Americans Sold Out Again! Thanks, Congress! (Update!)

(See Update below:)

So much for progressives who promised they would vote “NO” if there was no robust public option.  Only Kucinich and Massa stood by their words.

This, from Dennis Kucinich, on the passing of the healthcare bill by Congress:

Who Said They’d Vote No on a Healthcare Bill This Bad in July, And Who Lied.  By David Swanson.

These 57 (PDF) said they would not accept a bill this bad. These two kept their word: Kucinich, Massa. The other 55 lied. Kucinich’s statement below the fold.

Kucinich: Why I Voted NO

Washington D.C. (November 7, 2009) – After voting against H.R. 3962 – Affordable Health Care for America Act, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today made the following statement:

“We have been led to believe that we must make our health care choices only within the current structure of a predatory, for-profit insurance system which makes money not providing health care. We cannot fault the insurance companies for being what they are. But we can fault legislation in which the government incentivizes the perpetuation, indeed the strengthening, of the for-profit health insurance industry, the very source of the problem. When health insurance companies deny care or raise premiums, co-pays and deductibles they are simply trying to make a profit. That is our system.

“Clearly, the insurance companies are the problem, not the solution. They are driving up the cost of health care. Because their massive bureaucracy avoids paying bills so effectively, they force hospitals and doctors to hire their own bureaucracy to fight the insurance companies to avoid getting stuck with an unfair share of the bills. The result is that since 1970, the number of physicians has increased by less than 200% while the number of administrators has increased by 3000%. It is no wonder that 31 cents of every health care dollar goes to administrative costs, not toward providing care. Even those with insurance are at risk. The single biggest cause of bankruptcies in the U.S. is health insurance policies that do not cover you when you get sick.

“But instead of working toward the elimination of for-profit insurance, H.R. 3962 would put the government in the role of accelerating the privatization of health care. In H.R. 3962, the government is requiring at least 21 million Americans to buy private health insurance from the very industry that causes costs to be so high, which will result in at least $70 billion in new annual revenue, much of which is coming from taxpayers. This inevitably will lead to even more costs, more subsidies, and higher profits for insurance companies – a bailout under a blue cross.

“By incurring only a new requirement to cover pre-existing conditions, a weakened public option, and a few other important but limited concessions, the health insurance companies are getting quite a deal. The Center for American Progress’ blog, Think Progress, states “since the President signaled that he is backing away from the public option, health insurance stocks have been on the rise.” Similarly, healthcare stocks rallied when Senator Max Baucus introduced a bill without a public option. Bloomberg reports that Curtis Lane, a prominent health industry investor, predicted a few weeks ago that “money will start flowing in again” to health insurance stocks after passage of the legislation. Investors.com last month reported that pharmacy benefit managers share prices are hitting all-time highs, with the only industry worry that the Administration would reverse its decision not to negotiate Medicare Part D drug prices, leaving in place a Bush Administration policy.

“During the debate, when the interests of insurance companies would have been effectively challenged, that challenge was turned back. The “robust public option” which would have offered a modicum of competition to a monopolistic industry was whittled down from an initial potential enrollment of 129 million Americans to 6 million. An amendment which would have protected the rights of states to pursue single-payer health care was stripped from the bill at the request of the Administration. Looking ahead, we cringe at the prospect of even greater favors for insurance companies.

“Recent rises in unemployment indicate a widening separation between the finance economy and the real economy. The finance economy considers the health of Wall Street, rising corporate profits, and banks’ hoarding of cash, much of it from taxpayers, as sign of an economic recovery. However in the real economy — in which most Americans live — the recession is not over. Rising unemployment, business failures, bankruptcies and foreclosures are still hammering Main Street.

“This health care bill continues the redistribution of wealth to Wall Street at the expense of America’s manufacturing and service economies which suffer from costs other countries do not have to bear, especially the cost of health care. America continues to stand out among all industrialized nations for its privatized health care system. As a result, we are less competitive in steel, automotive, aerospace and shipping while other countries subsidize their exports in these areas through socializing the cost of health care.

“Notwithstanding the fate of H.R. 3962, America will someday come to recognize the broad social and economic benefits of a not-for-profit, single-payer health care system, which is good for the American people and good for America’s businesses, with of course the notable exceptions being insurance and pharmaceuticals.”

Well, at least we have a list of all the progressives that didn’t stand the test — think they and all the other Dems need to hear from us BIG TIME!!!!!!!

BTW, already the health care insurance industry stocks have gone up!!!!!

Update With the Latest News:  Well, the “shine” has already been rubbed off of the “new penny.”  I don’t think this will surprise many, but — see the rest here.

118 comments

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  1. We DO need to get rid of these self-serving critters — BIG TIME!

    • banger on November 8, 2009 at 18:50

    During the election, on Orange, I made a point that progressives should huddle around Kucinich though we all know he had no chance to personally win. But making him our standard bearer would have given us (not him) a victory. We would have become a force within the Democratic Party. The reason we did not is that nearly all on the left wanted to back whoever would have been the eventual winner. This, in my view, shows up the agonizing idiocy of the left in this country. It’s as if we are asking second graders to do calculus. Most people across the left spectrum simply DO NOT UNDERSTAND that politics is the application of power. You cannot make bargains without having power. You can’t say to Obama — hey man, it would be really the right thing to do a, b and c. He would laugh at you, in private of course. He would point out that he already knows that single payer is the only rational choice but he would ask you “how many divisions do you control?” He would go on to say that the insurance companies have the fucking WH surrounded with tanks.

    You get my drift. If we had supported K we would have put him, that rarest of animals an honest pol, in a powerful bargaining position. He would have been a spokesman and the media would have had to at least give him some room. They would have savagely attacked him, of course, but that would have threatened to expose, to the left at least, the fangs and agenda of the MSM, many of whom believe the NYT is a “liberal” or left leaning organization.  

  2. Pelosi wins the day!

    Ad nauseum!

  3. I don’t know how many of you have received this, but probably many of you have or will receive it!


    B. E. —

    Last night, your representative, Rep. Jesse Jackson, cast a courageous vote to help pass comprehensive health reform. After months of debate and decades of false starts, this was the biggest step yet on the path to making real health insurance reform a reality.

    But before health reform can become law, it must pass one more time through the House of Representatives. The insurance companies will be throwing everything they can at changing Rep. Jackson’s vote for the final round, so it’s crucial that we publicly show that the voters in your district support reform and are counting on Rep. Jackson to stand firm.

    One of the best ways to help is to write a letter to the editor of a local newspaper thanking Rep. Jackson for supporting health reform.

    Can you write one today?

    You don’t have to be an expert to write a very powerful letter. We’ll provide helpful information about the House bill and health reform. But the best content comes from you.

    You can tell your personal story about why health reform matters to you, your family, and your community. You can write about how important it is that our representatives stand with their constituents and not the special interests — as Rep. Jackson did last night. What matters the most is that you write from the heart and speak out as a concerned citizen at this crucial time.

    With reform’s passage out of the House, there are three major steps left, and it’s going to be a fight the whole way: the Senate will soon vote on their version of bill, then there will be a last round of negotiations to combine them, and then a final vote in both the House and Senate.

    Your words could mean all the difference as we take the next steps toward passing reform this year.

    Get started here:

    http://my.barackobama.com/HouseVoteLTE

    Thank you,

    Mitch

    Mitch Stewart

    Director

    Organizing for America

    Can I write a letter “thanking?” my Representative?  You bet — no problem!!!!  Thanks for the friggin’ invitation!  I might cc:  Mitch Stewart, while I’m at it!!!

     

  4. …I thought it was pretty good, and it has zero at last look.  Must not be respectful enuf or sumpin’.

    http://www.dailykos.com/commen

  5. Well yes I did.

    Did I tell anyone I knew it was going to suck?

    Ya, I told lots of people it was going to suck.

    How did you know?

    I live in mAssashcusetts, the pilot/model for this piece of shit state.

    Did you have any other sources?

    Well yeah, the Bilderberg group said two evil memes this year.  Globalization of all the money and two globalization of everything health.  That was in May.

    Does it suck?

    Yes it does.

    • publicv on November 9, 2009 at 00:06

    ideas.  He is a noble man in my estimation.

    • publicv on November 9, 2009 at 00:06

    ideas.  He is a noble man in my estimation.

  6. I don’t think this will surprise many, but

    “The House bill is dead on arrival in the Senate,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said dismissively.

    Democrats did not line up to challenge him. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has yet to schedule floor debate and hinted last week that senators may not be able to finish health care this year.

    O.K., so this terrible health care bill does not stand a chance in the Senate?  So, hypothetically, if it were even a half-way decent bill — that, too, would stand even less of a chance, obviously!  So, why don’t we just call our representatives and tell them to take their tiddly winks on home and forget the mention of a health care plan for Americans? Amazing how quickly we got the poor (the sky’s gonna’ cave in) Wall Street babies their goodies, isn’t it?  

    Watch the health care insurance company PUSH REAL HARD now — just watch  — now that they have Congress on their side!

  7. it would be so COOOOL if there was a way to send a “thank-you” to Kucinich and Massa, for their stand.

    I don’t quite know how to set that up, though!

  8. to tell us it’s all the Republicans fault.  And I know who that will be.

  9. Let’s let the hoi polloi smash each other on the heads again and the media take serious note. This will fill in some good time while “waiting for the real stuff to happen”. It’s all just logical, natural evolution of legislation; from health reform to insurance reform to laws making people buy insurance to women’s reproductive choice limitations so people can actually get the law that makes them buy insurance to get to (finally) a great self congratulatory orgy.  

  10. http://fdlaction.firedoglake.c

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