Sweeping Health Care Plan Passes House.

After all the shit that's been thrown at it, this feels very, very sweet.

After a daylong clash with Republicans over what has been a Democratic goal for decades, lawmakers voted 220 to 215 to approve a plan that would cost $1.1 trillion over 10 years and that Democrats said would provide relief to Americans struggling to buy or hold on to health insurance.

“This is our moment to revolutionize health care in this country,” said Representative George Miller, Democrat of California and one of the chief architects of the bill.

Democrats were forced to make major concessions on insurance coverage for abortions to attract the final votes to secure passage, a wrenching compromise for the numerous abortion-rights advocates in their ranks. They hope to make changes to that amendment during negotiations with the Senate, which will now become the main battleground in the health care fight as Democrats there ready their own bill for what is likely to be extensive floor debate.

Only one Republican voted for the bill, and 39 Democrats opposed it, which I honestly feel will be something which they have done to their eternal shame.

During the private meeting with Democrats in the Cannon Caucus Room, the president acknowledged the political difficulty of supporting major legislation in the face of unanimous Republican opposition and tough criticism from conservatives.

But, those present said, he urged them on, saying, “When I sign this in the Rose Garden, each and every one of you will be able to look back and say, ‘This was my finest moment in politics.’ ”

Obama is getting nearer to achieving this than any previous president. We all know why the Republicans oppose this bill, it is because it undermines their belief that big government is useless.

If Obama succeeds in getting this bill passed, then he destroys forever that central plank in Republican philosophy, which states that government should get out of the way, that big government is automatically bad, and he will have established the notion that people as a collective can do things for each other cheaper and better than private insurance companies.

More importantly, he will have overturned a healthcare system which resembles the one we all remember from Dickensian London, where one's right to health care is based not on need, but on one's ability to pay.

This is the one area where the US has ranked behind the rest of the world. They have been paying more than any other nation on Earth for a healthcare system ranked 37th in the world by the World Health Organisation.

Obama has moved a step closer to ending that.

The paucity of the Republican argument was best summarised by this guy:



He decided to make the argument of "what Maddie wants". He's obviously oblivious to the fact that Maddie doesn't know what she wants, as she's still of an age when she shits in her own diaper.

But that's how pathetic the Republican argument now is, Shadegg is reduced to putting his own words into the mouth of an infant. It's beyond shameless...

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Health care vote gives Obama a big win

By OLIVIER KNOX

The US House of Representatives has approved the broadest overhaul of US health care in four decades, handing President Barack Obama a hard-fought victory for his top domestic priority.

Heeding Obama's appeal to "answer the call of history," lawmakers late Saturday capped 12 hours of bitter debate with a 220-215 vote.

The bill amounts to a 10-year, trillion-dollar plan to extend health coverage to some 36 million Americans who lack it now.

"Tonight, in an historic vote, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would finally make real the promise of quality, affordable health care for the American people," Obama said in a statement.

The fight to remake health care in the world's richest country shifted to the US Senate, where its fate remained unclear amid a tense intra-party dispute among Democrats anchored on what role the US government should play.Facts: Health bill

Obama said he was "absolutely confident" the Senate would pass its own bill, stressing: "I look forward to signing comprehensive health insurance reform into law by the end of the year."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has faced tough criticism from Republicans over the proposal, said the health care bill "improves quality, lowers cost, expands coverage to 36 million more people and retains choice."

If, as expected, the House and Senate pass rival versions of health care legislation, they will need to thrash out a compromise version and approve it in order to send it to Obama to sign into law, a frequently tough process.

Obama and Democratic House leaders had invested heavy political capital in what they knew would be a close contest sure to shape his legacy and the fate of his ambitious plan to remake US health care if the bill went down to defeat.

The president telephoned wavering members on Friday and paid a rare visit to Congress on Saturday, buttressed with a speech from the White House Rose Garden, but still 39 Democrats joined 176 Republicans to oppose the plan.

One Republican -- Joseph Cao of Louisiana -- broke ranks, nominally fulfilling, in the barest terms, Obama's vow to secure bipartisan support.

The chamber's Democrats erupted in loud cheers and triumphant applause the moment the bill had the 218 votes needed for passage, about 11:07 pm (0407 GMT).

Final House passage came after a flurry of votes, including a 240-194 vote to sharply tighten restrictions on government funds for abortions, vital to cementing support from a platoon of anti-abortion Democrats.

The House then voted 176-258 to defeat the Republican alternative to the overall plan -- with one lone Republican, Representative Timothy Johnson of Illinois, joining the Democrats in opposition.

Republicans appealed to swing-vote Democrats from battleground districts to reject what they warned would end up being a costly government takeover of health care, stoking traditionally American suspicions of the public sector.

"This bill bulldozes individual liberty and puts the government just where it doesn't belong," said Republican Representative Sam Johnson.

The United States is the only industrialized democracy that does not ensure that all of its citizens have health care coverage, with an estimated 36 million Americans uninsured.

Washington spends vastly more on health care -- both per person and as a share of national income as measured by Gross Domestic Product -- than other industrialized democracies, but with no meaningful edge in quality of care, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The bill would create a government-backed insurance plan, popularly known as a "public option," to compete with private firms and would end denial of coverage based on preexisting medical problems.

Under the White House-backed bill, Americans would have to buy insurance and most employers would have to offer coverage to their workers -- though some small businesses would be exempt and the government would offer subsidies.

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Kids Prefer Cheese

Why Are People Opposed to Dem's Health Care Plan?

A. First, and most importantly, not everyone IS opposed. At least 40%, and maybe more, support the Dem plan, with a "public option." So there is quite a bit of support.

B. Second, it could be racism:

Racial Prejudice Predicts Opposition to Obama and his Health Care Reform Plan

Eric Knowles, Brian Lowery & Rebecca Schaumberg, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, forthcoming

Abstract: The present study examines the relationship between racial prejudice and reactions to President Barack Obama and his policies. Before the 2008 election, participants' levels of implicit and explicit anti-Black prejudice were measured. Over the following days and months, voting behavior, attitudes toward Obama, and attitudes toward Obama's health care reform plan were assessed. Controlling for explicit prejudice, implicit prejudice predicted a reluctance to vote for Obama, opposition to his health care reform plan, and endorsement of specific concerns about the plan. In an experiment, the association between implicit prejudice and opposition to health care reform replicated when the plan was attributed to Obama, but not to Bill Clinton-suggesting that individuals high in anti-Black prejudice tended to oppose Obama at least in part because they dislike him as a Black person. In sum, our data support the notion that racial prejudice is one factor driving opposition to Obama and his policies.

So, to review: Measure people's level of racism. Check back, and find that racists are likely to oppose President Obama, because of his race. (In other words, people who don't like black people, actually don't like black people. Any other finding would have raised pretty serious questions about the construct validity of the first wave of surveys, I think). Then, go on to conclude that since racists don't like President Obama, then anyone who doesn't like President Obama must be a racist. Anyone who doesn't like Nancy Pelosi is a misogynist. Anyone who doesn't like Harry Reid hates Mormons. And anyone who doesn't like VP Biden probably has a valid reason. To conclude: I eat bread. Catfish eat bread. I am therefore a catfish.

C. Third, they could be "morally disengaged." (NOTE: I think "morally disengaged" means that you disagree with me, and I want to call you a poopie-head, but instead I call you "morally disengaged" instead, since no moral person could possibly disagree with me). (Notice that the definition below involves the "withholding of government assistance," not "taking money at gunpoint from people who earned it, and giving it to other people who did NOT earn, but who happen to have powerful political friends." If that be moral disengagement, give me more of it!)

Moral disengagement and tolerance for health care inequality in Texas

Alfred McAlister, Mind & Society, forthcoming

Abstract: Societies vary in their levels of social inequality and in the degree of popular support for policies that reduce disparities within them. Survey research in Texas, where levels of disparity in health and medical care are relatively high, studied how psychological mechanisms of moral disengagement relate to public support for expanding access to government- subsidized health care. Telephone interviews (N = 1,063) measured agreement with statements expressing tendencies to minimize the effects of inequality, blame its victims and morally justify limits on government help. The interviews also assessed support for general and specific policies to reduce inequality, e.g., through state-subsidized health care for lower income groups, as well as political party affiliation, ideological orientation, gender, age, education and income. Agreement with beliefs expressing moral disengagement was associated with opposition to governmental policies to reduce inequality in children's health care. Beliefs that justify the withholding of government assistance, blame the victims of societal inequality, and minimize perceptions of their suffering were strongly related to variation between and within groups in support for governmental action to reduce inequality.

This is a truly amazing frame for a so-called "study," remarkable. The author...well check him out.

D. Finally, people could think that the health care plan is a bad idea, on the merits. Too expensive, too restrictive on basic freedoms, and likely to reduce, rather than increased, the quality of health care delivery for many people. The problem is that most people, more than 2/3, are pretty happy with their existing coverage. They are not convinced that the alternatives presented to them will be both better and cheaper, and in fact may be NEITHER better NOR cheaper.

My own answer is D, bad idea. What's yours?

(Nod to Kevin L, who never withholds assistance)

US House approves Obama's Health Care Reform Proposals

Washington: Breaking News! The US House of Representatives has approved the $1 trillion health care reform plans proposed by President Barack Obama. the plan is aimed at improving the health care system in the US. The proposal was approved by a margin of 220 to 215 votes. At least 39 Democrats voted against Obama's plan, despite his personal lobbying.

The Republicans were united against the measure, with just one Republican breaking the ranks. However, the Democrats still managed to approve the healthcare measure, by securing the 218 votes required for the safe passage.

The US health care reforms measures are estimated at over $1 trillion over the next 10 years. The measure would require the employers to offer health insurance to their employees. In addition, the insurance companies would be prohibited from denying coverage based on existing medical problems.

Labels: Health, World

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Critique Of Barack Obama’s Health Care Reform Plan(Aprroved By The House)

keep in mind this is Fox news…

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