Hey President Obama: Want to pay tribute to Sen. Kennedy?

Then quit jerking around with Harry Reid and force him to pass meaningful health care reform with a public option included. The House would back it. Make the Senate get off their asses.

It isn't rocket surgery.

/rant

More like this

There were lots of reasons why I wanted to see Affordable Care (née healthcare reform) pass. Ending the tyranny of "pre-existing conditions," of cruel recissions, and insuring more than 30 million uninsured Americans were big reasons. But it wasn't a perfect bill, and there was a vocal group of…
Steve Benen reminds me about the GOP effort to block a defense spending bill to delay health-care reform: Senate Republicans said Thursday that they would try to filibuster a massive Pentagon bill that funds the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an unusual move that several acknowledged was an effort…
It's been a rocky ride this year, getting heath care bills passed in the House and the Senate. It's been just over a month since the Senate passed its bill in a dramatic Christmas Eve vote (and much longer since the House passed its version), but the fate of health care reform still appears as…
Here's a prominent Democratic congressman commenting on the effect of the Massachusetts Senate race on health care reform: I have two reactions to the election in Massachusetts. One, I am disappointed. Two, I feel strongly that the Democratic majority in Congress must respect the process and make…

It isn't rocket surgery.

Sure, we'll just slap something together that affects the health and lives of every person in the country. Could you hand me that roll of duct tape over there? And you call yourself a scientist?

As if there were no data on other health care systems out there. Please.

Tribute?

Kennedy cheated in college.
Drove drunk and killed his "girlfriend".
Stabbed Jimmy Carter in the back.

Tribute? Dude was a chumpster maximus.
Epitome of the East Coast loser-acracy.

By anomalous (not verified) on 26 Aug 2009 #permalink

As if there were no data on other health care systems out there. Please.

Yes, from different countries with completely different situations. You really think this is just a matter of walking down the "Health Care & Sundries" aisle at the Globo-Mart, tossing some things into your cart and easily bolting them together when you get home?

Am I actually support a centralized "it's one of our rights as citizens" system, but this slapdash approach cannot be justified by any rational means.

Yes, from different countries with completely different situations.

Every country is a unique situation, no surprise there. Fortunately there are a number of situations to learn from, and other models to consider which haven't been implemented yet. People do actually, you know, study this stuff and model it for a living, it isn't just a shot in the dark.

You really think this is just a matter of walking down the "Health Care & Sundries" aisle at the Globo-Mart, tossing some things into your cart and easily bolting them together when you get home?

Your assertion, not mine. Did I say "Obama make them pass it tomorrow, without planning it through or thinking about it"? No, that's your conjecture. And that's what the Gang of Six is currently pushing for now (when they're not trying to kill reform outright, they push for industry-friendly reforms based on free market ideological bullshit). Which is an approach I don't support.

Again, not rocket surgery.

Am I actually support a centralized "it's one of our rights as citizens" system, but this slapdash approach cannot be justified by any rational means.

No shit. And it is incumbent on the president to get some cajones and apply some pressure to the Senate to get their act together. That means doing the goddamned work and getting us meaningful change. Not shopping around ridiculous plans that satisfy the health care industry and produce no meaningful reform.
Note that speed and quality are not necessarily mutually exclusive here, but nobody seems to want to listen to people who might know better anyway.

Yo, dogwhistle:

different countries with different systems??? Ya think???
You can do better than that. Obviously every situation is unique, but every medical system must do certain things to be successful, including following the evidence to prevent and treat disease, and delivering this care in a just, efficient, and affordable manner.

I've read significant parts of the Plan---some bits aren't OK, but most is pretty friggin sophisticated and not in any way "slapdash".

I also don't like it---a single payer system would be more efficient, just, and practical. But that's not what's being proposed.

I second that rant! Reid epitomizes Dem spinlessness. "The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity."

The asssumption that the government will pass a major piece of legislation where the basis is not in the acquisition of pollitical or financial power for themselves and their constituents is the result of not paying attention to recent history, e.g. the initial stimulus package. Government is best that governs least.

Sure, we'll just slap something together that affects the health and lives of every person in the country.

That's mighty stupid, since the crafting of a health care bill isn't the referent for "rocket surgery" -- rather, it referred to Obama taking political action.

(It's also disingenuous, but that's been addressed above.)