Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute - (HCR question)

[gateley]

Didn' ct want to ask out there because all I'll get is snide anti-Obama remarks, and I just want the ANSWER.

So, if you know, did Obama take the Public Option OUT of the proposal? If so, does that mean there's no way we're getting it?

I'm sooooooo confused.

[gateley]

1. I've been deflated again -- here's the answer:

"Obama also apparently pledged to revisit the public option in the future."

I really need it NOW, and others do, too!

I was so hopeful -- again -- now I just don't give a fuck. Again.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7847066

[PatSeg]

2. There are so many people

who need help NOW if they want a "future". I still have a glimmer of hope. If the House and Senate can get it in the bill, I'm quite sure that Obama would still sign the bill.

[gateley]

3. I heard a guy MSNBC this morning saying if one word is changed, it has to go

back to the House and Senate for approval before moving on. And, a DUer said he got a letter from Franken saying they'll 'try' for a public option in the future, so at this point it sounds as though they're moving ahead with it as-is.

I just don't understand why he didn't do it NOW since we're not getting any repub votes anyway.

[PatSeg]

4. If Franken

said "in the future", then it isn't too promising. If they try to enforce mandates without a PO, it could be a huge disaster.

[gateley]

5. BUT -- someone just posted an op-ed by Weiner promoting the idea of PO

as a stand alone amendment (or something like that), so I just e-mailed him and called his office and said -- if he can do it, PLEASE do!

ALERT! I have Ed on subbing for Ratigan -- said the Progressives are pushing PO and a SIGN that the Prez may be willing to back it. Stand by...

edit: But Massa just resigned immediately, instead of just 'not running' as he'd said previously. Scratch one vote for Pelosi.

TEARING OUT MY HAIR SMILIE GOES HERE

[PatSeg]

6. Shoot, its making me dizzy!

Maybe we should just go to sleep for a few weeks and hope things work out somehow.

Its a no-brainer to me. The majority of people WANT a public option. What is wrong with these people? Is this what they want to be remember for?

The ghosts of FDR and LBJ need to start visiting Obama.

[gateley]

7. Okay, so I assumed Massa was a Yes vote. Then I was enlightened out there that

he was actually a No vote -- he had voted No. THEN someone said but he voted No from the Left, he wanted a PO, and, to wrap it all up, someone ELSE said that "they" thought they could get him to come around. :crazy:

Hand me the Sominex. I'll join you.

[PatSeg]

10. How about some red wine?

Bought a case of Two-Buck Chuck on my birthday. Really good wine and great stress reliever.

[gateley]

11. Great foresight -- a case! nt

[PatSeg]

12. I try to plan ahead

And for $25, can't go wrong. Wine in CA is SO GOOD!

[CrispyQ]

15. Two-Buck Chuck?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

But I'll take a glass!

Ok, so every time I hear the name Chuck, I remember when I was a little girl watching American Bandstand with Dick Clark. They had the singer of The Name Game & people shouted out their names & she would sing the song with their name. Of course, some wise ass shouted out "Chuck!" & she laughed & said, "I'm not touching that one!" So of course, I sang it to myself & since I didn't know the word 'fuck,' I didn't understand why she wouldn't sing it. Later, while I was doing dishes & my Mom was sewing, I started singing The Name Game, using all sorts of names, and yes, including Chuck. My mother handled it very well, actually. She told me the offensive word - not what it meant, just that it was highly offensive & that that was why the singer didn't use Chuck's name. Now, of course, whenever that song pops into my head, what do you think the first name is that I use? :rofl:

I won't even go into the Checkered Demon story. }(

[PatSeg]

17. Oh how funny!

I remember that song, now I'm going to have it stuck in my head with "Chuck" as the first name that pops in my head.

"Two Buck Chuck" is Charles Shaw wine. When you buy it by the case, it comes to only $2 a bottle and it is really good wine. No one has been able to figure out how they do it, but it is a continual source of urban legends. In blind taste tests, it often beats out far more expensive wines. They sell it here at Trader Joes.

[WheelWalker]

8. I do that all the time....

Go to sleep for a couple of weeks, I mean - to hope I wake up later and things have worked out somehow. It's a legitimate alternative to capital crime.

[PatSeg]

9. So true

Sleep can be a great escape and sometimes there are things you just can't do anything about. Plus you often wake up with a fresh perspective.

Hmmmm, maybe congress needs a LONG nap.

[jillan]

13. I think they need to stop napping and to

I feel like they are sleepwalking....especially the Senate.

[PatSeg]

14. After so many years of republican rule

and demagoguery, that they are conditioned to be ineffectual. Yes, they need to wake up and remember that they won, lest they lose the majority.

[CrispyQ]

16. The problem is, I think Obama will sign any health bill that hits his desk.

You guys know I was never an Obama fan. I was not excited about his campaign until he selected Joe as VP.

The presidential leadership on this issue, & many others imo, has been incredibly weak. They had a 60 vote majority - he should have hounded the blue dogs & told them if they wanted DLC/DCCC/DSCC support they would have to support the PO in return. Many say that he shouldn't stoop to the same level that Bushco did, but I say, what the hell is the point of being the prez if you sit on your fucking laurels & don't fight for what you believe in? Which leads me to question, what does he believe in? I feel his entire first year in office was squandered. Yeah, we got a few crumbs, but overall, the ship is still headed in the same direction & Obama isn't doing a thing to change it.

Oh & Cheney is still a free man. :grr: And fuck the argument that we can't address the war criminals & take care of all the issues that we need to take care of. We are a nation of laws or we aren't. And besides, I don't see all the issues that need to be taken care of, getting taken care of.

Signed,
Bitterly Disappointed

[PatSeg]

18. Okay, I think you need that glass of wine now!

There are many of us who are "bitterly disappointed", but I still have intermittent moments of hope. To pass a health care reform bill without some kind of Public Option is ludicrous to me, especially if the bill has a mandate to buy health insurance. No more giveaways to the Insurance companies! Just like the banks being responsible for the economic crisis, the insurance companies are responsible for much of the health care crisis, them and big pharma who are jacking their prices so they can take advantage of health care reform when and if it passes. Our government has become an enabler for everything that is wrong with this country.

I put a lot of the blame on the House and the Senate. We had a rare majority, one we may not see again for a long, long time and the lack of leadership all around is appalling.

At least I can take some comfort that McCain/Palin aren't in the White House. That is a nightmare, I can't even begin to imagine even after eight years of Bush/Cheney.

[CrispyQ]

19. Oh Pat, I'm going to need more than a glass!

At $2 a bottle, I'll take two - bottles, that is! ;)

I don't put all the blame on Obama. Between the blue dogs & the repubs, has there ever been a senate that was so damned incompetent & incapable of addressing or caring about the needs of the People? The repubs are like elementary school children with their temper tantrums & fake outrage. They need to be spanked & sent to a time out corner. Instead, we wasted a year & our 60 vote majority trying to make nice with these little pricks. Bipartisanship with this current crop of assholes is wasted time. Obama should have ignored the repubs, strong-armed the blue dogs & gotten the People real health care reform with a robust PO, none of this 2-5% crap - or what seems to be more likely, no PO with mandated insurance.

[PatSeg]

20. Oh definitely ONE glass isn't enough

under these circumstances.

I think pretending that he wanted to play nice with the republicans in the beginning was essential to exposing them as frauds that they are, but not for over a year. Once they showed their true colors, Obama should have said "Fine, if you won't work with us, we'll do it without you. You had your chance." The Dems made too many compromises for jerks who wouldn't vote for the bill no matter what. Of course the republicans don't want any bill, but it is stunning that the minority party thinks it should get a "republican bill", which of course would be a gravy train for Pharma and insurance companies. The republicans can't accept that they are the minority party and what's worse is the Democrats can't accept that they are the majority, which they won't be for long if they don't get their act together.

I've never seen anything like it. The republicans keep self-destructing and to all outer appearances, they're still winning. This is nothing like the republican party I grew up with. I remember intelligent, thought provoking debate between the right and the left. Though I've always leaned left, the right used to make me think and reconsider some of my positions. Now they just make me more liberal and less open minded. You can't argue with stupidity and talking points.

[PatSeg]

21. Obama pitches to both the left and the right

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x208201

On one hand this sounds hopeful, but on the other it sounds like we could get stuck with a bill that serves the insurance companies first and foremost. We could lose more seats because of it and then we won't have the votes for "later on".

I have to stop reading this stuff or that case of wine will be gone by the end of the week!

[CrispyQ]

22. So how far into that case are you?

;)

[PatSeg]

23. Actually I'm making quite a dent in it!

I'm going to avoid news today and doing something mindless, like watching the Oscars.