Single Payer Dies in Senate

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_health_care_overhaul;_ylt=AsoHCPLy9OtJ3q2xD1oKV4l2wPIE;_ylu=X3oDMTNjZXA5MGw1BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkxMjE3L3VzX2hlYWx0aF9jYXJlX292ZXJoYXVsBGNjb2RlA21vc3Rwb3B1bGFyBGNwb3MDMQRwb3MDMQRzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3JpZXMEc2xrA3NpbmdsZS1wYXllcg--

By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent David Espo, Ap Special Correspondent â?? 28 mins ago
WASHINGTON â?? The liberals’ longtime dream of a government-run health care system for all died Wednesday in the Senate, but Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont vowed it will return when the realization dawns that private insurance companies “are no longer needed.”

The proposal’s demise came as Senate Democratic leaders and the White House sought agreement with Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., to become the 60th supporter of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul â?? the number needed to overcome a Republican filibuster.

Nelson has met three times in the past nine days with Obama. His Nebraska-based chief of staff, Tim Becker, spent the day in Washington in discussions with administration officials on details of recent negotiations between his boss and the president.

While Nelson is seeking stricter curbs on abortions in the insurance system the bill would establish, he also has raised issues in his home state that are unrelated to the health care legislation, according to an official with close ties to the senator. The official spoke on grounds of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

Sanders, an independent and socialist, said his approach is the only one “which eliminates the hundreds of billions of dollars in waste, administrative costs, bureaucracy and profiteering that is engendered by the private insurance companies.” His remarks drew handshakes and even a hug or two from Democrats who had filed into the Senate to hear him.

Sanders acknowledged the proposal lacked the votes to pass, and he chose to withdraw it after Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., exercised his prerogative and required Senate clerks to begin reading the 767-page proposal aloud to a nearly empty chamber. After three hours, they were 139 pages into it.

Republicans accused Democrats of trampling on Senate procedure in allowing Sanders to interrupt the reading, and Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said the incident showed the majority party “is willing to do anything to jam through a 2,000-page bill before the American people or any of us has a chance to read it.”

It was unclear how much, if any, headway Nelson’s pursuers were making as they struggle to pass the health care measure by Christmas.

The Nebraska lawmaker told reporters he was reviewing a proposal to toughen abortion restrictions in the legislation. Nelson said the compromise negotiated by anti-abortion Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., involves attempt to separate private and public funds, an approach that in the past failed to sway the Nebraska moderate and Catholic bishops.

Asked whether the new language was satisfactory, Nelson said, “I don’t know at this point in time. Constituency groups haven’t responded back yet.”

Nelson emerged as the lone known holdout among 60 Democrats and independents earlier in the week after Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., forced supporters of the bill to remove a proposed Medicare expansion.

In general, the overall legislation is designed to spread coverage to millions who lack it, ban insurance industry practices such as denying coverage because of pre-existing medical conditions and slow the rate of growth for medical spending nationally.

Republicans are unanimously opposed, and accuse Democrats of seeking deep cuts in Medicare and higher taxes to create a new benefit program that they argue gives government too large a role in the health care system.

Obama repeated his demand for action, telling ABC News “the federal government will go bankrupt” if the health care bill fails. He said Medicare and Medicaid are on an “unsustainable” path if no action is taken.

The debate over the proper role for the government has bedeviled the issue from the outset.

At the behest of liberal Democrats, the House bill establishes a nationwide government-run insurance option in hopes of creating competition for private insurers.

But to satisfy the moderates, the Senate bill does not. Instead, it envisions nonprofit nationwide plans to be set up by private companies and overseen by the federal agency that oversees the system used by federal employees and members of Congress.

The compromises to the Senate bill have union leaders reassessing whether they should continue to offer public support for the measure.

The politically powerful Service Employees International Union backed out of a Wednesday news conference at which it and other groups â?? including the AARP â?? planned to promote the bill. “We’re looking at what we need for the reform bill to be something that we can probably support,” SEIU spokeswoman Lori Lodes said.

The House already has approved its version of the health care bill, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Wednesday she was confident a final compromise would be signed into law before Obama’s 2010 State of the Union address.

She signaled a willingness to look at the proposal in the Senate bill that takes the place of government-run insurance in the House bill.

Asked whether she could support a final bill without a so-called public option, she said, “it depends what else is in the bill.”

Does anyone know if this will be a temporary or permanent death?

Whatever may be produced in conference between the House and Senate bills will be subject to vote and/or filibuster again: anything could be resurrected in the process.

[quote]Bill Roberts wrote:
Whatever may be produced in conference between the House and Senate bills will be subject to vote and/or filibuster again: anything could be resurrected in the process.[/quote]

Don’t they have to have a passed Senate bill in order to conference?

Yes.

What I meant was, single-payer can be killed with regard to passing the Senate now, but resurrected in conference. Then it would have to be killed again if it is to die permanently.

What a clusterfuck.

Well, anything’s possible, but Sanders’ Senate amendment to make Medicare available to all Americans is comparable to HR 676 which has been introduced (several times!) but never debated in the House. HR3962, which passed a House vote on November 7, does not include a provision equivalent to Sanders’ amendment to the Senate legislation. It would be unlikely in the extreme for universal Medicare to reappear in conference.

I don’t think anyone in either the Senate or House will be trying to pick this up again for at least 2 years. And that ONLY if Dems remain at 59/60 next fall. I think that won’t happen barring something big happening in the world next spring/summer. Everyone will simply try to hold onto their seat and won’t take any shit from the Dem ‘leadership’ about cohesion.

They had the chance this year, but became lost in the minutia… if you can call 2K pages ‘MINUTIA’.

We need some big changes… but we need them within the framework of our basic system of Democracy, Capitolism, and Free Will.

You can’t make a diabetic not eat a donut any more than you can make a smoker stub out that Cig. People have to have the ability to make their own choices… and reap the rewards…

Fixed…I wish.

So if I am reading this right, it can be brought back via a conference, but it can be voted down again…perpetually?

As already noted, what a cluster fuck

(Correct me if I am wrong)

Well, milod is right that government “option” or Medicare is unlikely to be extended in conference beyond the current House bill.

But – and I could be wrong on the details – I had thought that the House bill had the potential to develop with time into essentially single-payer by making private insurance uneconomic. If that is the case, that potentially could remain in conference and then would have to be defeated in the Senate.

[quote]pushmepullme wrote:

Obama repeated his demand for action, telling ABC News “the federal government will go bankrupt” if the health care bill fails. He said Medicare and Medicaid are on an “unsustainable” path if no action is taken.

[/quote]
This part makes me laugh, because his answer to unsustainable programs is to double them. lol its so stupid, it doesnt even make sense what he is saying.

So now that this option is dead, The house will not pass it. It sounds like it will re-emerge when the senate bill and house bill are finalized.

Im suprised nobody else found this ironic.

Sanders, an independent and socialist, said his approach is the only one “which eliminates the hundreds of billions of dollars in waste, administrative costs, bureaucracy and profiteering that is engendered by the private insurance companies.” His remarks drew handshakes and even a hug or two from Democrats who had filed into the Senate to hear him.

Isnt that what the federal government does? Hundreds of billions of dollars in waste, admin costs, bureaucracy??

The longer this shit can be dragged out, the better. If this can be stretched into the 2010 elections, there is more leverage to not pass it.

Sanders won’t vote for this health care bill.

Finally a Socialist politician actually contributes to the public good!

Not for the right reasons, of course, but I’ll take what I can get.

I’m amazed it got as far as it did. Post Office, SS, Medicare, Medicaid, Amtrak,…how many examples do we need?

Communism doesn’t work.

[quote]666Rich wrote:
Im suprised nobody else found this ironic.

Sanders, an independent and socialist, said his approach is the only one “which eliminates the hundreds of billions of dollars in waste, administrative costs, bureaucracy and profiteering that is engendered by the private insurance companies.” His remarks drew handshakes and even a hug or two from Democrats who had filed into the Senate to hear him.

Isnt that what the federal government does? Hundreds of billions of dollars in waste, admin costs, bureaucracy??[/quote]

No, the federal government is all about being frugal and spending money wisely. I mean, don’t you remember when they purchased hammers for the whopping low price of $400 each? They really have some crack negotiators. And my ex-wife once told me that a friend of hers in high school had a baby and went on WIC. She’d get these 2-lb blocks of cheese each week that she would give away or throw away because no one could eat that much cheese.

And let’s not forget that we’re talking about the same folks who brought us the Food Guide Pyramid. It’s one of the reasons the vast majority of Americans are walking around at sub 10% bodyfat.

Yeah, I can’t wait for them to tell me what I can do when it comes to healthcare. I’m sure I’ll get much better service for a lot less money than I’m paying now. No doubt, eventually part of it will involve protecting me from dangerous supplements like creatine and extra protein (extra protein will make your kidneys explode, you know).