Senate moves health bill forward.

Glad to see it's not DOA. There's still going to be a lot of debate and compromise necessary, but not DOA.

I'm confused because many of the polls I'm seeing, still show support for reform, including a public option. Has this changed in the last month?

And Portland is where my very conservative oldest son wants to end up - and as a city planner!


steph

I guess as heron said this morning and we've all said at one time or another, it depends on where you sit.

I read something last night that, for me, seems so obvious about one of the reasons this health care bill is just plain nuts.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/hor...rs_gone_m.html

. . . ."Why are Obama, Pelosi, and Reid doing this? How could they be so foolish as to repeat the most egregious mistake of the Republicans of the 104th Congress? Why are they forcing their vulnerable members to vote on a bill that would cut Medicare in this fashion? Do they dislike their moderate colleagues? Do they find the chore of being the majority party too burdensome? Have they simply gone mad?"

This video is pretty good about hoops.

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/11/1...th-care-hoops/

I'll say it up front: I like Dick Morris. He speaks common sense. I am also one of the seniors he says opposes the Obamacare proposal. If my kids, who have a 3 week old baby, have to pay $15K a year more in health insurance, their own dreams of being successful could be seriously jeopardized. Anyway, here's an article by Dick. Filled with truth, IMHO, and that common sense I mentioned.


Dick Morris: New Campaign Aimed at Young
People Will Defeat Obamacare



WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The League of American Voters and Dick Morris have launched GenHope.com, a powerful Web hub for an intensive education campaign to generate public opinion among young voters to defeat Obamacare.

"The key vulnerability in Obama's healthcare plan is the financial burden it will impose on young people and their families,” said Morris, the chief strategist of the League of American Voters. “It threatens them with jail if they do not either get high cost health insurance (averaging $15,000 per family in premiums) or pay a fine of 2.5 percent of their income to the government. With friends like these, the young uninsured Americans don't need enemies."

The League’s campaign, billed “Generation Hope,” is targeted toward the difficult-to-reach voters, ages 18-29, who don’t watch cable news or closely follow politics. It blends a traditional paid-media strategy on broadcast television with a “new media” campaign powered by a cutting-edge Web operation.

“Voters under 30 are the strongest supporters of Obama’s plan,” said Bob Adams, executive director of the League of American Voters. “Until they learn Obama imposes heavy fines on them, not to mention taxes on wheelchairs, pacemakers, and even breast-milk pumps for working mothers — all to pay for his expensive plan. And that’s just the tip of the dirty needle.”

The under-30 age group gave Barack Obama 66 percent of their vote in the 2008 presidential election, and are the last remaining age demographic group still onboard with the president’s plan.

Seniors originally backed Obamacare, but the League and others launched a national campaign exposing its dangers to the elderly. Almost every national poll today shows seniors strongly oppose Obamacare.

"We believe young voters will wake up to the dangerous reality of Obamacare, just like seniors did," Adams explained.

The League has strong evidence its outreach to young people will work.

A recent League survey found a collapse in support among young voters when they learned the details of the plan.

Under-30 voters backed “the healthcare bill making its way through Congress and supported by President Obama” by a margin of 58 percent to 30 percent, according to the survey.

But when the same groups of voters were provided a fair and unbiased description of the plan, support dropped 13 points to a margin of 55 percent to 40 percent When told specific details of the plan — such as taxes for medical devices, unrealistic cost estimates, rationing for the elderly, and cuts to Medicare — under-30 voters opposed by a margin of 43 percent to 45 percent — a nosedive of 30 points.

To complement its Web strategy, the League is also running a series of TV spots targeted at under-30 voters in keys swings states.

The first ad began airing in four states and is a take-off of the famous Mac commercial. The ad also runs on GenHope.com.

“This is ‘reality-based’ politics, not the ‘make-believe’ fantasy world painted by the White House,” Adams said. “The ‘game’ is over when young people learn just how devastating Obamacare will be for their future and families.”

The League of American Voters is a Washington-based membership organization and is organized as a 501(c)4 grass-roots lobbying organization.

What does "rationing for the elderly" and "danger to the elderly", "hefty fines"...mean?....where does this figure that private insurance is going to average $15,000 a year come from?

Sounds more like a fear-based tactic than reality based.

Wow, 60 Minutes tonight had as their first story how we spend so much money for end of life care in ICU's. And my favorite doc, who I met last year at our Hospice/Palliative Care Conference, Ira Byock was interviewed. And rationing exists now and will exist with even more with a public option. So funny to see someone I admire and met and who signed MY book. The 60 Minutes interview is on his website.

http://www.dyingwell.org/


steph

If I were to pay the entire cost of my family's health insurance through my employer, it would cost me almost $1200 per month. If you do the math, it comes out to $14,400 per year. So no, saying private insurance would run around fifteen grand a year isn't a fear tactic at all.

Exactly what I was thinking. It's about the same for the family business. Just under $1200/mo. for a family..... this year; it's going up 8.5% next year.