funny funny facts...




Now we can all pretend to know what he would do now hypothetically, but its just a bunch of shit. All we really know is what he actually did the last time mandated and subsidized insurance reform reared its head nationally.

[Aramchek]

5. He sure would. Ted knew the difference between success and failure.

[depakid]

12. Kinda like with Bush's "No Child Left Behind"

[Aramchek]

16. g'day mate! let's put another shrimp on the Barbie!!

let me know when you have a vote, and I'll pay attention to your tripe.

[depakid]

19. Expats vote in their former states- mine being exclusively by mail

so it counts right alongside the rest of 'em.

[Aramchek]

21. so, you are getting Aussie healthcare without being a citizen?

oh, and way to abandon your Country, by the way

[depakid]

32. It might be interesting to look back at your own history

where you came from, what value your forbearers added (or didn't) to the new lands they chose as their homes. Some may have crossed oceans- others prairies and mountains along the Oregon Trail.

Unless you're a Native American, one of the First Nations... or an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, you, too are a fairly recent progeny of some such journey- and all of the conflicting thoughts and feelings that went with the people who took it are also your legacy.

[Aramchek]

43. you said yourself that you are an expatriate who ran away for political reasons

that's not the same thing as an emigrant.

especially, since you are still voting here.
I'm getting tired of folks like you who want all the privileges of being an American, and have ran away from their responsibilities here, but still think they have the right to trash our President and the things he does.

and I am part Native American, by the way.

[Armstead]

6. And you know this how?

Even his wife is simply guessing.

Who knows what he would have thought with a process that has gone so haywire? Or if it would have gone so haywire if he had been around to play a role in shaping what was the final "bill."

[karynnj]

26. His wife was with him in the many discussions he had in the last year of his life

I would assume there were many private conversations between the two of them and many with other close friends. The fact that Kirk and Kerry have emotionally said the same thing makes it pretty clear.

There is also the precedent of SCHIP. The precursor bill on that was an entitlement and a national program. He compromised and in many states it was years before there were reasonable programs - but it would not have passed as he and Kerry introduced it.

[Armstead]

30. Unfortunately he passed away befiore the crapola happened tha set off much of the opposition

Public option and Medicare buy-in killed by a couple of a-hole Senators, even though the majority of Democratic Senators and the public wanted some kind of public option included.

I know he was the great compromiser (he was my senator and I love him) but I don't think anyone can predict what he would have done in this sorry situation.

[KrR]

35. Wellstone would have supported it also n/t

[quiller4]

28. Actually, if you read through what he wrote about health care

reform and compare his writing to the Senate Bill, it isn't hard to deduce that he would support the bill. At one time or another he advocated every policy contained in the bill.

[babylonsister]

7. The pissing and moaning is ear-shattering. What happened to the

Dems who actually care about people? They're not in evidence here. And don't bother attacking me; I'm thinking of that 30 million who might be able to be cared for finally.

[Armstead]

15. I'm one of the 30 million and I am pissed as hell at this

[babylonsister]

17. You're full of it. All you've done for over a week is bitch and moan,

and you don't have a clue what the final bill will look like. Sorry, I don't think you are as desperate as you say you are, or you wouldn't be attacking this plan that many liberals think is good (not great), as vociferously as you are.

And guess what? What you or I say or think won't make a damned bit of difference.

So carry on!

[Armstead]

25. I am not full of it on that. We may disagree, but I am not watching from a "safe distance"

Liberals don't like this plan. They are supporting it as better than nothing, but there is not universal agreement on that either.

But you are correct. What you or I say doesn't make a damn bit of difference.

[depakid]

8. And we're supposed to find that to be any sort of rational argument?

Weak (and possibly bogus) appeals to authority, coupled with empty platitudes and outright deception?

:eyes:

[LWolf]

11. While that opinion can never be verified,

I can point out that he WAS an enthusiastic supporter of NCLB.

Ted Kennedy...a good man, but not always right.

[IndianaGreen]

13. Ted Kennedy would have supported the HELP bill

and he wouldn't put up with all the bribes paid to a handful of Senators for their votes.

[Mimosa]

39. This kind of crookery could have been done years ago if...

This fake healthcare reform could have been done years ago if this was anything like what teddy would have wanted!

[GreenArrow]

14. maybe...maybe not

He was enthusiastically behind "No Child Left Behind"(sic)so his judgment was clearly not infallible.

[mzmolly]

22. You mean he'd "cave" ?????

say it isn't so! ;)

[eridani]

23. Thank you Dr. Pangloss

Us pieces of disposable human garbage in the 50-64 age group really appreciate you. So to the union members who will be seeing their health care benefits taxed.

It is a big fucking SCREW JOB, not just "imperfect" legislation.

[timeforpeace]

24. This is sorta sick.

[Barack_America]

27. Unrec for putting words in a dead man's mouth.

And disrespecting a great man in doing so.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

46. Do you say the same when people make the opposite claim of Kennedy?

Please cite examples of your action.

[cherokeeprogressive]

29. The bottom line is that you have no fucking clue as to what a man who is now dead

would think about anything including the color of the fucking sky.

That you would claim knowledge to a certainty about anything going on in a currently dead man's head makes me wonder how much money you spend each year on psychotic readers. Oops, I meant to say psychic readers.

[burning rain]

31. Kennedy would certainly support it.

He supported modest, compromised bills for COBRA and Medicare Part D under Bush fils. While I agree the Senate health care bill improves the status quo, strong objections to parts of it from lefties are not all just carping. Tethering Americans to big insurance as a matter of law, forcing us to fund the obscene salaries and bonuses of insurance execs, is something all lefties must object to, even if we, as I do, consider the bill a step forward on balance. Politically speaking, it's another matter. I suspect that in 2010 this bill will disenchant Democratic voters while pumping up Republican voters with rage. In the end, though, saving more lives is morally right, so I counsel a Yes vote.

[Sebastian Doyle]

34. Ted Kennedy would have never allowed the bill to get this shitty to begin with

So the question of whether or not he would have supported the shitty bill is irrelevant.

[Sparky 1]

36. It's economic fascism. I don't support fascism and I can't imagine Teddy would.

[Mimosa]

37. BULL!

What a load of bull crap in one OP sentence!

[FrenchieCat]

40. Just cause you call something Crap.......

doesn't make it so.

Ted Kennedy would have supported this bill...in fact, he did,
and you don't get to speak for him, cause he already spoke for himself.

May 12, 2009

Dear Mr. President,

I wanted to write a few final words to you to express my gratitude for your repeated personal kindnesses to me – and one last time, to salute your leadership in giving our country back its future and its truth.

On a personal level, you and Michelle reached out to Vicki, to our family and me in so many different ways. You helped to make these difficult months a happy time in my life.

You also made it a time of hope for me and for our country.

When I thought of all the years, all the battles, and all the memories of my long public life, I felt confident in these closing days that while I will not be there when it happens, you will be the President who at long last signs into law the health care reform that is the great unfinished business of our society. For me, this cause stretched across decades; it has been disappointed, but never finally defeated. It was the cause of my life. And in the past year, the prospect of victory sustained me-and the work of achieving it summoned my energy and determination.

There will be struggles – there always have been – and they are already underway again. But as we moved forward in these months, I learned that you will not yield to calls to retreat - that you will stay with the cause until it is won. I saw your conviction that the time is now and witnessed your unwavering commitment and understanding that health care is a decisive issue for our future prosperity. But you have also reminded all of us that it concerns more than material things; that what we face is above all a moral issue; that at stake are not just the details of policy, but fundamental principles of social justice and the character of our country.

And so because of your vision and resolve, I came to believe that soon, very soon, affordable health coverage will be available to all, in an America where the state of a family’s health will never again depend on the amount of a family’s wealth. And while I will not see the victory, I was able to look forward and know that we will – yes, we will – fulfill the promise of health care in America as a right and not a privilege.

In closing, let me say again how proud I was to be part of your campaign- and proud as well to play a part in the early months of a new era of high purpose and achievement. I entered public life with a young President who inspired a generation and the world. It gives me great hope that as I leave, another young President inspires another generation and once more on America’s behalf inspires the entire world.

So, I wrote this to thank you one last time as a friend- and to stand with you one last time for change and the America we can become.

At the Denver Convention where you were nominated, I said the dream lives on.

And I finished this letter with unshakable faith that the dream will be fulfilled for this generation, and preserved and enlarged for generations to come.


With deep respect and abiding affection,

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/text-of-letter-to-the-president-from-senator-edward-m-kennedy/

[Mimosa]

41. That's not supporting THIS BILL, Frenchie

Dear Frenchie, I really like you. That letter of general support of president Obama has nothing to do with the house or senate HC 'reform' bills in any form.

[GeorgeGist]

42. Disgraceful

[Orsino]

44. The bottom line is not a deceased, wealthy senator who had health coverage.

The bottom line is and must be who gets help, how much and how soon.

[Droogie666]

45. Here We Go! It's All About St. Teddy!

"Do it for Teddy!" "Teddy would have wanted this!" No! People should want this bill to pass for sick people! Not because of some rich senator who had health insurance wanted! I find this quite insulting! The damn voters put these elected officials in office, not Edward Kennedy! It is the plight American people they should be thinking about! Not worring about about what St. Teddy wanted! From moral reasons alone, it should not have been so hard for those assholes to pass a healthcare bill! All the years St. Teddy was a senator, he was unsuccessful in getting healthcare reform as far as it is, now. And count on the democrats to give him all the credit, now that it looks like a bill could pass! Why aren't more Lefties pissed at St. Teddy? After all, it was him who endorsed Barack Obama, and and told them to vote for him. Lefties never march in locktep. Right. Except for when the Kennedys tell them to do something! Who's the Messiah?


P.S.,

Those of you Kennedy-cultists who don't believe that St. Teddy would have voted for this healthcare bill are wrong! St. Teddy voted for the Patriot Act, why wouldn't he vote the healthcare bill? The only "progressive" who voted against the Patriot Act, was Russ Feingold! Just go to
www.senate.gov, and look up the legislative roll call. Idiots.

[phleshdef]

47. Of course he would have been. Ted backed lesser bills than this because he believed in incremental..

...progress.