As I watched the Republicans dutifully sit stoic and unmoved when the President uttered anything they opposed, I was reminded of the image so often repeated when men of supposed conscience stand in the way of truth and righteousness. You know… three monkeys covering their eyes, mouth and ears. Only in this case when it comes to anything Obama or the Democrats say it’s “see ONLY evil, hear ONLY evil, and say ONLY evil.” As disappointed as I am with Obama over the direction health care reform has taken, that takes a distant second to the way I feel about the way our Republican brethren have behaved. Representative Wilson exemplified the Republican attitude with his humiliating behavior during the president’s speech last night. I’ve been watching presidents address congress for 50 years and have NEVER, EVER seen anything like it.
It was good to see President Obama make clear that he would not back down from a public option and at the same time chastised Republicans for focusing on that rather than engaging in meaningful dialogue on the numerous other aspects of reform. I really enjoyed how Obama addressed the misinformation and out right lies being spread by Republicans regarding his plan. He really turned the tables on the Republicans when he said to them that many of their ideas were good, citing McCain’s catastrophic coverage clause. His meaning being that it makes it a lot harder to embrace Republican ideas when they are accompanied by nonsense like “death panels, and claims that it’s a secret plot to turn the U.S. into a socialist country.” By the way folks, if we really did remove ALL socialism from our system of government, we’d end up with anarchy, i.e., no police, no fire protection… no military defense. Capitalism without socialism is an out of control monster that would eventually devour even it’s defenders.
I’ll have to say that the President’s speech was among his best. Lines like “we are not here to fear the future, we are here to shape it,” were very moving. But I’m afraid that as far as the Republicans are concerned, it fell on deaf ears. When you ignore their words and focus on their actions. It becomes clear that anything Republicans say in support of health care reform is nothing but disingenuous rhetoric. Grassly claimed to want a bi-partisan plan, but then went out and repeated the death panel lie at a town hall style meeting. I’m afraid I’ve lost all belief the Republicans want anything but the complete death of any reform whatsoever.
In the end, we WILL get a health care reform bill and the Republicans will have to live with the political fallout of going down in total opposition to it. Because of this the Democratic majorities in the Senate and House will increase. It’s true that those of us who are farther to the Left will not get a single payer system. But I can take solace in the knowledge that the far Right isn’t getting what they want either. And believe me when I say that the fact that Obama is delivering a bi-partisan bill despite the fact he got zero cooperation for the Right will NOT go un-noticed by Independents. Watch for Obama’s poll numbers among Independents to shoot through the roof in the aftermath of this legislation. Sorry Republicans, but 2010 is not looking very good for you.
*************
Devin Barber, Politics Correspondent
Devin’s column, “Left Of The Right” published weekly or more to Gather Essentials: Politics is a Blue Collar Democrats take on current political news.
Devin was raised by proud Roosevelt Democrats. Being the son of parents counted among the throng of Americans displaced by the Great Depression has given Devin a deep rooted passion for causes dealing with the poor and the working class.
You can find all of Devin’s columns at LEFT OF THE RIGHT
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Comments: 67
The Presidents speak last night was bout morals, principles and substance.... and rightfully so..... and I have heard nothing from the opposition that speaks of the same things.
If Health Care fails now.. America has failed and it will be because due to the evil that lies in the worst of our society.
The ability to cherry pick clients is what the insurance industry was fighting for most and they lost. Look for at least some insurance companies to close their doors for good because they'll decide it's not profitable anymore.
Bruce, that is just one way the Insurance companies can evade the intent of a bill. There is also the enforcement end. If there is almost no enforcement bureaucracy and if that bureaucracy is run by friends of the industry and if the punishment is some trivial fines or if the cases must be brought by the victims then requiring coverage is a joke.
As far as the pic I posted... Everytime the cameraman panned the Republicans the image from that classic movie popped into my mind.
I invite anyone to bang on it at http://www.joewilson.house.gov/ so it can never come back up. That a-hole should resign, a new low in Republican behavior. What's next, wearing their guns to Congress?
The comments are entertaining too.
"Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) shouted "You lie!"..."POLITICO
The average doctor pays $6000 a year, that's $500 a month for his malpractice insurance. I think rent on his office, the loan payment on his student loan, the cost of doing all the insurance company paperwork, .... all of that stuff is a higher cost than $500 a month for insurance to cover the cost of innocent mistakes, and if the insurance gets too high, maybe they are in the wrong business.
Yes, there are abuses and miscarriages of justice, and there is probably some reasonable regulations that can be thought of to manage that, but we can see that nothing has any effect like the sting of having to pay for your mistakes and be found guilty in a court of law.
The tort reform will address nuance claims not medical error. Repetitive malpractice of the few doctors who should really be removed from the practice of medicine. The POTUS was very cautious in addressing this as he is aware that tort lawyers are ready to lobby against setting caps and the other assumptions the Right have made. Does this info help?
The only thing that makes sense to me about this issue is limiting the "take" a lawyer can get from pursuing one of these cases. Why should a lawyer get 1/2 or 1/3 of a huge settlement that is meant for someone who has been damaged? If a lawyer needs to get that much in order to pursue a case, then they are either making too much of there are not enough competent lawyers to do the job.
"…limiting the "take" a lawyer can get from pursuing one of these cases. Why should a lawyer get 1/2 or 1/3 of a huge settlement that is meant for someone who has been damaged?"
That is a question of the ages and given the amount of Lawyers in the Nation I cannot see it changing. Tort reform has been tried over and over no headway save the 1/3 cap and that the Lawyer must not sign the check the two parties must sign at least here In MA.
I have been ripped off by a lawyer who gave me only a few hundred of the settlement and a bystander $15,000 which he (the lawyer) reclaimed latter. I have no love for lawyers and the tort courts are no better. All of this legal stuff will play out in the next few months.
This is a great source for facts if you are still interested Bruce.
We fact-check the president's address to Congress and the nation.
September 10, 2009
Summary
http://factcheck.org/2009/09/obamas-health-care-speech/
I hope that all of the proposals Obama put forth are actually enacted, but I'm skeptical about whether the finished bill will include any of them other than tort reform the provisions that require Americans to have insurance and that end insurers' ability to deny or drop their coverage.
Wilson has done more to showcase the idiocy of the Right than a hundred hours of rebuttal could.
Poliwonk seems to be saying, there are no rules for any opposition to President Obama.
stoic? unmoved? Pouty and infantile are the adjectives that came to my mind whenever the camera panned over to the left side of the chamber.
They shouldn't have to be a$$holes about it but apparently some have little self control. It could also be another time wasting ploy. I would rather ignore him and move on to more important topics - like the speech.
Then you have a very short memory.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2009/09/10/flashback_democrats_boo_bush_at_2005_state_of_the_union.html
Now, I would be proud of the Republican who shouted, "Liar," when Bush pushed a war based on lies.
TRUTH is what matters to me, more than being polite.
(Be honest...)
As for wilson, he's from South Carolina, home of strom thurmond, mark sanford, and lindsey graham. Need I say more??
Obama’s Health Care Speech
We fact-check the president's address to Congress and the nation.
September 10, 2009
Summary
President Obama’s prime-time address to Congress and the nation on health care prompted a Republican congressman to shout “you lie!” Did he? Here’s what we’ve found:
Obama was correct when he said his plan wouldn’t insure illegal immigrants; the House bill expressly forbids giving subsidies to those who are in the country illegally. Conservative critics complain that the bill lacks an enforcement mechanism, but that hardly makes the president a liar.
The president said “no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions.” But the House bill would permit a “public option” to cover all abortions, and would also permit federal subsidies to be used to purchase private insurance that covers all abortions, a point that raises objections from anti-abortion groups. That’s true despite a technical ban on use of taxpayer dollars to pay for abortion coverage.
The president repeated his promise that his plan won’t add “one dime” to the federal deficit. But legislation offered so far would add hundreds of billions of dollars to the deficit over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
The president overstated the degree of concentration in the insurance industry. He said that in 34 states the "insurance market" is controlled by five or fewer companies, but that’s true only of insurance bought by small groups, not the entire "insurance market."
Obama said his plan won’t “require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have.” It’s true that there’s no requirement, but experts say the legislation could induce employers to switch coverage for millions of workers.
More from factcheck.org
Illegal Immigrants
Obama said that his proposal would not cover illegal immigrants, a remark that prompted Republican Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina to shout "You lie!"
Obama: There are also those who claim that our reform effort will insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false – the reforms I’m proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.
The president is correct: The House bill contains a section (Sec. 246) titled "NO FEDERAL PAYMENT FOR UNDOCUMENTED ALIENS," which states: "Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States."
However, conservative critics object to a lack of specific enforcement measures in the bill. They argue that the lack of a specific verification mechanism constitutes a loophole that would allow illegal immigrants to get benefits despite the legal prohibition. Republican Rep. Dean Heller of Nevada proposed an amendment to the bill that would have required the use of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program to check the citizenship of anyone applying for federal coverage or affordability credits. SAVE is the program used by Medicaid and similar entitlement programs. That amendment was voted down along party lines by the House Ways and Means Committee.
Republicans have a point here: More could be done to enforce the ban. But it’s worth remembering that, as a spokesperson for the American Immigration Lawyers Association told us, attempting to get a health care credit would have legal repercussions. "Making a fraudulent claim to an entitlement program when you’re not actually entitled to it would have serious consequences for any person," the spokesperson told us, "but especially if it’s considered a false claim to citizenship, that would have serious immigration consequences that could ultimately lead to deportation." And Rep. Wilson certainly was out of bounds to call the president’s statement a "lie." He later issued a statement apologizing for his "inappropriate and regrettable" comments
More from factcheck.........
The president insisted that no federal money would pay for abortions:
Obama: [U]nder our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions.
The truth of that depends on what is meant by “federal dollars.” Actually, as we’ve written before, under Democratic legislation now before Congress, the “public option” would cover abortions in cases of rape, incest or threat to the life of the mother and could cover all abortions if the administration chooses, and as Obama once promised. Private insurance plans purchased with the help of federal subsidies to low- and moderate-income workers also could cover all abortions, as many, if not most, private plans do today.
Under an amendment adopted by a House committee, abortions would be paid for by the "public option" only with money collected from policyholders in the form of premiums, not with money collected from taxpayers. But is money collected by the government and paid out to abortion providers by the government “federal dollars"? The anti-abortion side says yes. And the same goes for federal subsidies given to low- and moderate-income persons to help them buy insurance. If they use those dollars to buy private policies that cover all abortions, does that mean “federal dollars” go to fund abortions? Again, abortion foes say yes.
The advocates of abortion rights argue otherwise. They say the House bill would be an extension of longstanding policy under the Hyde amendment, which forbids use of federal taxpayer dollars to fund Medicaid abortions except in cases of rape, incest or threat to the mother’s life, but also allows states to use their own Medicaid money to fund other abortions (and 17 of them do). In any case, the matter is not so simple or clear as the president would like it to seem.
Obama: I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits – either now or in the future. Period.
Up until now, that’s been a promise in search of fulfillment. As we reported earlier, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has found that Democratic plans in the House and Senate both would add hundreds of billions of dollars to the federal deficit over the coming decade.
In his speech, the president reduced the price tag, saying "the plan I’m proposing will cost around $900 billion over 10 years." That’s about $100 billion less than what the CBO said the House bill would cost. And the president embraced a tax on expensive employer-paid health plans, something he’s resisted in the past. He also said there will be a provision in this plan that "requires us to come forward with more spending cuts if the savings we promised don’t materialize."
But it remains to be seen whether the CBO’s budget experts will agree that the plan would be fully paid for. For that, they’ll need to see more specific details.
Wilson has ptrtty much destroyed his politiical future nt showing his butt. (my opinion
Lawrence O'Donell of the Huffington Post was on Olberman's show last night and was talking about the buzz he was hearing from African America radio talk shows. The subject was how the very first President ever to be heckled during a joint session speech was also the first black President and the heckler was a white southerner who also happens to be a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans of South Carolina. The State where violence in defence of slavery began.
Wilson's breech of decorum was like Olberman described it... a dog whistle. It was a signal to the "astonishingly stupid" branch of the Republican Party that he is one of them. It is truly heart breaking to see the Republican Party reduced to being a haven for lame brained school yard bullies. All Wilson had to do was "READ" HR-3200 and he would have seen that it specifically bans people who do not have legal status from receiving any benefits. But like any respectable school yard bully, Wilson's regard for the facts ends with his need to get his way.
a quote form edschultz.com
''On Wednesday night, Rep. Joe Wilson , shouted “You lie!” at President Obama when he said that the healthcare bill would not cover illegal immigrants. “The supporters of the government takeover of healthcare and liberals who want to give healthcare to illegals are using my opposition as an excuse to distract from the critical questions being raised about this poorly conceived plan,” Wilson said the next day in a campaign fundraising video.
However, in 2003, Wilson voted to provide federal funds for illegal immigrants’ healthcare. The vote came on the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003, which contained Sec. 1011 authorizing $250,000 annually between 2003 and 2008 for government reimbursements to hospitals who provide treatment for uninsured illegal immigrants. The program has been extended through 2009 and there is currently a bipartisan bill in Congress to make it permanent.''
Soooooo, why is he against it now. Oh yea, It's a democrat administration.
Of course Wilson was out of line as well as demonstrating hypocricy......that's pretty obvious. However the fact is that there is no provision in the bill to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving benifits.
I find it quite illuminating watching Republidiots playing "what if" with Obama's plan. Normally it's a game played by children in a vain attempt that says if you dig around long enough you might get your way. Sad... just sad.
They might get something through, but I doubt that it will be HR3200.