HERE'S THE ANSWER FOR REID to END THE FILIBUSTER BULLSHIT

[samsingh]

Yes, i know i'm shouting. but i'm sick and tired of creeps like lieberman and his ilk hijacking an imperative program for millions of people who need healthcare.

The Senate should assemble a bill for the people - expand medicare, build a public option, and remove favorable status for insurance companies.

Then the Senate should stop all business that is non-essential until the mid term elections. With our other majorities, we can at least count on fairer elections than in the past. Let the voters pick the next senators and see if enough come on board to overcome the fillibuster.

In the meantime, demote lieberman and any other obstructive blue Democratic Senators.

[WI_DEM]

1. Reid needs to keep those suckers in session thru the Christmas holidays

They've had plenty of time to pass a bill--make them stick around over the holidays. Not that it will affect Lieberman.

[samsingh]

2. good point

[Cleita]

3. The guy is guilty of negligent homicide IMHO if he kills this.

The future 45,000 Americans who will die because they don't have access to decent health care is on his head and that of all the Republicans in the Senate. This is not a political issue. It's a failure of our representative government to meet the needs of the people of the USA when that need is literally a matter of life and death.

[samsingh]

17. i can't stop thinking about all the sick people who are depending on this help

while idiots like lieberman are playing politics

[Freddie Stubbs]

4. Only 1/3 of the Senate is up for reelection in 2010, and

if current trends hold, there will be more Republicans in the Senate in 2011.

[samsingh]

18. i think the stark choice may change that trend.

[Vincardog]

23. IF that is true it is due to the current weak kneed Democratic leadership rather than any voters Wil...

[samsingh]

27. lieberman appears to have won.

[Delphinus]

5. If he'd just remove

the favorable status for insurance companies, that would be a help.

No one is going to stand up to their puppet master (aka pharma and insurance).

[samsingh]

22. that would make the insurance companies more accountable

[MineralMan]

6. Reid will do nothing. He will simply waffle some more.

Where is the leadership?

[AlinPA]

11. Reid will buckle to Lieberman. Reid is a weak senator.

[MineralMan]

12. Yup. He can't lead...only follow.

[samsingh]

26. Reconciliation may be the only remaining option.

[librechik]

7. Here's an idea from Schumer:

Split off the medicare expansion into it's own bill and pass it on reconciliation. Then pass all the insurance reform as a different bill.

We're done before Christmas.

[Cleita]

8. What if President Obama lets the genie out of the bottle?

What if he issues a signing statement covering all Americans with Medicare, effective immediately, until Congress can come up with an acceptable health care bill. The Secretary of Health is going to have to make it work and they are going to have to find the money somewhere in the budget. Frankly once people have the coverage and are using it, they aren't going to be happy having it taken away from them once a corporate friendly bill is finally hammered and put into effect years from now, which does nothing to help people in dire need today.

[FBaggins]

9. It needs to be done LONG before the elections... or a filibuster will be the least of our worries

Right now we stand to lose 2-4 seats in the senate. If we clog things up like this WITHOUT passing a major bill, it's possible that we could lose six or more. Then they'll spin that as a "mandate" from the voters and we'll NEVER get something passed.

The flip side of that is that if we can pass something reasonable pretty soon, we can turn this thing around and hold our own.

[Bumblebee]

10. Recruit Snowe to switch by offering her Lieberman's chairmanship, and

kick the bastard out.

[samsingh]

19. that's a very good idea

[Freddie Stubbs]

21. That would replace someone who votes with the Democrats not enough with someone who

votes with the Democrats even less.

[JVS]

24. Yeah!

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

13. Why is this anywhere near a feasible solution?

Republicans don't want anything, so we give them exactly that until they give us health care? That's a good idea.... how?

[samsingh]

20. it's better than killing the idea and continuing to waterdown the

legislation only to have the repugs and repug-lites like lieberman thumb our noses and say we're still not going to support what you've compromised on.

[backscatter712]

14. Reid can choose to clear the Senate schedule and refuse to bring anything else to the floor.

That's one way to deal with a filibuster - stop ALL Senate business, entirely. Nothing gets done, AT ALL, until the bill gets an up or down vote.

It's a hard-core, heavy-handed, expensive tactic, but for the health care bill, it's worth it.

[onenote]

15. he's not going to do that -- the defense approps bill still has to pass

And holding up that bill would blow up in the Democrats faces.

On the other hand, I wonder if there is a way to put the Health Care bill together with the approps bill, which would make it hard for the repubs to filibuster it.

[PJPhreak]

16. Let 'em stand there with...

a pee cup in one hand and the DC phone book in the other.

Make them bring a sleeping bag also.

at least the American Public will see who the obstructionist asshats really are

[samsingh]

25. agreed

[MilesColtrane]

28. You're making the naive assumption that the Republicans won't take over one...

or both Houses of Congress next November.