Pelosi: Bill dead unless a companion is passed under reconcilliation in the senate

Well, as always, it's all about winning elections. Ergo, it's about marketing.

People WANT healthcare reform. Everyone is paying higher premiums; everyone knows someone who was denied coverage; everyone knows someone without coverage.

Democrats have to market their ideas better, and more importantly, market the willingness to compromise. If the GOP says no to common sense ideas like insurance denials, blast the hell out of them. They're still the minority party, and Brown made a big deal about "let's get back to the drawing board"; if they start coming across as just the party of no in the face of reasonable attempts to meet them halfway, they screw themselves.


I think the Republicans are well aware that they won't be held responsible for things not getting done when they only have 41 seats in the Senate and are a huge minority in the House. It's way too easy to blame Democrats and way too easy to not bargain in good faith while blaming Democrats for not acting in bi-partisan manner.
 
Well, as always, it's all about winning elections. Ergo, it's about marketing.

People WANT healthcare reform. Everyone is paying higher premiums; everyone knows someone who was denied coverage; everyone knows someone without coverage.

Democrats have to market their ideas better, and more importantly, market the willingness to compromise. If the GOP says no to common sense ideas like insurance denials, blast the hell out of them. They're still the minority party, and Brown made a big deal about "let's get back to the drawing board"; if they start coming across as just the party of no in the face of reasonable attempts to meet them halfway, they screw themselves.

I think the main thing is that they need to quit trying to do everything in ONE bill.

I think the insurance companies SHOULD be able to deny people based on pre-existing conditions. Otherwise EVERYONE's price goes up. Again, I point to corporate plans. They have the guaranteed coverage and they are higher costs than identical individual plans for those who have to qualify for coverage.

The providing guaranteed coverage or the elimination of denials for pre-existing conditions (however you want to state it)... is a bad idea. It again goes to raise costs for everyone.

Instead... create a 'government plan' for those who do not qualify for private sector insurance. Leave the rest of us alone. I would GUESS (note the word) that the majority of this country would qualify on their own for insurance. At least 60-70% (again, a guess on my part). The bulk of the remainder would be the elderly (who are more likely to have pre-existing conditions).

Break down the barriers to competition by allowing plans to compete across state lines. I would bet for that 60-70% costs of insurance would drop by at least a third, if not half.

Companies could still contribute to the individuals premium expense. But they would not control the plan.
 
I think the Republicans are well aware that they won't be held responsible for things not getting done when they only have 41 seats in the Senate and are a huge minority in the House. It's way too easy to blame Democrats and way too easy to not bargain in good faith while blaming Democrats for not acting in bi-partisan manner.

Its way too easy to blame democrats because its the democrats that are to blame....they controled the ENTIRE government....they could do ANYTHING they wanted to do WITHOUT any input from the other party....try wraping your little mind around that for change.....
 
Its way too easy to blame democrats because its the democrats that are to blame....they controled the ENTIRE government....they could do ANYTHING they wanted to do WITHOUT any input from the other party....try wraping your little mind around that for change.....

Um, actually bravo, that's not the case. I don't know if you paid any attention this week, but the phrase "they need 60 votes to pass healthcare", or some variation of it, was uttered about 317 times.

So, no - they can't do anything they want to. There's this little thing called a "filibuster," you see...
 
Its way too easy to blame democrats because its the democrats that are to blame....they controled the ENTIRE government....they could do ANYTHING they wanted to do WITHOUT any input from the other party....try wraping your little mind around that for change.....


I understand that. You aren't really refuting my point. In fact, you appear to be agreeing with me. Given the above, there is no reason for the Republicans to negotiation in good faith on a healthcare bill.
 
Um, actually bravo, that's not the case. I don't know if you paid any attention this week, but the phrase "they need 60 votes to pass healthcare", or some variation of it, was uttered about 317 times.

So, no - they can't do anything they want to. There's this little thing called a "filibuster," you see...


You'll notice...they controled (in my post) denotes the PAST TENSE
I'm not talking about THIS week...Obama and Reid and Pelosi had a year of TOTAL CONTROL

Theres this little thing called "reading comprehension".....you see ?
 
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I understand that. You aren't really refuting my point. In fact, you appear to be agreeing with me. Given the above, there is no reason for the Republicans to negotiation in good faith on a healthcare bill.

They didn't have to negotiate...they were ignored for the entire year...they had NO INPUT to anything.....the Dem were in TOTAL CONTROL...
 
They didn't have to negotiate...they were ignored for the entire year...they had NO INPUT to anything.....the Dem were in TOTAL CONTROL...


You seem to have reading comprehension issues. I was talking about on a going-forward basis, not about what happened in the past. My basic point is that the Republicans have no incentive to do anything because the Democrats will be the ones that get blamed for doing nothing.
 
You seem to have reading comprehension issues. I was talking about on a going-forward basis, not about what happened in the past. My basic point is that the Republicans have no incentive to do anything because the Democrats will be the ones that get blamed for doing nothing.
That's a big reason why I don't hold the Senate in high regard. A small hanfull of men can hold up legislation that's in the nations best interest. At some time in our nations future the Senate will have to go.
 
That's a big reason why I don't hold the Senate in high regard. A small hanfull of men can hold up legislation that's in the nations best interest. At some time in our nations future the Senate will have to go.


They should pass a bill to end the filibuster in 4 years. There is no reason for 60 votes to be required to pass anything, particularly in the Senate which is already a structurally undemocratic institution.
 
Isn't this inevitable though in a two party system? I don't know if things would change if there was a third party or a different party replaced one of the two existing parties, maybe it would?

The way the two parties play the game seems to inevitably turn into a zero-sum game. If you are the party out of power what incentive do you have to 'help' or 'work with' the party in power? Obviously if you become to obstructionist voters will punish you and keep you in the minority. But there isn't really a benefit to the minority party vote wise to say 'hey we went along with the party in power so you should replace them with us'. It's the usual, the party in power sucks so try us now.
 
You seem to have reading comprehension issues. I was talking about on a going-forward basis, not about what happened in the past. My basic point is that the Republicans have no incentive to do anything because the Democrats will be the ones that get blamed for doing nothing.

To quote YOU..

"Given the above, there is no reason for the Republicans to negotiation in good faith on a healthcare bill. "

Now when you say given the above, which refers to my post, where I'm obviously speaking about the Dem Total Control over the past year....seems the reading comprehension is your problem....



The folks in power always get blamed don't they/...at lease until Obama, hes still blaming Bush for everything....

Well Sonny, I'm not into telling the future and predictions....

Maybe you're just trying to "set the stage" for what you're going be saying for the next few months in order to pass the buck to the minority party....

The Repubs have been trying to get tort reform for years, blocked by the Dems and their supporters at the ABA....
The Repubs have been trying to get the law changed so we can buy insurance across state lines....same thing...
The Repubs have been trying to do something about the illegals for awhile....though halfheartedly IMO...ID's, no drivers license, fines to employers, etc....

So we'll see what transpires...
 
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They should pass a bill to end the filibuster in 4 years. There is no reason for 60 votes to be required to pass anything, particularly in the Senate which is already a structurally undemocratic institution.
I'd prefer just getting rid of the Senate period that would do for starters.
 
Isn't this inevitable though in a two party system? I don't know if things would change if there was a third party or a different party replaced one of the two existing parties, maybe it would?

The way the two parties play the game seems to inevitably turn into a zero-sum game. If you are the party out of power what incentive do you have to 'help' or 'work with' the party in power? Obviously if you become to obstructionist voters will punish you and keep you in the minority. But there isn't really a benefit to the minority party vote wise to say 'hey we went along with the party in power so you should replace them with us'. It's the usual, the party in power sucks so try us now.
It's not the party's. It's the Senate. It's a serious problem when need reforms are required only to be held up by a small minority. Just think how much sooner equal rights legislation would have been passed with out the Senate stopping progress.
 
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