Comments on: Why Healthcare Reform Failed

By: Julie A

Julie A — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 02:22:52 +0000

And the democrats aren’t ever partisan?? Lol. Have you forgotten the time when Bush tried to reform social security?

At this point, health care is a philosophical battle. Obama,Pelosi,Reed..et al..are pushing a government “solution”. Most of the repubs are against this bill– as are the majority of the American people. The ONLY thing the repubs have for leverage is public opinion and THAT’S IT. Just think how pissed voters would be if the repubs actually did roll over and go along with the dems…65% or more of americans want the repubs to do exactly what they are currently doing!

None of this matters cuz, it looks like obama is going to exercise the nuclear option and cram it down our throats anyway.

Thank God the founders were brilliant enough to put in a self-correcting mechanism every 2 years….. if we can make it that far

By: Dan the Printer Man

Dan the Printer Man — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:34:30 +0000

I agree with Steve Guiot…he and i have both observed that no amount of bipartisanship short of allowing the R’s to write the bills will get Obama anywhere. The R’s decided before he was even inaugurated that they were going to say no to everything, make him look innefective, and ensure that he ‘fails’ at passing his agenda. And last time I checked, he was the duly and overwhelmingly elected president of the country. Last time i checked this country was and still is hemoraging jobs. And so on. As far as im concerned, the R’s are like a little kid who wont clean their bedroom, and when you ask them why, they say because you were mean when you told them to clean it.

By: Bobby

Bobby — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:07:13 +0000

The summit was no more than a TV op for the president to shake his finger and scold the republicans. Now THAT’S leadership you can believe in.

By: Julie A.

Julie A. — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:57:06 +0000

Hello, Lee
Yeah the problem here is that obama, pelosi, reed are not interested whatsoever in actual health care reform. But they are interested in obtaining as much government control as possible. And if they get control over health care, then they will finally have their socialist state, which they have been salivating over since FDR.

Steve says that the repubs are the obstructionists here…. The republicans are not the only obstructionists… because the democrats can do anything they want—they have all the votes they need and the repubs can’t do anything about it-they just don’t have the votes.

In actuality, its the democrats who are worried about their own elections…thats why obama can’t get total support on this. The repubs are actually representing the will of the people, as 2/3 of us clearly don’t want reform this way.

If they are interested in AUTHENTIC reform they can do these things, and the health care costs would come down substantially:
1) Allow purchasing insurance across state lines (increase competition)
2) Tort reform
3) deal with the immigration problem (big problem)

By: Marty

Marty — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:12:24 +0000

Hey Lee,

Love the large hefty bag idea. Let’s throw in the tax code and start over with that as well. The house and the Senate are a joke on both sides. We need term limits and/or age limits and publically financed elections. They are there to do a job, not have a job.

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:11:17 +0000

Nice summary there Lee, and I’ve got no qualms with your approach from the perspectice of a private enterprise. But this administration, and any political administration that attempts to “reform” an institution as major as health care, errs in the basic assumption that government has any role in the issue whatsoever. The Constitution is very specific in the powers that are enumerated as belonging to the Federal government and administrating American health care is not there. Liberal Democrats have been trying to assume control over health care in this country since the Truman years. This effort should be stopped just like all the others. If they get it passed by reconciliation, it will get overturned by Supreme Court challenge or in the next election. Get govt out of it. Time to take back our country!

By: Lee Eldridge

Lee Eldridge — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:03:35 +0000

Hey Dan. Welcome!

Biggest blame I have for the republicans is that they had their shot and they didn’t even attempt to fix the problems with health care. The republicans controlled Congress from 1994-2006 and other than the prescription drug bill that was passed a few years ago I can’t even think of anything they accomplished in the health care arena. At least the democrats have tried. They just tried to do it by themselves, which was never likely to work.

What’s going on right now would be comical if health care wasn’t so important.

By: Dan the Printer Man

Dan the Printer Man — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:42:43 +0000

so what blame do you ascribe to the ‘lets make this Obama’s Waterloo’ attitude by the Republican party towards Obama since he got elected?

By: Lee Eldridge

Lee Eldridge — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:46:03 +0000

Hey, Steve. Good morning.

I’m not defending the republicans. I agree many republicans are more interested in the elections than legislation at this point.

But silly me for believing the president might actually attempt bipartisan support to get something passed that will improve health care. Let’s attempt to solve a problem. That’s their job. All of them for that matter.

Right now Obama does not have public support. But he would gain huge points in public opinion by scrapping the current plans and by showing that he’s willing to work with both sides to accomplish a new bill. By coming out with his own plan PRIOR to the summit he’s proven that he’s not interested in bipartisanship any more than the republicans are. And has lost an opportunity to rally some public support behind him.

By: Steve Guiot

Steve Guiot — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:38:39 +0000

Seriously… I know, you know, the Republicans know, the Democrats know hopefully Obama knows now. The Republicans have absolutely no interest in anything but the 2010 elections and their painfully obvious strategy is to obstruct everything. I think Obama is smart for calling them out on it in the public forum to try to show as many people as he can the Right’s true intentions as the party of no. If you think it’s a trick, or a ploy, or a trap, then so be it. It is only because the Republicans won’t even vote for anything they say they agree with, or better yet, if Obama has anything good to say about a pending bill they won’t even vote for their own bill they cosponsor!

“I love gridlock. I think we’re better off when we’re gridlocked because we’re not passing things.”
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK)