Jul 18th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
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July 18th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
According to the DPC (in their state-by-state breakdown of the need for health-care reform), “In 2007 and 2008, 460,000 Nebraskans – 29.5 percent of all Nebraskans under age 65 – went
without health insurance for some period of time.”
Can’t at least one of the 460,000 punch Ben Nelson in the face? His insurance will cover it at least.
July 18th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
Krugman doesn’t say who the six in question are, aside from Ben Nelson and Lieberman. I assume Baucus and Conrad, but who are the other two? Lincoln? Pryor? Bill Nelson? Landrieu? Ironic since he somberly tells us to “remember their names.”
July 18th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
It’s in Krugman’s second link: Snowe, Collins, Landrieu, and (weirdly) Wyden, who with Nelson and Lieberman signed a letter urging the delay of health care reform.
July 18th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
What Krugman said.
No surprise there, and just linking to him without commentary cuts to the chase. Good post.
Oh, and remember when getting Lieberman back in the Democratic caucus would help for real reforms? Good times. Lieberman is trying to kill universal health care, again. What a two-face scumbag.
How many of those clowns voted for Bush tax cuts? I don’t think Snowe did, but what about the rest?
July 18th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
The problem remains that most of us do not live in Maine, Connecticut, Louisiana, Nebraska or Oregon. So what recall can we do? What remedy do we have? None. Someone that I do not vote for nor that I can vote against is controlling my destiny in this republic. Voting for presidents is useless against the 100 petty tyrants of the U.S. Senate.
July 18th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
Nelson and Collins voted FOR all Bush tax cuts. There’s a special place in hell for “moderate” senators.
But I don’t think they’ll manage to kill reform this time.
July 18th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
Martin, find out who thier corportate donors are and stop buying from them. Then get your own Senators off thier asses and down the hall to the offices of the six.
July 18th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
How many of those clowns voted for Bush tax cuts? I don’t think Snowe did, but what about the rest?
David Kurtz over at TPM has your answer here.
July 18th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
As someone who was at least somewhat sympathetic to the line that, “while Lieberman might be wrong about the war, is good on everything else,” this bullshit really annoys me.
Snowe and Collins are Republicans, Landreu and Nelson come from red states, but Lieberman and Wyden are blue state Democrats, and need to be smacked into place. They don’t have to worry about there seats or the party base (at least not for voting for reform), what’s their excuse for obstructing reform that the simply most know is needed?
July 18th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
The problem remains that most of us do not live in Maine, Connecticut, Louisiana, Nebraska or Oregon. So what recall can we do? What remedy do we have? None.
You notice it’s not the Gang of 7 including Specter. Help get a credible primary challenger and you’ll find they’re much more interested in pleasing their primary voter base. Of course, this doesn’t affect the Maine women, it’s once every six years and in Nebraska and Louisiana you’d be giving up a seat to a hard-right Republican if you actually successfully primaried them. But it’s at least gotten Specter out of the way, and it was pretty close to getting Lieberman out of the way in 2006.
July 18th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
Re Wyden:
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/07/on-health-care-bipartisanship-without.html
Nate thinks he has his own reasons.
July 18th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
David Kurtz over at TPM has your answer here.
Landrieu and Snowe voted against the 2nd round of Bush tax cuts in 2003. Nelson and Collins are the only ones in this new ‘Gang’ who voted FOR all tax cuts, the most hypocritical of this sad lot.
July 18th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
And remember that in 2003 the vote was 50-50, with Cheney casting the deciding vote. Nelson and Collins are both responsible for hundreds of billions of additional tax cuts for the rich. What are the chances of a journalist asking them about that?
July 18th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
Fred, sadly my two senators are Kennedy (sick) and Kerry (does anyone listen to someone who lost a presidential election?)
July 18th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
You might want to catch mcjoan’s FP post at DailyKos yesterday, What’s with Wyden?, whom she once worked for and in whose office she still has plenty of contacts.
It explains a lot about what’s going on there.
July 18th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
I was surprised to se Wyden on that list. Lieberman on the other hand. I would note that Lieberman voted for cloture on the Bankruptcy bill before voting against it. Perhaps we should remind him of his commitment to not filibustering. I believe that he once advocated its abolition.
July 18th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
I am from CT, and have been pestering the lines of Senator Lieberman often and loudly the past few days. Not just that; urging everyone I know to do the same.
Any other suggestion? I will be more than glad to send him letters full of caring suggestions. Just give me ideas on how to get that fucker down his horse.
(and I gave money to Ned Lamont. Sigh)
July 18th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
Try to do your best impression of a health insurance lobbyist.
July 19th, 2009 at 12:34 am
Hi Martin:
“Fred, sadly my two senators are Kennedy (sick) and Kerry (does anyone listen to someone who lost a presidential election?)”
Sorry to say that the MSM does listen to candidates who have lost presidential elections. But only if they are Republicans. How much press has John McCain gotten since his pathetic presidential run? I can’t turn on the TV on Sun morning w/o hearing his idiotic opinions. And let’s both try to ignore how the press hangs on every word from Sarah Palin.
No matter what Kerry did, he’d never get the attention that these two do. (But I think I agree w/ you–that does not excuse him for not even trying)
July 19th, 2009 at 12:51 am
Roger from New Haven,
I live in New Haven also. I’m wondering if we could get a big enough group of people to commit to picketing his house everyday during the summer recess.
July 19th, 2009 at 1:22 am
WSP: Kerry’s on the Finance Committee, though, so there are probably things he can do from the inside.
July 19th, 2009 at 6:39 am
Perhaps Lieberman just wants some more F-22s in the DoD budget for his support. Or it may be a gesture to satisfy the insurance crowd in Hartford that he tried. It is inconceivable that someone who has been a proud liberal all his career would want to stop cold the most important social welfare legislation since Medicare.
July 19th, 2009 at 6:46 am
I see Krugman is reduced to fear-mongering. Tsk.
The real problem you folks have is an incoherent message and a demonstrable lack of credibility in government, to do healthcare well.
Not to mention nobody in their right mind believes it will only cost a trillion and a half dollars over ten years. More likely it approaches a trillion a year.
July 19th, 2009 at 7:12 am
I hate to say it, but shooter242 is right. Why should people trust government to do health care well, when ’round my neck of the woods, the police cannot even manage traffic enforcement (whilst in other necks of woods, speed traps are common), it takes about 2 hours to turn in an application for a passport for your young-’un, the local MTA cannot manage its money, the state leg. is an evil joke, regional politics is dominated by corrupt political machines and our federal government lies us into a war?
By careful use of stimulus money (money comes with strings attached), Obama can buy out the corrupt machines, build government infrastructure to make it more efficient, and in general do things that will help restore trust in government. As much as it sometimes seems otherwise, we do live in a Republic. If people get enough on board with public health care, they will push their Senators and Congresscritters to act. But until we have faith in government restored after years of GOP anti-gummint rhetoric and the re-establishment of (alas largely Democratic) political machines we thought were killed a century ago, there will be no popular push for health care reform and indeed, people will be persuadable to go against said reform via advertisement from vested interests.
July 19th, 2009 at 7:22 am
As far as affordability is concerned, what is often missing from the discussion as that it is really three questions: (1) do we (as individuals or as a collective represented by our government) have money laying around with which we can pay for, e.g., health care? (2) Do we have enough resources that we can, e.g., educate medical professionals and keep them well fed, clothed, etc.? (3) Do we have enough resources to do this in perpetuity?
In the case of health care, the answer to question #1 is “no”. If it were “yes”, there wouldn’t be an issue. The answer to question #3 is, in general, “no”, which is why we need an environmental movement. The key question is whether we have enough resources collectively to divert some to care for everybody’s health. Given the amazing (albeit unsustainable) output of our nation (and the glut of extra people who are currently unemployed but who can be hired to grow veggies, make clothes or do whatever), we do have enough resources to direct some to keeping doctors and nurses fed, clothed and their kids is hoity-toity schools.
The real question economically is why, if money is really only a medium of exchange (pace the Austrian school), can we have resources for something but not money for it? We can, to adapt Deutero-Isaiah, buy health care without money, but somehow we cannot buy it with money? What does that say about our economic system? If I were a health care provider (specifically a chiropractor), I’d say our economy is “out of alignment”.
July 19th, 2009 at 7:49 am
Shorter DAS: what to do with our starving, naked doctors?
July 19th, 2009 at 9:01 am
Shooter 42 and DAS,
While some of you raise some valid concerns, the point that Krugman is making is about priorities. These senators who voted for the Medicare D program and the Bush tax cuts without any concern about turning a surplus into deficit but something like healthcare reform that actually helps people then all sudden they are concerned the deficit. Even that is too rich for me.
July 19th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Actually, since Kerry lost the election and gave up his presidential ambitions, his profile and credibility among his fellow senators has only increased. I think it was the Hill that listed him as the 12th most powerful Senator.