Following GOP complaints, Grayson issued this apology:
Meanwhile, Republican Senator John Ensign (NV) outlined his objection to a public option:
Ensign...said he feared a government plan would prove so popular it could never be uprooted.In other words -- horrors! -- a public option might be the worst of all possible worlds: Successful. Ensign didn't bother to explain why he opposed a concept that would benefit actual people to the point of being so successful that it might increase. Not to worry, Charles Grassley (R-IA) carried that ball for Ensign:
"Does anybody believe Congress would let this public plan go away once it has a constituency?" Ensign asked. "No way. Once it's started, you will never get rid of it. Congress will subsidize it more and more, allow it to grow and grow.
"Government is not a fair competitor...It is a predator." He predicted that "a government plan will ultimately force private ensurers out of business," reducing choices for consumers.
Now, consumers in most states have no real choice as it is. A very few insurers dominate each market and -- except for in Massachusetts -- none of them are required to sell insurance to someone who wants to buy it. Plus, if anyone is guilty of predatory behavior, it's the insurers who take money from their clients and then resist paying claims or covering procedures. In truth, a public option would expand choice and force private insurers to behave competitively instead of monopolistically...
We were alone and I was singing my song for you...
Duh Dept: There is no "we" in American politics. The point is well-taken, but why blame the left because George W. Bush (a) decided to take office under suspicious circumstances and (b) governed from the right? The truth is that Bush never cared about the legitimacy of his presidency as much as he did about seizing power...
NOLA Happenings: Join Jo Dee Messina, Los Lonely Boys, and 130,000 others this weekend at the Gretna Heritage Festival...There's always the New Orleans Coffee Festival (two stages and 100 vendors) at Freret Market...Feel like getting out of town? Go up to Shreveport for the Red River Revel...Then there's the famous Angola Prison Rodeo, which starts Sunday...
About Damn Time Dept: Hank Williams and A New American Literary History...
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3 comments:
Nothing frightens a Republican more than a government that works. They've built their careers on the idea that government by its very nature is flawed and run by a bunch of stumblebums, so when it's actually efficient and does its job, their careers suffer.
Of course their other fear is that someone other than themselves, someone who by being not-them is by nature undeserving, might benefit and prosper; it threatens their sense of exclusive entitlement.
Congressman Grayson is behaving like President Obama should have when the health care debate started.
Health care system Plays a very Important Role in every Part of the world.
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