Health Bill is DOA

The health care bill of Obama, despite squeaking through the House of Representatives is said to be "dead on arrival" in the Senate. Over the next few days, we anticipate that the stories will begin to surface, concerning the brutal threats and blackmail by which Nancy Pelosi, backed by the Obama White House, managed to ram her Nazi healthcare bill through the House of Representatives by a 220-215 vote late Saturday night. 39 Democrats, including 24 Blue Dogs, voted against the bill; only one of these — Rep. Dennis Kucinich — was a Single-Payer advocate. In a statement issued after the vote, Kucinich blasted the Pelosi bill for perpetuating the existing system of "a predatory, for-profit insurance system which makes money not providing health care," and he charged that the bill accelerates the privatization of health care. He particularly pointed to the extraordinarily high administrative costs of the present system.

Politico reports that Harry Reid will hold Saturday sessions during December to attempt to get health reform done by Christmas. But Politico also notes that the Senate debate has stopped dead, and that the Senate may not even begin floor debate until after Thanksgiving. Sen. Lindsey Graham said today on CBS that the House bill "is dead on arrival" in the Senate, and GOP consultant Ed Rollins stated that the House bill "wouldn't get 50 votes in the Senate today." In an economic depression, people want a Jobs bill, not a health care rationing bill for the insurance companies.