6 thoughts on “House Passes Health Care Bill”

1. Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! It passed!
   But it passed with the Stupak (pronounced STUPID, I believe)-Pitts (how appropriate) amendment. But we can all breath easy now, it passed The House. Of course, only rich women and families will be able to afford abortions. But that was always the case, whether abortion was legal or not… Nothing has changed there. So, make it one lower case “yeah” instead.
   Now, onto the The Senate, where the smug, rich pricks will be up to their usual tricks.
   Bismark was wrong, seeing laws being passed isn’t like watching sausage being made, it’s more like watching some gluttonous fat guy eat an entire extra-cheese and pepperoni pizza then take a huge dump on your lawn.

2. I understand that there is one less Republican this morning. Will Rep. Joseph Cao now consider himself an independent, or will he just switch parties?

   One wonders why the Stupid-Pitts (thanks, gulag) amendment was included, given that they only got one now-former Republican vote. Democratic House Members: You give them concessions to get them to vote for the bill, not against it. This is really basic stuff you should know by now.

3. I am not happy about the reproductive-rights amendment. It goes far beyond any previous federal restrictions (as I understand it) in that it prohibits a woman from buying a rider which would cover abortions. Frankly, I have doubts about the constitutionality of the restriction. Roe v Wade has not been overturned. How can it be illegal for one woman who is poor to purchase insurance for a totally legal medical procedure that is legal for a woman who does not receive government assistance or subsidies in health care. It’s discrimination along economic lines and though it will be years before it hits the SC, but IF it does hit the SC when the SC is VERY liberal (after 2 more Obama appointments), it COULD result in a modification of Roe v Wade that sets the anti-abortion crowd on their butts!

   File this under ‘be careful what you wish for’. The Fetus people may have defined the issue for the courts, the last place they want it. It also makes the next Obama SC nomination(s) of crucial importance for women. Moderate Democrats will not defend women and they are the deciding faction in Congress – so the role must fall to the courts.

4. It passed 220-215; I wonder if it would’ve passed/what those numbers would’ve been, had they not passed the Stupak amendment. I really thought it had more support than a five vote margin.

5. Why Dennis voted NO:

   …By incurring only a new requirement to cover pre-existing conditions, a weakened public option, and a few other important but limited concessions, the health insurance companies are getting quite a deal. The Center for American Progress’ blog, Think Progress, states, ‘since the President signaled that he is backing away from the public option, health insurance stocks have been on the rise.’ Similarly, healthcare stocks rallied when Senator Max Baucus introduced a bill without a public option. Bloomberg reports that Curtis Lane, a prominent health industry investor, predicted a few weeks ago that ‘money will start flowing in again’ to health insurance stocks after passage of the legislation. Investors.com last month reported that pharmacy benefit managers share prices are hitting all-time highs, with the only industry worry that the Administration would reverse its decision not to negotiate Medicare Part D drug prices, leaving in place a Bush Administration policy.

   During the debate, when the interests of insurance companies could have been effectively challenged, that challenge was turned back. The ‘robust public option’ which would have offered a modicum of competition to a monopolistic industry was whittled down from an initial potential enrollment of 129 million Americans to 6 million. An amendment which would have protected the rights of states to pursue single-payer health care was stripped from the bill at the request of the Administration. Looking ahead, we cringe at the prospect of even greater favors for insurance companies….

   …This health care bill continues the redistribution of wealth to Wall Street at the expense of America’s manufacturing and service economies which suffer from costs other countries do not have to bear, especially the cost of health care. America continues to stand out among all industrialized nations for its privatized health care system. As a result, we are less competitive in steel, automotive, aerospace and shipping while other countries subsidize their exports in these areas through socializing the cost of health care.

   Notwithstanding the fate of H.R. 3962, America will someday come to recognize the broad social and economic benefits of a not-for-profit, single-payer health care system, which is good for the American people and good for America’s businesses, with of course the notable exceptions being insurance and pharmaceuticals.

   How I wish this guy had a bigger voice.

6. Today on CNN, FreedomWorks head Dick Armey defended the industry’s discriminatory practices by saying that if you have diabetes because you “eat like a pig,” you don’t deserve coverage:

   ARMEY: But now, they [government officials] come along and they say, irrespective of the fact they’ve gone 20, 30, 40 years of their adult life without ever having bought insurance prior to getting a liver inflammation due to their excessive drinking habits or diabetes because they eat like a pig, you must now insure them. Because no one knows more about being a pig then Dick Armey

   Or this gem from another Last week, Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) said that insurers are justified in charging women more than men because we’re “all different.” He then compared a woman to a “smoker” and a man to a “non-smoker” to argue that insurers should be allowed to discriminate. Yes we’re all different, Pete – some of us can still look in the mirror every morning and not have a strong urge to throw up.

   By all that is sacred on God’s green earth – The Health Insurance Industry’s profits MUST be protected.

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