One Democratic Senator has said that a key component of the President’s health care reform package will not make it through Congress:
WASHINGTON (CNN) — A key Senate negotiator said Sunday that President Barack Obama should drop his push for a government-funded public health insurance option because the Senate will never pass it.
Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota said it was futile to continue to “chase that rabbit” due to the lack of 60 Senate votes needed to overcome a filibuster.
“The fact of the matter is there are not the votes in the United States Senate for a public option. There never have been,” Conrad said on “FOX News Sunday.”
Conrad is one of six Senate Finance Committee members — three Democrats and three Republicans — who are negotiating a compromise health-care bill that would be the only bipartisan proposal so far.
Without the “public option,” ObamaCare ends up being little more than a massive set of new regulations governing the insurance industry. That’s far from a good thing, but much better than a system that was clearly designed to bring about the death of private insurance.
August 16th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
[...] Democratic Senator Declares “Public Option” Dead - Below The Beltway [...]
August 16th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
[...] a public option? A nightmare for the LEFT as their boy failed to bring home the goods and the savior for private insurance and Obama’s intended purpose of creating a single payer government health care system. [...]
August 16th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
Don’t believe it. It will come back in at sometime – probably at midnight and it won’t be negotiated, and the bill will be passed without reading.
August 17th, 2009 at 12:09 am
Party like its 1994!
August 17th, 2009 at 2:24 am
Our President is getting his first taste of going against the insurance industry, which is, make no mistake about it, a CARTEL, no longer the intended business model originally created to protect in an event of a loss, with their hands in all elections, all the time and process as much money as our government and in fact controls many public policies. Currently, what the insurance industry wants, the industry gets. They feel that no one is too big for them. With profits paramount, currently running health care as well as auto collision repair in there unsuccessfully dysfunctional way with no one to challenge them, as well as crushing free enterprise with their referral systems. When US States successfully created affordable government run workman’s comp insurance for business, the system currently works extremely well, with government achieving a much higher level of service at half the cost, but not surprisingly the insurance industry attempts to abolish the program every legislation cycle. They complain about being in competition with the government, but have no regard to health care patients well being, care facilities or the collision repair stores they our putting out of business daily by pushing all the patients or damaged autos through locations they own or have interest in, aggressively via referral systems. Insures are in competition with all businesses they pay claims to. From health care to auto repair. The insurance industry is currently a competitor to businesses and crushes whom they feel like, with no Federal Trade Commissions stopping them. The insurance industry controls the largest majority of claims service rendered. Free competition is long gone but seriously needs to be restored. I believe government should not just challenge the insurance industry, but to do its job and control them. I wish a leader to challenge the cartel, not give in to greed, and win. Mr. Obama, please don’t give up. The insurance industry can and should be restored back into its intended purpose. The insurance industry currently has more money than local governments and is right behind the federal government with regards to cash flow. They have hand placed policy makers in all levels of our government, federally and local. This presents serious threats to our government and should be investigated by the Federal Trades Commission, FBI and the CIA to ensure the stability of our government.