Healthcare

A.B. Stoddard takes viewer questions about the future of healthcare negotiations in Congress and whether President Barack Obama is living up to his campaign promises.

My dog, my metaphor.

I have always resolved that I’d never write about my dog. Too self-indulgent, to say nothing of too cliché. So let’s consider this the first resolution I’m breaking in the new year.

It’s OK, though. This is about his obvious similarity to Congress. Because all you have to do is offer members a few scraps and they’ll do whatever you want.

The Democrats have decided to drop all pretense when it comes to healthcare reform.

They are going it alone.

They are going to retreat behind closed doors, cook up a bunch of incongruous deals that will give away the store to buy the votes they need to pass a bill in both bodies, and then emerge once the black smoke disappears with a plan they hope they can sell to the American people.

Congress won’t be back in town for another week or so, but talks between the House and Senate on healthcare reform legislation are already under way. And the big question is: What role should President Barack Obama play in the final negotiations?

I think it’s clear: This is the time for Obama to play a big role. It’s up to him whether we get historic healthcare reform — or a mediocre down payment.

From today’s Washington Times.

A good friend of mine came up to me the other day and said, "Hey, I'll be a millionaire in 10 years."

Now, I know this guy isn't a millionaire. He can't possibly make more than $100,000 a year, and I know he's paying off a big home and has a few children in school. So I said, "Really? Do you have a rich uncle who's dying soon?"

With Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) standing in triumph passing a healthcare bill in the Senate with every Republican united against him and the president doing nothing to help him, it is time to pass out our first Lie of the Year award. It involves the healthcare bill, and was told by former Mayor of Wasilla and quitting partial-term Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin!

The United States Senate is marching toward history this week, but not the kind they will welcome once the dust settles from the fallout of the healthcare reform debate. There are so many political favors buried in this bill that reporters simply don’t have the time to uncover them all. Read more...

Remember Sen. Ben Nelson's (D-Neb.) concerns over abortion? That he almost opposed healthcare reform over it? With a compromise cut on that thorny issue, Nelson has far bigger problems on his plate now.

The backroom dealing that normally seals huge bills has backfired and become a huge story. The permanent exemption from Medicaid expansion Nelson received for Nebraska has cast the spotlight back on him, just when he was finally ready to relinquish it.

Let me begin and end this otherwise negative comment with some good news. While the president will do nothing to fight for a better healthcare bill in conference, there are sign that Sens. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) are feeling some heat after taking a beating from the press. The conference battle now begins, and while the president will be the legislative bystander he has been so far, House Democrats will weight in, and if they fight, they can win something back.

Remember the late George Carlin's routine where the Hippie Dippy Weatherman reports that radar pinpoints a line of thundershowers? He goes on to say that radar also shows Russian missiles heading our way, "So don't sweat the thundershowers.”

This is similar. There are urgent predictions that unless there is meaningful healthcare reform, the nation will soon face a medical emergency. Read more...