How They Voted
There were three Ohio Reps. really mentioned as toss ups on this bill, and here's how they voted
- Rep. Driehaus - Aye
- Rep. Space - Aye
- Rep. Boccieri - No
Dennis Kucinich also voted against the bill, because he's Dennis Kucinich and he thinks he's special. Charlie Wilson, despite some speculation, stuck to his word and voted Aye.
You can find the full vote tally here.
"But instead of working toward the elimination of for-profit insurance, H.R. 3962 would put the government in the role of accelerating the privatization of health care. In H.R. 3962, the government is requiring at least 21 million Americans to buy private health insurance from the very industry that causes costs to be so high, which will result in at least $70 billion in new annual revenue, much of which is coming from taxpayers. This inevitably will lead to even more costs, more subsidies, and higher profits for insurance companies - a bailout under a blue cross."
--Dennis Kucinich
http://kucinich.us/index.php
Not on principle really, but on his methods. I just posted about this, but just to sum it up: You don't change the world over night.
What Kucinich wants has no chance of passing. It's too big a change for people that are scared of change. If we can get this bill passed though, it's a stepping stone towards someday actually achieving single-payer. And more importantly, it gets people some real reforms NOW.
i have a very personal interest in this debate, david. i am one of the 50 million americans with no health coverage. i have been self-employed for most of my working life and i was forced to drop my health insurance several years ago simply because i can't afford it. do i keep the heat and lights on or do i continue to gamble that i will get sick? that's what insurance of any kind amounts to. you are gambling that something bad will happen while the insurance industry gambles that it won't.
over the past couple of years my efforts to find suitable employment that provides health insurance have proven futile, so i continue to slog along in the ranks of the self-employed, just getting by.
if the final healthcare "overhaul" doesn't include a strong public option, and all indicators are that it won't, this legislation is useless to me. dennis has it right. this isn't reform. this is placing more of the burden on the shoulders of those who can least afford it while the insurance crooks profit.
We compromised quite a bit on this bill, and it still only narrowly passed. This is what we can get. We don't have to like it, but we need to take it none the less.
Because next time around, we won't be fighting for stuff like preexisting conditions all over again, it'll already be done. We'll be fighting for the next mile of ground.
And as we go on, and the reforms start making things better and better for real people, the fights will get easier.
You go to war with the army you have, not the army you want. Right?
Wait, I'm pretty sure I just shot myself in the foot...
You go to war with the army you have
exactly, or you shrink from the battlefield in despair and develop a sense of humor, tho there must be a bit of the warrior left in me to have maintained any interest in american politics whatsoever.
Wait, I'm pretty sure I just shot myself in the foot...
when i was in army basic training there was an enlistee who came to morning formation with his boots on the wrong feet, i kid you not. the drill instructor noticed this (they notice everything) and said to the entire platoon, "we're sending this guy to OCS (officer candidate school). hehe