This bill is a watered down piece of crap....
Quote:
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“We compromised on [a] single payer [health care system] by backing a public option, and now we are being asked to compromise the public option with negotiated rates. In conference, we will likely be asked to compromise negotiated rates with a trigger. In each and every step of the health care debate, the insurance companies have won. If they get hundreds of billions of dollars in new taxpayer subsidies, they get to raise their premiums, and increase their co-pays and deductibles, while the public is forced to pay for private insurance, then the insurance companies win big. If this is the best we can do, then it is time to ask ourselves whether the two-party system is truly capable of representing the American people or whether the system has been so compromised by special interests that we can’t even protect the health of our own people,"
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- Kucinich
But it wasn't Obama that wanted to water down the bill. Don't say this bill was "rammed down the throats of the American people" or that this bill was "forced through". There has been significant negotiating and attempts to work with the Republicans and blue dog Democrats, negotiating that has destroyed a good bill and made it a POS. And that there was Obama's big mistake. He stupidly and naively assumed that Washington was a functioning democracy where compromises could be worked out between the various parties and interests. He should have handled this like Bush did... hammer everything through the way you want when you want. Trying to negotiate with the Republicans has proven absolutely impossible.
*HOWEVER*, that said, this POS bill is 1000 times better than what is existing now. And I hope that it is the first step in many. For example, Harry Reid has suggested having a vote to add the public option at a later date.