Just saw on the news where Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb, has caved and will provide the 60th vote necessary for cloture on the Senate Health Care Bill. Anybody surprised? Was the fix always in?
i don't think the fix was always in nelson just got bought off for a couple of years - much like Landrieu. He's a political whore
Can you imagine the pressure being put on him? Reid must have threatened him with everything but castration, and that was probably on the table. It's disappointing that he caved in but not unexpected. I guess there was just more pressure than character at work.
Doesn't matter. The Dems have less than a year left in power. Then the GOP can phuck things up for a while, albeit without bankrupting us.
We need political reform worse than anything else. Imagine if all senators start holding out to get what they want for their vote. This could set a terrible precedent. Once again what is good for a state isn't always good for the country. Any and everyone should be concerned that a bill no longer has to stand on its own merit!
I still don't know what all is in this bill. Obama is interested only in being able to say the he got healthcare reform when no other President could. He doesn't give a damn what the final version looks like, nor does he care that he sacrificed the political future of many Democrats. He cares only that he can trumpet his success. It's all about his massive ego. Pathetic, really. :dis::dis:
WINNERS * Cosmetic surgeons, who fended off a 5 percent tax on their procedures. * Nebraska, Louisiana, Vermont and Massachusetts. These states are getting more federal help paying for a proposed Medicaid expansion than other states are. In the case of Nebraska — represented by Sen. Ben Nelson, who's providing the critical 60th vote for the legislation to pass — the federal government is picking up 100 percent of the tab for the expansion, in perpetuity. * Beneficiaries of Medicare Advantage plans — the private managed-care plans within Medicare — in Florida. Hundreds of thousands of them will have their benefits grandfathered in thanks to a provision tailored by Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., that also affects a much smaller number of seniors in a few other states. * Longshoremen. They were added to the list of workers in high-risk professions who are shielded from the full impact of a proposed new tax on high-value insurance plans. * Community health centers. They got $10 billion more in the revised bill, thanks to advocacy by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. * A handful of physician-owned hospitals being built around the country — including one in Bellevue, Neb. — which would be permitted to get referrals from the doctors who own them, avoiding a new ban in the Senate bill that will apply to hospitals built in the future. Without mentioning Nebraska or other states by name, the Senate bill pushes back some legal deadlines by several months, in effect making a few hospitals that are near completion eligible to continue receiving referrals from the doctors who own them. Chalk up another win for Nelson. * AARP, the lobby for elderly people. The new Democratic bill has about $1 billion in extra Medicaid payments to states that provide visiting nurses and other in-home or community services to prevent low-income people from needing to be admitted to hospitals. In House-Senate bargaining, AARP also is expected to win one of their top priorities: a full closing of the so-called "doughnut hole," the gap in Medicare's coverage of prescription drugs. LOSERS * Tanning salons, which are getting hit with a 10 percent tax on indoor tanning services, replacing the cosmetic surgery tax. * Progressives. They had to give up on their long-held dream of a new government-run insurance plan so that Democratic leaders could lock down the necessary votes from moderates. * People making over $200,000 a year. A proposed 0.5 percent increase in the Medicare payroll tax was bumped up to 0.9 percent in the latest version, putting the tax at 2.35 percent on income over $200,000 a year for individuals, $250,000 for couples. * Generic drug makers. They fought unsuccessfully to block 12 years of protection that makers of brand-name biotech drugs — expensive pharmaceuticals made from living cells — will get against generic would-be competitors.
