Apparently the Republican candidate will win the special Massachusetts Senate race:
Riding a wave of opposition to Democratic health-care reform, GOP upstart Scott Brown is leading in the U.S. Senate race, raising the odds of a historic upset that would reverberate all the way to the White House, a new poll shows.
Although Brown’s 4-point lead over Democrat Martha Coakley is within the Suffolk University/7News survey’s margin of error, the underdog’s position at the top of the results stunned even pollster David Paleologos.
The elections are this Tuesday, Jan. 19th.
Good. This healthcare plan is a mess.
It’s so bad that even Howard Dean doesn’t recommend it’s passing.
http://tinyurl.com/ybnjvr2
If it’s so good, why did so many Senators have to be bribed to pass it? Why so many exclusions and exemptions?
Wasn’t the original idea something about universal, affordable coverage? What happened to that?
I dislike most current Republicans because they are myopic religious nut balls but I think killing this “reform” is the right thing to do. So many compromises and bribes have been made to get this bill passed that it is no longer worth passing.
The list of supporters for Coakley (and presumable supporters of the current incarnation of the health care bill)include: Pfizer, Merck, Eli Lilly, Novartis, BlueCross BlueShield, United Health Care and Humana.
That has to be a little telling.
Agree with 1,2,3…this current bill doesn’t meet the goals they started with. Ah-Yeah what happened to it was the Republicans killed off (compromised) every meaningful reform. Their goal is to make Obama fail, and in this case maybe that’s not a bad thing.
“I dislike most current Republicans because they are myopic religious nut balls”
Most Republicans are not myopic religious nut balls. Most Republicans are hardworking middle class people that believe the Government should be fiscally responsible and doesn’t have the right to confiscate large amounts of their money and redistribute it to others.
I’m sure the people of Massachusetts enjoy paying TOP DOLLAR for healthcare but then still getting denied if their illness costs too much.
Paying HUGE premiums for healthcare yet still dying untreated, leaving a family drowning in debt is the greatest system in the world! Thank you conservatives, we Americans love your healthcare system.
While I’m dying from untreated cancer, I’ll take a lot of comfort in the fact that guy who took my premiums is getting a fresh Gulfstream every three years.
Sorry Baggins I have to take issue with the idea that the Repubs killed this. My father was a Democratic city councilman on track to be mayor. He voted for a water bill that was unpopular and essentially ended his political career. He did it because he knew the city would be in dire straights if he didn’t. I was proud that he had the cajones to do it. The Dems could do the same thing here. They control everything.
#6 Isn’t Massachusetts touted as being the model for a NHS?
Maybe they know something we don’t.
#5 Most Republicans are not myopic religious nut balls. Most Republicans are hardworking middle class people that believe the Government should be fiscally responsible and doesn’t have the right to confiscate large amounts of their money and redistribute it to others.
Actually, Republicans don’t like it when the government redistribute their money to poor people. When the government redistributes their money to rich people (i.e. tax cuts for the rich while the rest of us make up the difference) they’re fine with that. They’re also OK when big corporations get tax breaks. Apparently Republicans worship rich people. And they ignore the fiscal irresponsibility of their leadership since the days of Reagan (who never balanced a budget, unlike Clinton).
It may be true that most Republicans are not myopic religious nutballs. But it is also true that most myopic religious nutballs are Republicans.
Just remember, no one in America is denied health care. That cannot be said of countries with single-payer healthcare.
http://www.londonthe.com/news/?p=3773
Congressman Antony Weiner:
“Well, I think if we were to have a circumstance like this, we’d all rally around. And it’s the same way, frankly, every single day, when people go into a hospital or an emergency room, there is some question asked, let me see your insurance card, but at the end of the day, we care for them. So we really don’t have a discussion in this country whether or not we’re going to have health care for everyone. We really do. The only question we’re having now, and it seems almost silly, it’s so petty, is how we’re going to distribute that health care, how we’re going to pay for it, how we’re going to make sure everyone has it at an affordable level…”
Doesn’t Massachusetts already have a universal health care program, which program is vastly superior to the federal plan??
Wouldn’t the people of Massachusetts be taking a step DOWN if they adopt the federal program??
@Al
Most Republicans are hardworking middle class people that believe the Government should be fiscally responsible and doesn’t have the right to confiscate large amounts of their money and redistribute it to others.
You mean like defense contractors? See what I mean by myopic? Please explain why I have to have my wages confiscated by the Federal government to police the world?
I’m a liberal and I agree with Howard Dean. And the fact that the insurance company stock prices are going up is very telling. Our tax dollars, going to insurance company profits. No friggin’ way. We need to kill this thing and start over.
Why couldn’t the people of Massachusetts elect somebody besides Kennedy for years and years and years? But then, I have Babs Boxer, “call me Senator” as my Senator, along with anti-2nd Amendment, concealed-carry-permit-holder, Diane Feinstein.
Wasn’t this Ted Kennedy’s seat? If so, I bet this is driving the Dems crazy.
The fix is in Coakley wins by a nose.
He is a good looking guy. Likely will win with the sheep.
I see that health care plans protected by collective bargaining agreements (Union) that cross the $23,000 threshold will be exempt from the excise tax. Better care for the people. Ha!
After watching the movie Sicko, I don’t get the opposition to any US health care reform.
Pedro, the failure of this reform effort falls squarely on the Republicans. No amount of right-wing spin can change their vehement opposition to any and every facet of the effort.
His projected win is more a reflection of Coakley’s stupidity- she’s been virtually invisible until very recently, whereas he’s been campaigning.
On health care specifically- he supports Mass health insurance reform, in Mass. The same aspects he likes about the Mass legislation are what he doesn’t like nationally. Can you say hypocrite?
“Doesn’t Massachusetts already have a universal health care program, which program is vastly superior to the federal plan??”
Yes we do, a plan from a Republican.
Could happen. I lived in Mass when the intelligent electorate voted to ban shoulder seat belts.
Might end up with the usual Senate version of democracy where 41 people overrule 59.
Just the kind of democracy Republikans pray for.
Pilgrim, are you a dunce or a liar? Because a Republican governor signed off on the bill – reelection still means the most to politicians – didn’t make it a Republican bill.
Cripes.
#19. He does look good. Martha not so much. Scary actualy. People are sick of her type.
#21
After watching the movie Sicko, I don’t get the opposition to any US health care reform.
That’s because there isn’t any opposition. However, there is a great deal of difference in the nature of the reform.
#22
Bullshit. The Democrats have the majority. They only needed to convince their own people. They could have done this with their own people and left the Republicans out of it completely.
If you want to blame anyone about not getting the reform you want, blame the incompetent leadership of your party starting with the President.
Bullshit. The Democrats have the majority. They only needed to convince their own people. They could have done this with their own people and left the Republicans out of it completely.
Can you say fil-i-buster? I knew you could. 🙂
Lieberman is a Republican in all but name. But still the gutless Democrats give him a chairmanship, trying to suck up to him. They deserve to lose, but America suffers.
A thought just occurred to me… now that the bill is a big fat wet kiss to Big Insurance, they might rein in their pet Republicans and let it pass.
#32
Again, that’s a you problem. The Republicans only threatened a filibuster and the Democrats caved. It all comes down to incompetent leadership on the part of the Democrats. What makes you think they should be able to change the minds of Republicans if they can’t convince their own party to follow them? The Democrats are solely to blame for lack of or the quality of any health care reform until the Nov elections.
#34 The D’s could have all 59 of their senators in agreement and still be able to get nothing done. The R’s are severely abusing the filibuster. It was meant for extreme cases, not for sore losers to prevent the winners from getting anything done. So spare me the “all D’s fault” BS.
And the D’s are gutless for not raising a big stink about this and going after the R’s. As I recall, majorities in states represented by Republicans want health care reform. The D’s should pounce on that, but they haven’t.
Actually, maybe “gutless” is too kind. Maybe they’re just under the control of the big corporations just like the R’s.