Comments on: Health Care

By: Gregory

Gregory — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:11:06 +0000

Thank you for a thoughtful post on this matter. I agree with you on all points. I wish we had a better bill, but know this is what we do have, and it needs to become law.

There is never a perfect piece of legislation. Lord knows that the current health bill now set for a vote before Christmas would be far superior if it had a firm public option in it. But as with every bill there is the ‘half-a-loaf’ argument that needs consideration.

For decades Senator Ted Kennedy championed health care concerns in this nation. He would be the first to say that you take a whack at the issue, fight hard, and then take the best bill that can be passed and signed into law. Then you get back into the legislative committees and draft another bill to fight for in order to strengthen what already has been passed. That is the hard work that great senators like Kennedy engaged in every day of their careers.

Ted Kennedy would have thought, as we all now do, that this process with President Obama, and the Democratic Congress should have produced a stronger bill. But he also would have known that at the end of the political process the best of what was able to be created was deserving of a vote.

By: rob adams

rob adams — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 11:42:14 +0000

The present Administration’s whole attitude towards Congress is completely antithetical to the “nuclear option.” Unlike the BushEra, the current President has opted to treat the senate and congress with equal status; Gone are the late-night/early-morn calls that (literally) started with screaming for this or that legislator to “get in line.” Bullying (and threats) are no longer the modus operandi of the Executive for the current term.

Obama, and Reid, are above the nuclear option — and now, also, is Rahm Emanuel.

rob@egoz.org

By: Daniel

Daniel — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:16:46 +0000

It would be a relatively simple thing to do, but you’re right. Reid has no balls and no spine either. He’s a jellyfish.

However, there is another side to the coin: while the 60-vote issue prevents legislation that we support, it also prevents legislation that we would oppose.

By: Tin Man

Tin Man — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:05:14 +0000

I think that was generally discussed in the context of confirming judicial appointments. I don’t think Harry Reid has the balls to discuss it in the context of health care.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 18:59:17 +0000

What ever happened to the so-called “nuclear option?”