WASHINGTON – After days of secret talks, Senate Democrats tentatively agreed Tuesday night to drop a government-run insurance option from sweeping health care legislation, several officials said, a concession to party moderates whose votes are critical to passage ofPresident Barack Obama's top domestic priority.
Majority Leader Harry Reid refused to provide any details at a mid-evening news conference where he told reporters a "broad agreement" had been reached between liberals and moderates on the controversial issue.
With it, he said, the end is in sight for passage of the legislation that Congress has labored over for months.
In place of a government-run plan, originally designed as a way of forcing competition on private industry, officials said the Democrats had tentatively settled on a private insurance arrangement to be supervised by the federal agency that oversees the system through which lawmakers purchase coverage. Additionally, the tentative deal calls for Medicare to be opened to uninsured Americans beginning at age 55, a significant expansion of the large government health careprogram that currently serves the 65-and-over population.
The officials
described the details did so on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss them publicly. Despite their reluctance, some senators had talked openly earlier in the day about the progress of the negotiations.
The developments followed a vote on the Senate floor earlier in the day in which abortion opponents failed to inject tougher restrictions into sweeping health care bill, and Democratic leaders labored to make sure fallout from the issue didn't hamper the drive to enact legislation. The vote was 54-45.
I'm so glad that corporate interests have convinced our duly elected representatives of the benefit of sculpting health policy based on what makes the most money instead of what alleviates the most suffering. How far along in this democratic process do we go before we decide the people have lost control and others are steering the ship of state to the detriment of the public?
Only meaningful campaign finance reform will solve the problems with special interest.
ReplyDeleteAlso, this is just the senate, the house and the senate have yet to get together to discuss the final bill, but the public option has been killed and resurrected before. There is hope, although significantly less now. I have had very little faith in the democrats lately anyway. their constant bickering is shameful.
I read the article, and i find something interesting... It says the leak is from anonymous senators who aren't authorized to talk about the changes in the bill. It is possible that they want the news to get out so the public will be outraged. The timing of the leak is peculiar. I'm willing to bet the leakers are senators who are for the public option.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, unless the fucking peacenik hippies can come up with some sort of solution I'm afraid the more violent aspects of our nature are going to come trudging up again to get meaningful work done.
ReplyDeleteWe're really counting on them. For all this talk about changing the world peacefully, they sure as shit don't actually do anything. They have been completely ineffective at anything my entire life. They have not lifted a finger to help me and my situation. When they do act, its an utter waste of time. Seriously, their foolish protests do nothing. Nobody pays attention to the puny propaganda that they swear by. The coming violence will be their punishment for failure, or the final judgement of the futility of the entire movement.
When the anger of this nation's people can no longer be contained, our leaders will burn, and they deserve no less.