Discussion for article #230757
You had the votes in 09 for single payer health care?
Really?
You had Joe Lieberman, Arlen Specter, Mary Landrieu, Mark Pryor, and Max Baucus on board for a single-payer health care bill?
I don’t believe you. Those people wouldn’t even go along with a Medicare expansion, but they were going to vote for single-payer health care?
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Captain Unhelpful rides again…
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Another world or a wide stance?
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And those comments don’t “reflect” what Chuck Schumer said at all. They are the polar opposite of what Chuck Schumer said.
Schumer’s argument is that the Democrats shouldn’t have done health care. Harkin argues they should have gone even bigger on health care.
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This may be why Max Baucus is the most expensive American in its history. He was the perfect target for capture, simply aligning with the insurers, allowing $1.2 trillion a year in free-riding to continue and tossing overboard the obvious (at least to any other advanced economy) solution of universal coverage and issuing everybody a chipcard.
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Maybe next time don’t let a Baucus aide who came straight from a health insurance company write the law. Just a tip.
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Thank you. I thought the exact same thing as I was reading.
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Oh puuuuuuuuuu-leeeeeeeeeeeeze’! "Coulda’…Woulda’…Shoulda’ "_____The same craven lil’ bunch, led by LIEberman, who backed away from even a Medicare buy in were NEVER going to go for single payer or a public option.
Love ya’ Tom, but it’s nap time; go back to sleep.
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Public option is the way to go for starters. Key word being OPTION…
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You’re absitively, posilutely right. The problem in 2009 wasn’t Republicans, it was the Democrats you mentioned (plus a few more).
We ended up with a program that is already improving the lives and health of tens of millions of Americans. But it could have been oh! so very much better.
Democrats should be proud of what they’ve accomplished … but they should be at least embarrassed (if not outright ashamed) at what should have happened.
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What you said. I always appreciated Harkin’s votes, but between the way he sabotaged the democratic candidate running to succeed him and his delusional comments here I’m wondering if there’s something more than just crankiness wrong with him.
But I’d love to hear how Lieberman, Baucus, and Nelson were just waiting for a friendly phone call from Obama to switch their votes to single payer.
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Harkin should shut the hell up and go wallow in the cash he refused to share with other Democratic candidates.
How much effort did he expend himself to get Baucus on-board with single-payer? I’ll bet it was exactly squat.
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To those Senators add a House with a bunch of Blue Dogs who tried their best to undermine the ACA when they got their hands on it. (I.e. Stupak from Michigan).Finally, add to the mix a President who had no clue about how Congress works, and who had no staff capable of working with Congress. and it’s a miracle any kind of health care bill got passed.
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harkin just needs to shut the fuck up and enjoy his self-named think tank – and those millions in booty he’s taking with him. i also just want to note that for such a long-serving member of congress, he’s certainly contributed fuck-all to a state democratic party that couldn’t even pull off a win for his own seat against an insane republican candidate.
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O-Care Should Have Been Single-Payer
Now he figures this out?
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I love Harken, but he’s full of shit on this. The Senate didn’t have the votes it would have needed for a more progressive healthcare reform.
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It should be well-known by everyone by now that no legislation is passed by the Senate without cloture which requires a 60-vote majority to invoke. The Democratic caucus did NOT have a 60-vote majority before July 7th 2009 when Franken was sworn in and after February 3rd 2010 when Scott Brown was sworn in. Between those dates (which included the death of Ted Kennedy) the Senate was in session for only 77 days when the caucus had 60 votes. Democrats did not “control” Congress for Obama’s first two years.
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While Sen. Schumer (D- Israel) has has always been a opportunistic blowhard who has never meet a Investment banker he did not like, I have to say that I agree with Sen. Harkin on this one.
You didn’t read it carefully.
“So I look back and say we should have either done it the correct way or not done anything at all.
The latter comment reflects those made recently by Sen. Chuck Schumer"
The latter comment (“not done anything at all”) reflects what Schumer said. The former comment (“we should have done it the correct way”) does not.
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