They always do this,lying and posturing, nothing will pass is their battle cry just before they ram it down our throats....


‘Frustration and Angst’ After Health Care Meeting at White House, Democrat Says
Senate Democrats contemplate half a loaf
Wednesday, December 16, 2009


President Barack Obama makes a statement on health care reform after meeting with Democratic senators at the White House on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2009. From left are Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.; Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont.; the president; and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Washington (AP) - History may be calling but time's running out to act by Christmas, so Senate Democrats are coming to terms with the idea they won't get everything they want from health care overhaul.

For the second time in less than two weeks, President Barack Obama cajoled restive Democrats on Tuesday, urging them not to lose perspective amid intense intraparty battles over government's role and reach in health care. The public plan liberals hoped for appeared dead in the Senate, as did a Medicare buy-in scheme offered as a fallback.

"The president and vice president pointed out that you take your victories when you can and nothing prevents you from fighting on for the things you believe should have been achieved," said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. "But why spurn a victory in hand?"

"There was frustration and angst," Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., a leading liberal, said after the meeting at the White House. "Everybody has things they want, and they didn't all get what they want and that includes me, big-time."

But Obama got their attention, said Rockefeller, describing a health care remake to cover tens of millions now uninsured as "the biggest thing since Social Security."

"It's hard to ignore that," Rockefeller said.

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., a moderate who had been on the fence, said Tuesday night it's time to pass the bill.

But Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., was still scrambling to secure the 60 votes he needs to overcome a Republican filibuster. One holdout -- Connecticut independent Sen. Joe Lieberman -- was coming around fast. Another -- Nebraska moderate Sen. Ben Nelson -- was still uncommitted, criticizing the bill's restrictions on abortion funding as too lax.

Obama said Democrats were "on the precipice" of victory, not breakdown.

The president said differences still remain over details but described the bill as an accomplishment for the history books.

The legislation includes "all the criteria that I laid out" in a speech to a joint session of Congress earlier in the year, he said. "It is deficit-neutral. It bends the cost curve. It covers 30 million Americans who don't have health insurance, and it has extraordinary insurance reforms in there to make sure that we're preventing abuse."

The meeting followed an intense two days in which Democrats struggled -- apparently successfully -- to keep the legislation moving forward despite a flare-up over a proposal to expand Medicare to uninsured men and women as young as 55.

Lieberman announced Sunday he opposed the proposal, and he threatened to join Republicans in opposition if it stayed in the bill. With Democrats ready to jettison the Medicare change, "I'm going to be in a position where I can say ... that I'm ready to vote for health care reform," Lieberman said Tuesday.

That left Nebraska's Nelson as the only known potential holdout among the 60 senators who are members of the party's caucus, a group that includes 58 Democrats, Lieberman and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

The White House meeting came as Democrats awaited a final cost analysis from the Congressional Budget Office on the latest version of the bill, and the full Senate defeated an amendment to permit the importing of low-cost prescription drugs from Canada and elsewhere.

At its core, the legislation is designed to spread coverage to 30 million Americans who now lack it, impose new consumer-friendly regulations on the insurance industry and try to slow the rate of growth in health care spending. Most Americans would be required to purchase insurance, and the government would establish new insurance supermarkets called "exchanges" through which consumers could shop for policies.

The measure includes hundreds of billions in subsidies to defray the cost of insurance for families with incomes up to about $88,200 a year for a family of four. Additional assistance would go to small businesses.

Large companies would not face a requirement to cover their employees. But the government would impose charges if any of them did not do so and any of their workers qualified for federal subsidies to help them afford private coverage.

It would be financed with tax increases and Medicare cuts.

Democratic leaders mapped out a timetable that envisioned passage before Christmas -- but just barely. The House approved its version of the bill earlier this fall, and final negotiations between the two chambers would follow a vote in the Senate.

------

Associated Press writers David Espo and Erica Werner contributed to this report.


(Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)


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purtteman (1 hour ago)

I believe it's the insurance companies and malpractice lawyers who are driving up healthcare costs.
liberty76 (16 hours ago)

Shuck-n-jive. Just say one thing to your constituents and do another. The Chicago mob and this arrogant leadership in congress will funnel TARP/stimulus money into your campaigns next year and shut down the opposition with the FCC. This is how tyrannies start.
rank (19 hours ago)

Make that half a loaf filled with BALONEY! Tell me why there is such a rush to pass this when it will NOT take effect until 2014, it does NOT address key issues, it will increase costs and lower quality, and after 10 years there will still be 25 to 30 MILLION people not covered. COULD IT BE ALL ABOUT TOTAL CONTROL? The President wants it by Christmas... and I say give him what he truly deserves... COAL!
southgeorgia912 (1 day ago)

The stupid liberal Democrats and our even more stupid President need to get it through their thick skulls NOW - We don't want Obamacare! If I've said it once, I'll say it 100 times. This bill does NOTHING for health care. It's a tax and spend deal, a tax increase, a bill for the Democrats to take over people's lives, and a fund to get the Democrats re-elected just so they can continue to stick their heads up Obama's colon. Vote em next year. 2010 is fast approaching. We have the power of the vote. Let's throw their asses out.


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Kathyet