The sun rises in the east. The sky is blue. Bill Kristol advises Republicans to vote against health care reform. The first time he tried this, in 1994, he established a reputation for tactical “brilliance,” as he managed to intimidate Bob Dole–whose life was saved by government health care–into opposing the Clinton effort. The Republicans [...]
Health Care
In reading the comments of CBO Director Doug Elmendorf from yesterday, a number of Swampland commenters asked what, precisely, might be done as part of health reform to (1) put more downward pressure on health costs overall and (2) make it deficit-neutral, as President Obama has promised. Today, OMB Director Peter Orszag reminds congressional leaders [...]
For the past few years, I’ve been pushing Senator Ron Wyden’s Free Choice Act as the best way to reform the health care system. Ezra Klein, now of the Washington Post and still no relation of mine (except friend), feels the same way and explains the bill here. This is a solution that promises universal [...]
Read this quote, from Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf, testifying before the Senate Budget Committee. You are going to hear it repeated often by opponents of the health reform bills that have been unveiled thus far.:
House Minority Leader John Boehner, borrowing a tactic from the health care wars of 15 years ago, has put together an arresting graphic “to expose the truth about the Democrats’ health care plan to the American people.” Over at TNR, Jon Cohn has responded with one that looks at how things work now. I’m posting [...]
Drudge is going purple-apoplectic about the looming Nationalization or perhaps Government Takeover of health care and all the–red alarm bell here–taxes and–another alarm bell–public options that will surely destroy free enterprise–no, freedom itself!–as we know it…in other words, he and his Republican friends are rabid crazy demagoguing the proposed House health care plan. A few [...]
There was more than little poignance in this statement that was just issued from Hyannis Port. It concerns something that happened minutes ago in the historic Caucus Room of the Russell Senate Office Building:
Last week, I wrote a story about how the question of abortion coverage is complicating the House’s efforts to write a health reform bill. It has also arisen in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. If you watch this clip, which our friends at the C-SPAN Video Library provided me, you can see [...]
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus had hoped to be unveiling a bill around now, but instead is looking for ways to fill a gaping funding hole on the order of $300 billion or so over the next 10 years. That’s because Majority Leader Harry Reid has told him that his original plan to tax [...]
A tricky question for those who are drafting the legislation.
