And the Posturing Continues – GOP Wants Governors at the Summit

Wasn’t there a character on the Muppets that ran around going “meep, meep, meep, meep, meep, meep”? Somehow, the Republicans just keep reminding me of that for this summit.

Seriously? They want to add fifty more people to this thing?
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Why stop there? How about they invite all the governors, the leadership of both parties in every legislature, the ranking members of all the House and Senate committees, the Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the leadership of the RNC and DNC, the evening line-ups of Fox and MSNBC, the executive committees of CPAC and MoveOn.org, all the major health insurance CEOs, representatives of the AMA, AARP, PhRMA, SEIU, AFL-CIO and the Chamber of Commerce, too.
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They can gather them all at FedEx Field for a nice, cozy productive discussion.

Why can’t I go?

Maybe not. They might actually be trying to suggest that included in their 8 seats are Governors – maybe take a few Presidential hopefuls to completely derail the process as they try to brush up their Conservative credentials. It’s a cute ploy because it opens the Governors to being able to complain – the Governors have already complained a few times about the burden upon their already strained State budgets and now they can complain about how Obama doesn’t care about their State’s needs. After all, there’s no way that, with 24 hrs to go, the Republicans think they can convince the American populace that all 50 Governors pull a McCain, suspend whatever projects they’re working on and fly straight to Washington to….well….fail to get a bill done.

Beaker.

Ack. Link:

Obama should appoint Schwarzenegger to be the token Republican Governor at the meeting.

curse you, grape_crush!

Thanks

No inviting the GOVERNORS who are in charge of the STATES that will be going bankrupt and will have to RAISE TAXES in said states.. what to they have to do with the SOCIALIZING of such a LARGE amount of our economy.. Who are they? And those SERFS who work and pay the taxes WHY should they have any input.. ? We have the ELITE POLITICIANS like BOTOX PELOSI and REID who self anointed themselves our nanny cause they think conservatives are as burnt as the progressives who NEED a nanny..and wet nurse as well.. lets just leave the PROGRESSIVES (or whatever they want to call themselves this week) run themselves right out of office..

There’s no denying that the States are impacted by the legislation, but (as Kevin pointed out above) so are Doctors and Hospitals and Drug Companies and a thousand other stakeholders. At the end of the day, and this is the White House’s point, this isn’t a meeting of the stakeholders but a meeting of the legislators, the people actually responsible for working on Federal-level legislation to try and hash out said legislation.

The serfs do get input. It’s called a vote. So if you can’t stand Pelosi and Reed then take it up with the people who put them in office and keep them there.

Again, what is it with wingnuts and ALL CAPS?

I imagine the Boner has more Botox in his face than Pelosi.

Me too! I would have brought a great casserole to the buffet.

And single payer advocates are still asking for a seat at the table because we have a real solution to propose: Improve Medicare, fund it properly, and give it to everybody!

In yesterday’s Courier-Journal, David Jones, co-founder of HUMANA, INC, published an op-ed that outlined his support for most features of the OBAMA/Senate reform plan. Doesn’t that tell us exaclty who will profit from this flawed legislation? Mr. Jones and the private insurance cartel are salivating over the prospect of a universal mandate. We will all be compelled to buy policies that feed their CEO salaries and shareholder profits. And once embedded in every aspect of our system, The private insurers will roll over us like the juggernaut.

Mr. Jones tried to convince CJ readers that insurers are really agents of Robin Hood–facilitating the movement of premium dollars from middle-income workers to cover the poor. That’s not the way Robin Hood worked in any version I read. Robin Hood didn’t steal grain from hardworking farmers and pass it along to their poorest neighbors. He wouldn’t expect the poor to have “skin in the game” via high deductibles. He took from the rich–some of whom had ill-gotten gains. Robin Hood would fight for an equitable and humane system. He’d want everyone covered and he’d take from the profiteers to do so.

Excluded from Blair House, single payer advocates will hold concurrent Sidewalk Summits around the country tomorrow (FEB 25) Go to Healthcare-NOW.org to find one near you.

The conference of bishops, not to mention the pope should be there as well. Who else? The P.T Barnum & Bailey Circus would be appropriate, or at least the clowns in the little car. On the other hand, just call the whole thing off. Bad faith on the part of the opposition, tea bag, un-miss-dis-leadership. And they get all kinds of compensation and bennies for this. For those familiar with the expression relating to defecation…”I don’t know whether to become a tea bag or go blind…”.

The republicans want to invite Yoko Ono too. She can sit in a bag and scream and they’ll claim that it’s their version of healthcare reform.