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HCR House Debate: Still Voting

post from Daily Kos on 07 November 2009 10:23:38 PM. © Daily Kos

Voting continues on the Republican "plan." Keep talking.

And good lord, how do these anti-reform people calling into C-SPAN manage to breathe and dial the phone at the same time?

Update: We're saved from the Boehner "plan," with it failing 176-258. One R voted no.

Update 2: And here's the motion to recommit. I predict plenty of obnoxious.

Update 3: They decided it made more sense to go after trial lawyers than brown people in this one. Probably a good bet.

BTW, this should be a no vote for any Dem. But given that 64 of them are willing to sell out women's health, I wouldn't hold my breath on principled stands out of them now.

Update 4: Motion to Recommit is going to fail, with move than 225 no votes.
Update 4: Hoyer goes after the Rs on their "no time to read the bill" bullshit by calling them out. Kagro on IM:

Hoyer makes the key point that Republicans who are always screaming about needing time to review legislation have once again -- as the minority always does -- come to the floor with a motion to recommit that no one has ever read or had a chance to read. And it pisses them off royally!

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http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/Indkk5cYSnU/-HCR-House-Debate:-Sti
ll-Voting

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NFL week nine: a little prognostication

post from Where's the Outrage? on 07 November 2009 10:21:00 PM. © Where's the Outrage?

The Washington Redskins versus the Atlanta Falcons. The Atlanta Falcons come off of two[...]

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http://www.whereistheoutrage.net/wordpress/2009/11/07/nfl-week-nine-a-little-prog
nostication/

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Tweet of the Day

post from Talking Points Memo on 07 November 2009 10:20:00 PM. © Talking Points Memo

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) ...I wonder if Michele Bachmann wearing a lei (on the Floor) means she has recognized that Hawaii is a state and President Obama is a citizen?[...]

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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Talking-Points-Memo/~3/WkW0HCWuaHo/tweet_of_the_da
y.php

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Just Ugly

post from Talking Points Memo on 07 November 2009 10:08:00 PM. © Talking Points Memo

Scenes from today's debate that you really just have to see. Video after the jump. [...]

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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Talking-Points-Memo/~3/aZuOCzOAcqQ/just_ugly.php

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Picture of Confidence

post from The Washington Note on 07 November 2009 10:06:00 PM. © The Washington Note

General Xu Robert Gates.jpg

Pictures often say a lot -- but this one even more.

China's growing confidence is clear in this shot of General Xu Cahou, who serves as the second-highest ranking officer in China's military.

General Xu visited the US Pacific Command at Ft. Smith in Hawaii after meetings with Defense Secretary Robert Gates (pictured above) and President Obama.

The photo ran in the PLA Daily on the 29th of October.

-- Steve Clemons

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http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/2009/11/picture_of_conf/

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Health Care: Saturday Night Live Blog

post from DemConWatch on 07 November 2009 10:03:42 PM. © DemConWatch

10:00: The debating on the amendments is over. Voting now on the Stupak anti-abortion amendment, which bars federal subsidies from going to plans that cover abortion, which essentially prevents coverage for abortions in any of the new health care plans.
10:05: NO up 90-73. 11 Dems voting Yes. Some GOP Reps saying they will vote present, as they think passing the amendment will make overall bill more likely to pass.
10:10: NO up 113-101. 27 Dems voting Yes.
10:15: YES up 154-148. 44 Dems voting Yes.
10:18: YES up 197-171. 53 Dems voting Yes, ~~1 Rep voting NO.~~
10:19: YES up 206-174. 55 Dems voting Yes.
10:20: YES up 219-183. 57 Dems voting Yes. The amendment will pass.
10:22: YES up 236-191-1. 64 Dems voting Yes.

Next up is the GOP alternative. It will be interesting to see if any Dems vote for it, and if any Reps don't.

10:28: The GOP alternative has gone down to defeat. One Republican has voted No. (~~Cao?, who is rumored to be considering voting Yes on the overall bill~~). It was Tim Johnson (R-IL).

10:35: GOP offering motion to reccommit bill, which would prevent passage.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.Demconwatchblog.com/diary/2743/health-care-saturday-night-live-blog

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Health Care: Saturday Night Live Blog - House
passes Health Care Reform

post from DemConWatch on 07 November 2009 10:03:42 PM. © DemConWatch

Next up is the GOP alternative. It will be interesting to see if any Dems vote for it, and if any Reps don't.

10:28: The GOP alternative has gone down to defeat. One Republican has voted No. (~~Cao?, who is rumored to be considering voting Yes on the overall bill~~). It was Tim Johnson (R-IL).

10:35: GOP offering motion to recommit bill, which would prevent passage.
10:42: GOP shouting down Democrats while they are speaking.
10:47: Motion to recommit defeated, mostly on party lines. 4 Dems vote Yes, 1 Rep votes No.
10:58: 13 Dems voted Yes, 3 Reps voted no. On to the big vote.

11:00: 177 (yes) -156. 20 Dems voting No.
11:02: 196-183. 29 Dems voting No.
11:03: 204-196. 33 Dems voting No.
11:03: 206-203. 36 Dems voting No.
11:04: 212-206. 36 Dems voting No.
11:05: 212-207. 36 Dems voting No. 10 Dems, 6 Reps haven't voted.
11:05: 213-209. 36 Dems voting No. 9 Dems, 4 Reps haven't voted.
11:06: 215-210. 36 Dems voting No. 7 Dems, 3 Reps haven't voted.
11:06: 216-210. 36 Dems voting No. 6 Dems, 3 Reps haven't voted. No GOP yes votes.
11:06: The bill passes. 218-214. 39 Dems voting No. 1 Dem, 2 Reps haven't voted. No GOP yes votes.
11:08: Hugs and applause.
11:08: And it's bipartisan! 219-215, Cao (R-LA) votes Yes, 39 Dem votes No. 1 Dem hasn't voted.
11:11: 220-215.

11:15: Pelosi takes the chair to announce passage.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.Demconwatchblog.com/diary/2743/health-care-saturday-night-live-blog

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Gingrich and Perry Tout Texas Health Care Mess

post from Crooks and Liars on 07 November 2009 10:00:47 PM. © Crooks and Liars

Everything, they say, is bigger in the Texas. So it is with the failure of the health care system. Leading the nation with a jaw-dropping 25% of its residents uninsured, Texas ranked 46th in the Commonwealth Fund's 2009 scorecard of state health care performance. All of which makes Friday's op-ed by Newt Gingrich and Governor Rick Perry touting the mess in Texas all the more puzzling.

Just two days after the CBO dismissed a House Republican plan that would barely dent the rolls of the uninsured, Perry and Gingrich blasted Democratic health care reform in a Washington Post screed titled, "Let States Lead the Way." Besides dredging up Newt's worn out 1990's vintage talking points on unfunded mandates, the duo insist it is the Lone Star State which should be at the front of that vanguard:

Texas, for example, has adopted approaches to controlling health-care costs while improving choice, advancing quality of care and expanding coverage. Consider the successful 2003 tort reform. Fewer frivolous lawsuits have attracted record numbers of doctors to the state as medical malpractice insurance premiums dropped by half. Christus Health, a large Catholic nonprofit system with a significant presence in Texas, spent about $100 million on liability defense payments in 2003. Last year, Christus spent $2.3 million on such payments. Much of that savings has gone into expanding health-care services in low-income neighborhoods.

As the Post's Erza Klein asks, "how's that working out?"

The answer, of course, is quite poorly. While from 2007 to 2009 Texas nudged its way from a horrific 48th to a merely miserable 46th in the Commonwealth Fund rankings, the health care system there remains an ongoing calamity for its residents. Among the poster children for the failure of red state health care, Perry's state brought up the rear across the five indicators measured. When it comes to health care access and equity, Texas is dead last. (See table above.)

While it is predictable that Republicans Gingrich and Perry cite Texas' draconian tort reform law as an example for the nation, the data is far from clear as to its benefits in actually reducing malpractice premiums, lowering costs and attracting physicians to the underserved state.

As I previously noted in "Republican Malpractice Myths," it comes as no surprise that a cavalcade of GOP leaders, including Perry, Sarah Palin, John Cornyn and John Kyl cited the same study showing malpractice awards caps enacted in 2003 in Texas fueled an increase in the number of physicians in the Lone Star State:

According to the Pacific Research Institute, medical licenses in Texas have increased 18 percent in the last four years, with 7,000 new doctors moving to the state.

The actual impact of the Texas law, however, remains in dispute. The state's rising population, its 48th place ranking in physicians per capita, its staggering percentage of uninsured, its lack of an income tax and the 147% jump in malpractice premiums in 2003 alone make gauging the unique contribution of malpractice caps difficult to assess. Regardless, health care costs in Texas have continued their upward spiral.

What seems beyond dispute is that other similar malpractice cap states like Mississippi have not seen an influx of new doctors. The Jackson Free Press took exception to Governor Haley Barbour's claim that tort reform meant that physicians "have quit leaving the state and limiting their practices to avoid lawsuit abuse":

But non-partisan facts show that doctors were never really leaving the state in the first place. A 2003 Government Accountability Office report, "Medical Malpractice: Implications of Rising Premiums on Access to Health Care," took a hard look at five medical "crisis" states--Mississippi, Nevada, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Florida--and dismissed reports of doctor emigration from states.

Information compiled by the American Medical Association--which supports tort reform and President Obama's vision of health reform--shows that the number of physicians in Mississippi rose steadily in years leading up to tort-reform legislation in 2004, and even slowed its increase following 2004.

From 2004 to 2005, the state actually recorded no increase over the 5,872 doctors counted in 2004, and added only 18 new physicians in 2006. The year 2007 reflected an increase of 71 physicians--still less than the 145-increase between 2000 and 2001 and the 99-doctor increase between 1998 and 1999. Even the time between 2002 and 2003--arguably the years of the worst tort abuse, according to tort-reform proponents--experienced a growth in the state doctor population of 140.

Ironically, to the degree that Texas and other red state bastions of medical misery have made minor improvements in recent years, the credit in large part goes to the federal government and the expansion by Democrats of initiatives like the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). As the Commonwealth Fund concluded its 2009 study:

The 2009 State Scorecard paints a picture of health care systems under stress, with deteriorating health insurance coverage for adults and rising health care costs. On a positive note, there were gains in children's coverage as a result of national reforms, and improvement in some measures of hospital and nursing home care following federal efforts to publicly report quality data.

In a final irony, as Klein suggests, there is a Republican Governor with whom Gingrich could have partnered to make the case for the states as the laboratories of health care reform: Mitt Romney. Thanks to its own insurance mandate passed during Mitt's tenure, the percentage of uninsured in 6th ranked Massachusetts has dropped to 3%. But as Klein muses:

Romney, however, disowned his bill after he realized the Republican base didn't like health-care reform.

Regardless, when it comes to a model for reforming the U.S. health care system, don't mess with Texas.

(This piece also appears at Perrspectives.)

Read The Full Article:
http://crooksandliars.com/jon-perr/gingrich-and-perry-tout-dismal-texas-health-ca
re

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Key provisions of House health care bill

CBS News:

Creates a public health insurance option and a national exchange for the uninsured and small businesses to purchase health insurance. The Secretary of Health and Human Services would negotiate rates with doctors and hospitals on reimbursement rates.

The bill includes mandates for individuals to purchase and businesses to provide health insurance or pay a fine. Individual penalty is 2.5 percent of gross income unless they get a waiver. Businesses that don't offer insurance pay a fine equal to 8 percent of their payroll. Businesses with a payroll of less than $500,000 are exempt from the mandate.

Insurance companies are prohibited from denying coverage based on a pre-existing condition. There are caps on deductibles and annual out of pocket spending is capped at $5000.

Eliminates the Medicare doughnut hole over ten years.

Allows individuals up to 27-years-old to stay on their parent?s health insurance

Expands Medicaid from 100 percent to 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Level.

Provides tax subsidies for individuals between 150 and 400 percent (sliding scale) of the Federal Poverty Level. There are also tax subsidies for small businesses.

For more, please visit here.

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http://thepoliticsofjamiesanderson.blogspot.com/2009/11/key-provisions-of-house-h
ealth-care.html

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HCR House Debate: Let the Voting Begin

We're starting with the Stupak Wire Coat Hanger Amendment. That vote will go for 15 minutes.

Then we have the Republican "substitute." George Miller really said everything that needed to be said about their "plan" for reform:

video details and more

Then there will be a the motion to recommit, a Republican effort to derail this one more time that will probably be focused on "illegals." Finally, the main vote. If you've hung in here this long, don't leave now.

Let's all watch the votes roll in.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Update: David W. weighs in via IM: "It'll be interesting to see the vote total for Stupak. Do they all count on conference magic and therefore take the free vote? Or do they bolster the case or removal in conference by keeping the total as low as possible?"

It's up to 34 yeas from the Ds with 4:20 left.

Update 2: It's over 45 Dems now supporting. It's a freebie vote now, as David IMs.

Update 3: Great. The Wire Coat Hanger Amendment will pass with well over 230 votes when it ends. Keep an eye here for the roll call vote. It should be posted within 20 minutes or so, and will be vote #884.