Reid confident revised health bill will pass (Reid to reveal final bill)

[IndianaGreen]

Here is what caught my eye in the story now being reported by MSNBC:

Reid confident revised health bill will pass

After talks with holdout, majority leader says he intends to reveal final bill

WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is expressing confidence about the prospects for passage of historic health care legislation after daylong talks with Democratic holdout Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska.

In a statement issued late Friday night, Reid says he intends to unveil final revisions to the measure on Saturday and is confident they will prevail.

Nelson also said real progress had been made but said there was nothing final.

<snip>

That gave Nelson enormous leverage as he pressed for concessions that included stronger restrictions on abortions to be covered by insurance policies offered in a newly overhauled health care system. Officials said he was also seeking to ease the impact of a proposed insurance industry tax on nonprofit companies, as well as win more federal funds to cover Nebraska's cost of treating patients in Medicaid, the state-federal health care program for the poor. These officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks, said the administration and Democratic leaders had offered concessions on those points.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34479067/ns/politics-health_care_reform/

[DJ13]

1. The WH has become another corporate concession stand

Much like those log cabin souvenir shops in a National Park, but with really expensive trinkets.

[IndianaGreen]

2. I wonder what new concessions they made to Ben Nelson

:scared:

[MiniMe]

3. If they intent to pass it over the weekend, they better be able to do it without

Lieberman. The airports are pretty much going to be closed tomorrow, and Joe is in Connecticut.

[IndianaGreen]

4. Holy Joe is putting together a new list of demands

[still_one]

5. OK, fine, I will hold off commenting until I read this final bill /nt

[RC]

6. Abortion should not even be mentioned in any health insurance reform

It is too much of a hot button.

[elleng]

7. 'Reid made no comment to reporters,

but Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., another participant in the talks, sounded pleased. ''I've been in Harry Reid's office for 13 hours and I'm glad to get out of there,'' he said. ''But I'm particularly glad with what has happened in that office.'''

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/12/19/us/politics/AP-US-Health-Care-Overhaul.html

[rpannier]

8. It'll be a boon to the American public

1. Insurance Mandates
2. Every American will get a coupon for 25 cents off their next box of band-aids
3. And 50 cents off their next appendectomy

[Demeter]

9. I Can Sleep Peacfully, Now

If Harry thinks it will pass, it will go down in well-deserved flames!

[Tansy_Gold]

11. And they said we had to have SOMETHING because

SOMETHING is better than the status quo? NO!

If they cave to Nelson, which seems likely, women will be charged the same as men but will NOT have equal services. The next thing you know, someone will come along and say that contraceptives -- WHICH COULD CAUSE ABORTIONS, Y'KNOW -- can't be covered. We've already got the "conscience" exemption so people whose imaginary friend told 'em "THIS IS BAAAAD," won't participate in its use. And all of it is directed at women.


So yes, it's nice that the bill requires women to be charged no more than men for the same coverage, but who knows how equal that coverage will be?

If it's up to an asswipe like Ben Nelson or a slimy turd like Joe Lieberman, who can bet your bottom dollar the "final solution version" will not be pretty, especially for women.



TG2012

[Demeter]

12. I Thought You Were Going to Get Some Sleep

Take care of yourself, now. We need you to win the next election, Madame President!

[Tansy_Gold]

13. Ha!

I wrote that at 6 a.m. after I'd already been up for 2 hours yesterday morning. After a hectic day yesterday, I crashed at 9:30 and slept in unbelievably lazily until 6 this morning.

The bill still looks awful, Pelosi will probably not be able to ram through significant changes in conference, the rats will filibuster the final solution version, and the good goddess only knows what kind of horror we'll be left with. The meme of "but 31,000,000 people will now have coverage!" ought to be the second biggest lie of the year, right after Palin's "death panel" tripe. When they start talking about providing CARE to 31,000,000 people rather than "coverage" bought from for-profit insurance companies, then we can talk. Never mind than none of it happens for four more years.

I happened to catch just a few minutes of the repeat of "The People Speak" last night, in particular the part about FDR's policies not really coming into being until there were riots in the streets. Maybe that's what Obomber needs. Doesn't seem like anything else will wake him up.



TG2012

[dixiegrrrrl]

10. So there is not now a "final" bill, but something will pass.

but we have been told there is no public option included, and Reid is leading the Senate in approving this unknown bill just before the holiday break.
We can't argue against any poison in the bill since we do not know what is in it.

Great....just great.

btw...Schumer has the highest level of insurance industry contributions, didja know that?

Open Secrets made a list, Huff Po published it a week or so back.