The Democrats now have 60 votes for Health Care Bill. As with the debate over the technicalities of the bill, there are varied opinions on the effectiveness of this legislation.
Howard Dean, Keith Olbermann and Markos Moulitsas (that's Kos, of DailyKos) are opposed to this version of the health care bill.
Dr. Howard Dean says this is "basically the Mitt Romney bill in Massachusetts except it doesn't insure as high a percentage of people." Dean reiterates his view that it is necessary to kill the Senate bill and start all over.Firedoglake thinks this bill is even more insidious with Emperor Ben Nelson to Women: All Your Uterus Are Belong to Me.
Keith Olbermann says, "The men of the current moment have lost to the mice of history...They must now not make the defeat worse by passing a hollow shell of a bill for the sake of a big signing ceremony...President Obama...Sir, kill this mutated version of the bill."
Kos says that Massachusetts is an "example of a state with mandates, but no cost control. And the results, thus far, aren't encouraging. Monopolies don't make a habit of passing on the savings to consumers without being forced to by 1) government regulations, or 2) real competition. We have neither in this Senate bill...So not only does a mandate-centric health "reform" plan not control costs, but also continues to leave people it pretends to cover in the dust, too poor to afford steep co-pays and deductibles. Bravo, Senate Democrats. It's hard to see how you could screw this up any worse...
graphic: twolf1
Robert Reich says that We are Slouching Toward Health Care Reform.
We are slouching toward health-care reform that's better than nothing but far worse than we had imagined it would be. Even those of us who have seen legislative sausage-making up close, even those of us who never make the perfect the enemy of the better, are concerned. That two or three senators are able to extort as much as they have is appalling. Why hasn't Reid forced much of the bill into reconciliation, requiring only 51 votes? Why has the President been so cowed? In all likelihood, the White House and the Dems eventually will get a bill they can call "reform," but they will not be able to say with straight faces that the reform is a significant improvement over the terrible system we already have.
We are slouching toward health-care reform that's better than nothing but far worse than we had imagined it would be. Even those of us who have seen legislative sausage-making up close, even those of us who never make the perfect the enemy of the better, are concerned. That two or three senators are able to extort as much as they have is appalling. Why hasn't Reid forced much of the bill into reconciliation, requiring only 51 votes? Why has the President been so cowed? In all likelihood, the White House and the Dems eventually will get a bill they can call "reform," but they will not be able to say with straight faces that the reform is a significant improvement over the terrible system we already have.
On Bill Moyers Journal, Robert Kuttner of the American Prospect and Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone both agree that the Senate health care bill is a bad one. But Kuttner believes the bill should pass, while Taibbi thinks it should be killed."
The video is a must see. Here's the full transcript; here's the full video.BILL MOYERS: Yes or no. If you were a senator, would you vote for this Senate health care bill?
MATT TAIBBI: No.
BILL MOYERS: Bob?
ROBERT KUTTNER: Yes.
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