Forward Observation Post – Vermillion

Views and Vents from the Frontline of the Culture War

Posts Tagged healthcare

It is not over yet

Dec 20

Posted by FOPVermillion in General, Politics | No Comments

All the news about the health care monstrosity continues to demonstrate that the Democrats are moving toward getting their bill out of the Senate.  It is disappointing how easy it is to buy off and arm twist Senators.  At this time, I think the bill will make it out of the Senate.  Once this happens, it gets interesting.  The only way this ends quickly is if the House bites the bullet and goes to pass the Senate version.  That way it will be over and they don’t have to come back to the Senate.  Considering how much the White House has been working over everyone to pass the bill, I can see this option being a real possibility.  However, one should not underestimate the egos in the House.  They have a lot in their bill that they see as being important.  After all the bruising to pass their version, to walk away and take the Senate version will be a VERY bitter pill.  Because of this, I think the reconciliation process is a real possibility.  The bill that comes out has to pass both chambers again and there will be no ability to modify the bill.  There is every possibility the compromises will strain the coalition that needed to be built to pass the first time.  I am sure Nancy can get the 218 votes needed but getting back to 60 could be a real problem in the Senate.  Time is on our side.  If the bill goes to conference, it will be there for weeks if not months.  When it comes out it, the public will get to read it and send some heat to everyone who is thinking of voting on the bill.  Beyond that, there is the election year issues.  The longer the process takes, the more it becomes an issue in the primaries and general election.

The people clearly do not like the bill.  If this process drags out to election time, it will become the central theme of the election and based on the current polls, this will not be a good thing for the leadership of the Democrats.  Obama has the luxury of not having a re-election fight for a few more years.  This is not a luxury many in Congress have at their disposal.  Let’s keep our fingers crossed that the egos in the House rule the day and the bill goes to committee.

For once, I am glad congress is filled with self important fools.

- FOP Vermillion

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The Momentum is Coming to an End

Nov 15

Posted by FOPVermillion in Economy, Politics | 2 Comments

Obama’s obsession with pushing through health care reform to the exclusion of everything else is costing him.  I understand this is seen as his signature item and a many liberals and Democrats WANT the legislation very badly.  The problem is that as James Carvile said, “It’s the economy stupid.”  Everyone is worried about 10%+ unemployment and the fact that the job pool is shrinking.  They are much less concerned about health care right now.  If Obama had not come into a bad economy when he took the oath of office, he and the Dems could be rolling through one piece of major legislation after another.  However, that is not the case and the Administration seems tone deaf, to be generous.  They have too much invested in health care reform to let it go but this article by Scott Rasmussen highlights the the fact that the dems are losing the public.  If they cannot get this beast passed soon, and they make it the cornerstone of next year, they will have serious problems.

Come next November, the economy and jobs will be the number one issue.  If the Dems have any chance not to repeat 1994, they need to be able to point to things they have done to create jobs.  Without that, they will have to spend their time and war chests to convince the voters that the bills they have passed will not do as much damage as many analysts suspect.  This is not a good position to be in.  “Re-elect me because my it won’t be as bad as my opponent says it will be” is not a strong selling point.  I suppose they will try to pass Stimulus II but there is no chance it will have an impact prior to the election unless it business and tax friendly so that the effects can be felt right away.  Continuing to extend unemployment is not a winner in my book.  It does help ease the pain of being out of work, but it doesn’t get people back to work.

Right now Obama is dividing the party and focusing on the wrong things.  In short order, Obama could take his party from majority to minority status in a short two-year window.  Considering how much I do not like the direction this President and Administration want to take the country in, I am happy to see it happen.  Twelve months ago, I expected the Democrats would be in power for four years for sure and more than likely another four based on Obam’s popularity.  Now with all the missteps and ham-handed manner they have governed, there is a real chance they will blow it all before Obama is even up for re-election.  Amazing.

- FOP Vermillion

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Cold Feet in Congress

Nov 3

Posted by FOPVermillion in Politics | No Comments

More good news coming out of Congress relating to the healthcare bill.  Now the talk is that the “debate” will drag into next year.  Time is on our side in this one.  Time and time again, it has been proven that when the Democrats finally put out a plan and the public gets to see it, the public doesn’t like it.  That is one reason why the Dems have been rushing to push through a bill in the same style as cap and trade.  However, this time around people are getting smart, and let’s face it… reps are getting beat up in their districts, making it hard to ram through a bill.  Now if the elections go heavy against the Dems, there will be a lot of people who will be less likely to  risk their skin on an unpopular bill.  Politicians worry about number one and I don’t mean THE ONE.

The best thing for the death of this bill is time.  As the Dems get colder feet, there will be more time as everyone looks for a face saving option which means more time.  And more time is good.

- FOP Vermillion

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New Hope

Oct 12

Posted by FOPVermillion in General, Politics | No Comments

Recently I have been getting down as the health care bill seems destined to be rammed through Congress.  There are many procedural tricks, the Dems in Congress are many, and the momentum against it is slowing down.  So today I get some good news that the insurance companies are finally starting to fight back.  Now that the financial details are starting to come out, it is clear nearly anyone in the medical care industry is going to get soaked.  It is easy to get in bed with the government if you think you will come out out ahead.  However, if your margins are being squeezed and you will be blamed as quality of care comes down then it is a little less appealing.

There is a lot of money on the sidelines at the moment and the public is not behind the takeover.  If the industry decides to push back hard, it will cause a significant problem for Congress.  The web, combined with large industry advertising spend, could cause the Democrats to pause and that would be a good thing.

Right now the inertia is on the side of “reform”.  We need some luck if we are to going to see this bill die.

- FOP Vermillion

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Good News on Another Set Back

Sep 29

Posted by FOPVermillion in Politics | No Comments

Good news.  The Senate Finance Committee has voted down the public option in their version of the health care reform bill.  This is certainly progress.   Knowing the majorities are there in the House and Senate and how much time and energy the President has invested, it is an uphill battle to slow down this takeover  attempt of one-sixth of the U. S. economy.  The more I see, the more hope I have that this legislation will die.  Time is on our side.  I expect that the elections in November could go poorly for the Democrats.  If that is the case, the fervor for passing legislation that is unpopular with VOTERS will be dampened.

Let’s hope for continued cold showers and cold feet on the the major legislative initiatives for this year.  Remember, when it comes to Congress, gridlock is our friend.

- FOP Vermillion

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In Their Own Words

Sep 26

Posted by FOPVermillion in General | No Comments

I came across this interview by Hannity of these two protesters at the G20 meeting this week in Pittsburgh and I just wanted to scream at the screen.  They seem like nice women but they are awfully sheltered.

I have problems with their views at several points through the piece.  Some of the more memorable points were:

  • They won’t condemn the violence.  They would not participate but they don’t think it is wrong (at least no more wrong than the war on terror).
  • All the wealth should be collected through a “tax” and we all would get about $44,000 each, or almost $200,000 for a family of four.
  • It’s not fair to have to pay for medical care.
  • People don’t need to be able to earn more than $500,000 a year.

It saddens me that these two who are well educated, one is working on her PhD., have so little respect for achievement and ownership.  I don’t want to put words in their mouths so I allow the video to speak for itself.

- FOP Vermillion

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We Have the Momentum

Sep 13

Posted by FOPVermillion in General, Politics | No Comments

As I was enjoying the start of the NFL season today, I would occasionally look on Twitter and read tweets about a counter rally in DC today by supporters of Obamacare.  I thought it was a joke.  There was nothing about it on the news or the sites I visited.  After seeing tweets about how bad it was and the counter rally being canceled, I decided there must be some truth to it.  A quick Google search proved that there was indeed a rally in DC today.  After going to some reports about the events, I can see why it was so under the radar.  They had 700 people, maybe as many as 1,000, at the BIG counter protest.  Combined with the people with the President in Minnesota means the pro-Obamacare crowd managed to bring together maybe 20,000 people to support a takeover of one-sixth of the economy.  Contrast this to the over ONE MILLION people who showed up on The Mall yesterday to show their support for the Constitution and protest big government.  The supporters and the passion are not there for Obamacare.  All the momentum is on the side of those opposed to “reform”.  I take heart in this.  I think that politicians are selfish and they want to be winners and right now, the message is not one that says “winner” from the perspective of the passionate voters.  If this continues, you will see the legislation stall in the house and die a quiet death as the leadership tries to avoid an embarrassing vote.

Let’s make sure we keep up the intensity.  We need to stay on this until we know this horrible attempt to take over the economy is dead.

- FOP Vermillion

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Shooting Straight

Sep 10

Posted by FOPVermillion in General, Politics | No Comments

After all the spin being put out there concerning the President’s speech, I really enjoyed the analysis done by Jay Cost over at Horse Race Blog. Jay cuts though the noise and provides a technical look at the process behind the issues and explains why something is likely to pass or fail. A good example of this is when everyone started assuming that the Democrats would be able to ram legislation through Congress, Jay pointed out how many Senators came from states that had been won by McCain in the last election.

So with that in mind, if you are worried about how the message today after the speech is the Republicans were mean, and that the Democrats are fired up you should read Jay’s blog entry for today.  The bottom line if you are a Conservative is Obama does not understand what his party needs to pass this and he missed the opportunity last night.

With wiffs by the President like the one he had last night, as well as the disarray in Congress, I feel better by the day that HC reform is dying and with it a great deal of political capital used up.

- FOP Vermillion

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Come and Take IT!!

Sep 8

Posted by FOPVermillion in General, Politics | No Comments

This weekend, I came across a great video on Ace of Spades HQ from a town hall meeting where the speaker made a dramatic statement about the choices facing our legislators and the two main camps.  It is quite clear which camp she falls into.

Here is the video.





I love the part with the twenty at the end.  When it comes down to it, the politicians should have the ability to say to our face that they need to take our money because the other item whatever it is is more important and a better use of the money.

Today the “mystery woman” has come forward and it is a blogger who goes by Liberty Belle and posts at Redistributing Knowledge.  I love the extra detail she shares about what happened after her statement, which you can read here.

This is the debate we should be having about “need” and not about how many goodies we can get for ourselves before we get caught on the hook.  Once we have taken the bait, we no longer are dealing in dollars and cents but essential liberty and freedom for minor things in the grand scheme simply to maintain others’ power.  My freedom is not for sale.  Therefore, if a portion of my freedom is needed to make the grand scheme happen . . . .

COME AND TAKE IT!!

- FOP Vermillion

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