Health Care Summit Thread, Part 2

The best part of this is Tweety, who's done a complete 180 from his position last month that the Dems could never even try reconciliation. Now he's basically saying that's all they have left. GOP will never play ball, even on their own proposals.

2:03 Obama gets class back in order.  Damn kids.  Biden!  Go!

2:06 Biden makes jokes about not doing anything, passes to GOP Rep Mike Enzi.

2:09 Mike Enzi likes exchanges too.  Talks about qualified and unqualified plans.  Of course, all the plans Enzi wants to add would be unqualified, making exchanges moot.

2:15 Dem Tom Harkin says it's time to end "segregation by health" by passing comprehensive HCR.  Good argument.  Bad politics.  GOP will jump on that and now feign indignation at the "race card."

2:19 Obama argues that the high risk pool wont work without money in said pools, money the GOP doesn't want to spend.

2:25 Sen Jay Rockefeller of the Dems talks about insurance company "sharks".  No oversight on them past state regulation.

2:30 However, Rockefeller is bluntly shooting down the public option, period.

2:45 Rep Marcia Blackburn keeps talking about insurance companies crossing state lines.  Obama wiselysets her straight.  Not your strongest speaker, GOP.

2:52 Obama talking about being dragged kicking and screaming into mandates, again, a Republican idea.

2:55 Moving on to the deficit.  Biden!


3:00 Rep Paul Ryan still lying about the cost curve.  "We don't think the government should be in charge."  We think the insurance companies should be in charge.

3:04 Ryan hits at the Obama plan's "smoke and mirrors" spending.

3:06 John McCain would like to reiterate that he's running for President in 2008.

3:08 Paul Ryan and Xavier Becerra now arguing CBO points.  Becerra says "You can't cherry pick".  Nice stroke.

3:12 Oh good, Chuck Grassley.  I wonder which of his own policies he'll argue against, the mandate or trimming Medicare fat?

3:16 And it's the mandate.  I was for it before I was against it...

3:24  Kent Conrad of the Dems up. Mentions chronically ill as a reson why we miiiiight be having a cost containment issue.

3:27 Boehner again.  Warns of bankrupting the country.  Probably shouldn't have started those wars, then.  Doesn't the bill reduce the deficit?

3:29 And now Boehner goes for the abortion attack.  Apparently Bart Stupak couldn't make it.

3:33 Obama looks like a high school teacher in the last period of the day.

3:34 ...and Obama put Boehner in time out.

3:37 Dem Jim Cooper: We have to make change now.  Only took 5 hours for the "fierce urgency of now" argument.

3:44 McCain again.  Talking about Dems trying to "impose 51 votes".  Stop and think about that one for a sec.

3:47 Obama takes Boehner out of time out and goes after him on medical malpractice.

3:50 Dick Durbin hitting clean-up here.  The man is doing well.

3:53 Did I say "well?"  He crushed it out of the park. "If you think this is a socialist health care plan, drop out of the Federal Employee Health Plan."  Quote of the day so far.

3:57 Republicans counter with Sen. John Barrasso, a former physician.  Makes Durbin's point for him that other country's wealthy come the US to buy better health care.

4:00 And Obama sticks it to Barrasso, asking him of all members of Congress should take the kind of catastrophic coverage the Republicans say all Americans should have and a salary of $40k a year to pay for it.  Nice!

4:04 Now Henry Waxman up for the Dems, follows Obama's lead on this.  Asks if Medicare recipients should only have catastrophic coverage.

4:07 Waxman also on fire.  the GOP proposal gives "a break to the healthy".

4:15 Peter Roskam of Illinois is bragging how the Great GOP Plan will cover 3 million people..out of what, 50 million?  Idiot.

4:23 Chris Dodd looks to finish.  Nice points here on the "dream" of HCR.

4:28 Joe Barton closing for the GOP.  Could save 50% if Californians could shop in other states.  Sure, until the rates for those folks go up.

4:35 Check that, Ron Wyden closing for the Dems.  Points out the GOP incremental, piecemeal approach would...surprise!  COST MORE.  Thank you.

4:37 And now Mitchy is quoting polls.  Again.  Just like he has been for the last nine months.

4:41 Obama points out the individual pieces poll better than what Republicans have been saying was actually in the package.

4:47  Tom Coburn, Charlie Rangel, Patty Murray all talking because we have to be fair.

5:03 Pelosi again, Dingell, and finally Obama getting the last word.  Dingell makes a great point:  What's wrong with deciding by majority vote?

But Obama finishes us off with his closing remarks.

...and calls out the state line nonsense once and for all.  Yes South Dakota, he's talking to you.  We've done the interstate trade before with credit cards.  They all ended up in Bismarck.  They had the nicest rules for the credit card companies.  Insurance companies want to do the same.

I'm done here.