Did Health Care Summit Make Nuclear Option All But Certain?
Posted: Friday, February 26, 2010
by Mogama
http://www.mogama.info
Though President Obama's Health Care Summit at Blairhouse on Thursday, February 25, 2010, failed to slightly bridge the gap between liberals and conservatives that was predicted and expected the Summit did prove that our elected leaders can still act like adults. Both sides of the aisle, actually talked substance for a change. Most of them came across as knowing what the heck they were talking about, though talking points and political theater were not entirely absent. It was the most substantive discussion Americans have seen from their law makers in months of health care reform debate.
If an unspoken goal of the President was to call Republicans bluff, challenging them to "Show me your plan", he achieved that goal far more than he might have hoped. Having posted his own plan on the Internet prior to the meeting, the President entered the room with a slight edge, as he chaired the meeting of 30 members of Congress.
President Obama and his side managed to cast the health care reform debate as the Democrats' desire to do for ordinary Americans what tax payers have been doing for our legislators since 1960, in the form of the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program ( FEHBP). Nailing that point, the President left his opponents with "start from scratch" as the most repeated phrase from Republican attendees of the meeting.
Speaking of the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program, it is now clearer than ever that the key features of the FEHBP are pretty similar to the features the President is pushing in his reform. The FEHBP, which is managed by the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM), has the following key features: (1) There is no waiting period; the plan kicks in the moment you sign up. (2) You cannot be denied, and your coverage cannot be limited due to pre-existing condition. (3) The average federal worker or congressperson receives 72 percent of his/her premium paid by tax payers. (5) Your coverage continues even if you retire, divorce, change employment status, or drop dead!
In other words, Senator Mitch McConnell's health care plan has the three most important features that we nonentities need: a health care plan that is accessible, affordable and portable. Now, if that's good for Mitch, why is it bad for the rest of us?
Now, we'd really take Senator McConnell and his squad seriously if they'd just protest and voluntarily give up their FEHBP. Shouldn't that be the logical action if these guys and gals were intellectually honest? Wouldn't that be the end of this boldfaced hypocrisy atop Capitol Hill?
Coming from this historic Summit, start-from-scratch conservatives are praying that Democrats will expend their political energy on health care reform, from now till as close to elections day as possible. That way Republicans can seize the political stage to persuade voters, "Boot these liberals out of office and save America from the evils of socialized medicine." And all the while, conservative lawmakers with their spouses and children will continue to hug their government plan close to their bosom.
Back to the Health Care Summit: It made the President look very much in charge, very knowledgeable about the system he wants to reform. The Summit made the President's party look reasonable, not extreme, in their determination to set use the so-called nuclear option (i.e., reconciliation) to nip the other side's filibuster weapon. That is very logical, since that reconciliation has been the tool of choice in legislating health care, from Medicare changes to CHIP (Children Health Insurance Program).And when the legislative nuclear bomb falls on filibustering Republicans, they'll be praying that voters will contract enough of their anger to fire Democrats in large numbers to make Republicans the majority in Congress.
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President Obama and his side managed to cast the health care reform debate as the Democrats' desire to do for ordinary Americans what tax payers have been doing for our legislators since 1960, in the form of the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program ( FEHBP). Nailing that point, the President left his opponents with "start from scratch" as the most repeated phrase from Republican attendees of the meeting.
Speaking of the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program, it is now clearer than ever that the key features of the FEHBP are pretty similar to the features the President is pushing in his reform. The FEHBP, which is managed by the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM), has the following key features: (1) There is no waiting period; the plan kicks in the moment you sign up. (2) You cannot be denied, and your coverage cannot be limited due to pre-existing condition. (3) The average federal worker or congressperson receives 72 percent of his/her premium paid by tax payers. (5) Your coverage continues even if you retire, divorce, change employment status, or drop dead!
In other words, Senator Mitch McConnell's health care plan has the three most important features that we nonentities need: a health care plan that is accessible, affordable and portable. Now, if that's good for Mitch, why is it bad for the rest of us?
Now, we'd really take Senator McConnell and his squad seriously if they'd just protest and voluntarily give up their FEHBP. Shouldn't that be the logical action if these guys and gals were intellectually honest? Wouldn't that be the end of this boldfaced hypocrisy atop Capitol Hill?
Coming from this historic Summit, start-from-scratch conservatives are praying that Democrats will expend their political energy on health care reform, from now till as close to elections day as possible. That way Republicans can seize the political stage to persuade voters, "Boot these liberals out of office and save America from the evils of socialized medicine." And all the while, conservative lawmakers with their spouses and children will continue to hug their government plan close to their bosom.
Back to the Health Care Summit: It made the President look very much in charge, very knowledgeable about the system he wants to reform. The Summit made the President's party look reasonable, not extreme, in their determination to set use the so-called nuclear option (i.e., reconciliation) to nip the other side's filibuster weapon. That is very logical, since that reconciliation has been the tool of choice in legislating health care, from Medicare changes to CHIP (Children Health Insurance Program).And when the legislative nuclear bomb falls on filibustering Republicans, they'll be praying that voters will contract enough of their anger to fire Democrats in large numbers to make Republicans the majority in Congress.
Click here to become a Searchwarp Writer. It's FREE .
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)Nicely stated article, sir. I still to this day wonder, though, why Mr. Obama is making the effort. The Democrats have the majority (once a fillibuster-proof one) and yet he seems to be baiting the Republicans. He doesn't need them, never needed them, actually, and yet his own party can't seem to agree on this legislation.Perhaps I am simplifying it too much and have it wrong, yet this was suppposed to be done already, wasn't it? Perhaps it will turn out the voters from both parties are sick and tired of the shell games and 'deals' and this 'nuclear option' will eradicate all of 'em.You're right, Michael. When it comes to health care reform, President Obama's consensus leadership style has become a huge liability. Wanting to satisfy the unfriendly opposition, the President has helped to shake the confidence of some members of his own party.
Health care reform was a primary reason why I voted for the man. He forgot that he won a landslide election, which means he has the mandate to implement HIS ideas on health care reform, since that was a big reason why millions voted for him over Senator John McCain. That's what elections are about: making decisions, not begging the opposition to please be your friends, especially when you have the majority in both Houses of Congress, and the guys on the side of the aisle have no interest in working with you.
Hopefully, the President will now be bold enough to persuade Dems to use the nuclear option to pass health care reform. There has never been a perfect bill; Congress can work out the bugs later. ~mogama~My respect and admiration grows daily for our president. He is a tough little guy who walked into a mess, and will go down in history as one of the true champions of the poor and middle class. Who else would look out for us? Wall street? They take our 401s and invest it overseas, and even arranged for tax breaks to make more money for the shareholders by eliminating jobs here. Unbridled capitalism might be the answer, it sure would speed up the big change that's coming!Hi, Raymond. It seems like President Obama is learning the art of being a champion for the poor and needy in the sense of economics...that's new for him. What he knew before becoming president was how to give the poor a political voice. I do understand he walked into a big mess, but it was his decision to run...he wanted the job. ~mogama~
I agree with the fact that we need health care reform but not the current bill, even my doctor said it is a disaster the way it is written and he is one of the few docs that still takes medi care patients. The Dems own the house and the senate so it was not the Rep. that kept the bill from failing but the Dems.I hear you, Linda. If I were your doctor I wouldn't want health care reform that would limit my earning potential either. I'm not a partisan guy, so I hold both Dems and Reps equally responsible for failure to pass meaningful reform for the ordinary people out here. ~mogama~
Nice to hear the politicians behaved like adults for a change.I say it again: Why are people not understanding this? I am sure it's about self-interest, but ensuring everyone has access to healthcare just as politicians do is of benefit to everyone. Don't we want everyone in the country to be healthy?Although I am an African American, I live in the UK where there has been access to free healthcare for everyone since the 1940s. I can't help thinking this is one of the marks of a civilized and wealthy society.The thing is, Zhana, that some American politicians nick-pick the problems of the British health care system and use those weaknesses as reasons why Americans must reject universal health care outright. There cannot be a perfect health care system, but most ordinary Americans know we need a much better system than what we have now. ~mogama~
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