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Feinstein: If We Fail On Health Reform, 'We've Got A Problem'
Ben Frumin | December 6, 2009, 12:26PM
Senators Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
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Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) warned on CNN's State of the Union this morning that if Senate Democrats fail to pass health care reform, they may not get another opportunity.
"If we miss this opportunity to pass this bill, it's lost," she said.
This is the opportunity for health care reform. Some people say, well, we should do it next year, there are too many things. Y'know, there's an element of truth to that. But this is it.
"If we don't deliver, we've got a problem," she said.
Sitting next to Feinstein, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) vowed that Republicans remain united against the Democrats' plan for health care reform.
"Republicans are united against the approach that's being taken by Senator Reid and the president," Kyl said.
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EastWest
December 6, 2009 12:41 PM
Short version: We've got a problem.
Whatever these chumps finally get out of the Senate most certainly will not be "health reform".
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BeeClone
December 6, 2009 2:31 PM
I just don't see how the cons come out ahead if we get no health care bill; we all lose if democrat and republican conservatives stop reform. I have health insurance, but it's shouldn’t be about self, it's about the whole country, no more I’ve got health insurance and later for you. I would love to see the greed and selfishness that I see on the rise in America stop.
I would bring 45,000 headstones to the front of the capitol building for a visual reminder of the number of Americans that die for lack of health insurance.
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EastWest
December 6, 2009 3:00 PM
The cons come out ahead because the moron Democrats simply don't have the balls to push reform through. Does anybody - other than Harry Reid - really think the repubs wouldn't use reconciliation or any other tool to pass legislation? They're cleaning Dem clocks without lifting a finger.
Once HCR fails, all the cons have to do is bray about how (a) they saved granny from the death panels - who'll be able to prove them wrong? - and (b) how the Dems are such losers they can't even pass laws. At least on that last point they'll be 100% correct.
Harry and the Dems are going to blow this thing, and the repugs are going to kick ass in 2010.
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Kuyleh
December 6, 2009 5:16 PM in reply to EastWest
Only 20% of the country is that stupid. You, apparently, are one of them. Thankfully, you are a small minority. But keep dreaming.
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Beetlejuice
December 6, 2009 5:41 PM in reply to EastWest
The whole health care reform issue fell apart when Obama insisted on bipartisanship legislation. If Reid and the Democrats are smart - that's asking a lot at this late stage in the game - they could butcher the bill by cutting out all the republican fat they inserted and make the package lean and mean...fuck the public option - go single payer all the way. I can keep dreaming until 25 December and hope my Christmas wish comes true. If they stick to the current game plan, health care reform will go the way of the dinosaurs and all we'll have to look forward to will be sky-rocketing insurance rates and medical costs all thanks to the republicans.
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Bruce Webb
December 6, 2009 9:05 PM in reply to Beetlejuice
There is no viable single payer language available. HR 676 as currently written cannot even be scored and so can't be used as the basis of the bill. It is simple as that.
Quite apart from the political problems of the bills provisions it proposes a tax on the top 5% of incomes without specifying a rate, a "modest" but equally unspecified increase in payroll tax and a "small" tax on stock and bond transactions. I have no problem with any of those in principle but if someone can read thr actual text of HR 676 and explain how we get a score I would appreciate it.
Not only is the revenue side unscoreable the cost side is so wide open that it can't be scored either. As a progressive with a social democratic bent I say 'Bravo!' but as a pragmatist who has read the bill I have a hard time taking it seriously. I believe every child of an American worker deserves free public education and access to medical care and I don't give a shit what kind of paper is in his parents pockets. Hey sue me, I am a bleeding heart, but I don't have a mushy head. HR 676 is about six bridges too far.
Or someone can read it and explain how we would EVER get to even 219 and 51. It has less chance than the tax cut version pushed by Republicans.
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BeeClone
December 6, 2009 6:36 PM
The Democrats will get health care done or next November the voters will stay home, and that’s just what the Republicans are looking for. Low voter turnout is the key to more Republicans winning and that’s why they will do anything to stop a good health care bill.
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acf_ma
December 6, 2009 10:58 PM
Republicans are always against anything that's for the common good. I wish that just once they would promote something for the public good, and not another tax cut that mostly puts money into their pockets. Their primary lookout is for 'me, myself, and I".
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acf_ma
December 6, 2009 11:01 PM
Did anyone ever think that if the health bills fail, that a big price is going to be paid by those who obstructed it, including the Republican party and those conservative Democrats that have been pushing their own agendas instead of the country's?
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