Monthly Archive: October 2009
The Broken Political Equation
I confess, it makes zero sense to me. I’ve done the math and the political calculus keeps coming back a broken equation. In general, if the strategic political forces are aligned properly, then the...
Letter to Senator Reid from Every Republican Senator: Let America Read the Bill Now
Forty Republican Senators sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Reid demanding he release the text of the bill he sent to the Congressional Budget Office for scoring. The signed letter to Senator Reid...
Analysis of the Pelosi Bill: Cost, Mandates and Taxes
MEMORANDUM FROM: Michael Hammond RE: The Pelosi Bill SUMMARY -The real cost of the bill is at least $1.3 trillion (the CBO score, plus the “doc fix”) –- and probably much, much more. -The...
The House Bill, by the Numbers
Total cost: $1.055 trillion New Taxes: $572 billion Cuts to Medicare: $426 billion Not included: $245 billion needed to stop Medicare payments to doctors from decreasing, pledged to be passed in a separate bill...
U.S. Chamber, NFIB, NAM, Business Roundtable, and PhRMA Oppose House Bill, AHIP says Bill Will Raise Prices
From Jeffrey Young at The Hill: “A coalition of big-business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable and the National Association of Manufacturers, issued a letter opposing the House bill outright....
The Power to Change the World of Health Care Payment — Docs Should be Afraid, Very Afraid
David Rogers of Politico, among all the recent articles on the House health care bill, has identified the key provision in the bill that will most change the world of health care: “Section 1160...
Abortion and Immigration Could Kill the House Bill — Dems say both Issues Not Resolved
From “Blue Dogs Aren’t There Yet on New Health Bill” “Staunch anti-abortion Democrats want explicit language barring any new sources of federal funding for abortion except in cases of rape, incest or when a...
“Death Panels” Don’t Die in Health Bill
Well, it is Halloween and the time of Zombies — from the Associated Press: “It’s alive. The Medicare end-of-life planning provision that 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin said was tantamount to “death...
Odds on any Health Reform Passing this year: 35%
In early September the odds were 40% of no bill. Those odds have increased substantially, in my view, to a 65% chance of no bill passing.
Leaked Internal House Leadership Whip Count Shows 47 Dems at No, 8 Leaning No and 12 Undecided
Plumline’s Greg Sargent has posted the results of a highly confidential House Democratic Party Whip Count which shows 47 Democrats at No on a public option, with another 8 leaning No for a total...
Intrade: Public Option Tanks, Hits 11.5% Chance of Passing
Health Care Reform – Will a federal government run health insurance plan (a public option) be approved in the US? A federal government run health insurance plan to be approved before midnight ET 31...
Neither Reid nor Pelosi Have the Votes
Like robots programed to march until they find a cliff and can march no longer, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Reid and Speaker Pelosi have been forced into the most contorted public position on any...
NYT Gives One Sentence to the Health Reform Bill Killing Issue
The abortion issue, you may recall, was described by George Stephanopoulos as “the gravest threat” to the health reform bill. The largest concentration of Democratic NO votes on health care reform are because of...
Mrs. Speaker, Call the Health Vote
CongressDaily is reporting that the House Leadership thinks they have 218 votes for ObamaCare. Speaker Pelosi herself said she “definitely” has 218 votes. Call the vote on ObamaCare NOW Mrs. Speaker, if you have...
Obama in New York: Vote for “the Bill You Least Like”
Apparently the secret to passing ObamaCare is for the President to acknowledge that all Members of Congress have something they don’t like about the bill, but to vote for it regardless: AP reports the...
Darling: Anti-ObamaCare Forces Win Round One
Brian Darling at the Heritage Foundation writes: The Senate just voted down, 47-53, a procedural motion to commence debate on the so-called “Doc Fix” bill today. This is important because this procedural vote was...
Reid Deal to Secure AMA Support for ObamaCare Backfires, Cloture Vote Fails
From the Hill: “A group of Democrats joined all Republicans in blocking a 10-year freeze of scheduled cuts to doctors’ Medicare payments, legislation that was considered important to getting a broader healthcare bill through...
Fun With Honest Budgeting
Dana Milbank of the Washington Post is funny, in his rendition of Majority Leader Reid and his quest to put $250 billion in ObamaCare off-budget, adding it to the deficit. It really is worth...
Cohn: Pelosi’s Public Option Gets Two Reactions, Fear & Glee
Cohn writes and interesting piece, and here’s Cohn’s bottom line: “the divide [between those who fear Pelosi’s strategy and those who express glee] seems to be have as much to do with proximity to...
Gallup: Obama has Sharpest Job Approval Drop for Any President in 50 Years
Politico quoting Gallup: “In fact, the 9-point drop in the most recent quarter is the largest Gallup has ever measured for an elected president between the second and third quarters of his term, dating...
Goldberg: The Rise of the Perotistas
Here are Goldberg’s opening paragraphs: “One of the most macabre images I’ve ever heard described came in the aftermath of the Asian tsunami in 2004. Before the tidal wave crashed on shore, beachgoers stood...