U.S. Senate Democrats struck some sort of deal on the “public option” portion of President Barack Obama’s socialized medicine plan Tuesday night, but media reports coming out of the nation’s capital weren’t exactly singing off the same sheet of music when it came to the details of the compromise.
For example, USA Today headlined the big compromise as “Senate Democrats reach deal on ‘public option’ health plan,” and quoted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid as saying that the public option had “not been stripped” out of the health care bill.
Here’s that article.
Meanwhile, the Washington Post headlined the deal as “Senators tentatively agree to drop public option,” before replacing that headline with “Deal replaces public option in Senate health care bill” and then finally settling on “Senate may drop public option.”
So what happened, exactly?
From the Wall Street Journal:
Senior Senate Democrats reached tentative agreement Tuesday night to abandon the government-run insurance plan in their health-overhaul bill and to expand Medicare coverage to some people ages 55 to 64, clearing the most significant hurdle so far in getting a bill that can pass Congress.
Liberals dropped the public insurance plan that was a central plank of the Democrats’ health bill in favor of a more limited alternative, following intense pressure from a small group of Democrats who had insisted for months that it was a deal-breaker. While disputes over abortion coverage and other issues remain, Democrats appeared a whisker away from having enough votes to overcome Republican opposition and pass a sweeping health overhaul in the Senate.
The Senate bill — including the lack of a public plan — is likely to form the core of any final legislation, though it will have to be reconciled with a health bill passed by the House last month.
Ahhh … we see.
Of course it’s important to note that the Senate compromise would “empower the government’s Office of Personnel Management to put in place a new low-cost national health plan,” which certainly sounds Kremlin-esque to us.
Anyway you try to spin it people, the fact remains that a giant, government-driven rectal probe of unknown dimensions is headed your way …
And it “may hurt a bit …”
By WorkingTommyC December 9, 2009 at 9:35 am
It’s socialized medicine.
Speaking of backdoor pain, did you notice that the Dems are going to:
” . . . to expand Medicare coverage to some people ages 55 to 64?”
The next step after that will be to expand it to folks 45 to 54, then 35 to 44, and so on. The effect will be the same: more bloated unaffordable bureaucracy, a shortage of doctors, and eventual rationing.
The only Constitutional solution is to get rid of all illegal Federal programs and allow the states to do them if they want and can afford them.
Freedom is not risk-free.
By Tom Degan December 9, 2009 at 10:20 am
The public option is obviously as dead as a doornail. My advice to the progressives is to take what they can get now.
I don’t know what kind of health care reform will come out of this session, but I strongly suspect it won’t be much. There is, however a silver lining behind this very dark cloud. I am reminded of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Don’t be embarrassed if you’ve never heard of it, there really isn’t a hell of a lot to remember about it; a mere pittance, really – a scrap of leftovers tossed out to “American Negros” (in the parlance of the age) in order to appease them. But it made the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 – the one we remember – all the more easier seven years later.
We’ll live to fight another day.
http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com
Tom Degan
By rick December 9, 2009 at 10:55 am
Ever notice this scumbag looks like Touche’ Turtle?