Obama calls holdouts on health care - House Dem leaders offered fresh concessions Fri night (AP)

[jefferson_dem]

Obama calls holdouts on health care
By DAVID ESPO (AP) – 13 minutes ago

WASHINGTON — Short on votes, House Democratic leaders offered fresh concessions Friday night to anti-abortion lawmakers and worked to ease the concerns of Hispanic holdouts as they struggled to round up the support needed to pass sweeping health care legislation.

President Barack Obama lobbied by phone to save his top domestic priority, an expansion of coverage that Democrats have sought for more than a half-century.

"We're very close" to having enough votes to prevail, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland said in a midday assessment, although he added a scheduled Saturday vote could slip by a day or two and sought to pin the blame on possible Republican delaying tactics.

"Nice try, Rep. Hoyer, but you can't blame Republicans when the fact is you just don't have the votes," shot back Antonia Ferrier, spokeswoman for the GOP leader, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio.

Hours later, Democrats were still trying to get them.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi presided over late-night meetings with Democratic abortion foes, whose votes were critical to the bill's fate, then with supporters of abortion rights, who are among the health legislation's biggest advocates in the House.

It was not clear precisely what changes were under discussion.

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http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jlMpJ...

[emulatorloo]

1. Sick to death of sarcastic Republican Spokespeople. Shut up already. n/t

[graywarrior]

2. Sick to death of republicans, period.

[emulatorloo]

9. Yeah, pretty much. . .

[salguine]

17. I'm even sicker of yet more concessions to them. Period.

[graywarrior]

18. Why do dems continue to act like republicans are relevant?

Jesus, just step over them and vote the way WE want. They're a fucking MINORITY!!!!!!!! We had to put up with Bush's war for 8 god damn years. Republicans DO NOT MATTER right now, just like we din't from 2000-2008.

[DRoseDARs]

41. And some are just sick to death. Repubs need to stop killing them and give them some fucking help.nt

[BattyDem]

3. Oh goody ... more concessions.

[Thrill]

6. Too many Repukes in the Dem caucus

Thats the problem. Always has been

[John Q. Citizen]

10. Yes, for the right, but not for people. The corporations got our concessions.

[Thrill]

4. Its simple the President needs to tell them you either vote yes

or don't expect any help fund-raising or earmarks for your district.

[Clio the Leo]

26. But isn't the problem with that..........

.... he has just as must vested interest in Dems winning Congressional elections ...... ANY Dem ....... as they do? I mean if you thought the spin Wednesday was bad, how do you think "Obama loses 20 house seats" would sound?

Doesn't holding back $$ hurt him as well?

(serious question, not an attempt to argue)

[Thrill]

44. Thats the only leverage you have. He can help the cadidate. But he doesn't have to help

against a primary challenge.

[saracat]

5. Fresh concessions on for abortion foes? Throwing women under the bus further?

This makes me vomit. It truly does. And don't anyone please mock me for my "issue' and tell me how selfish it is to demamd respect or that this isn't important or that my pony is gone.

[jefferson_dem]

8. Not going to talk about ponies but...

this sucker needs to pass. No more delays...or it may never pass. I trust that Hoyer/Pelosi are only offering concessions when/if they must to get the votes.

[John Q. Citizen]

12. The bill ends Chip in 2013. That's a concession to the private insurers I guess.

[FrenchieCat]

21. My understanding is that it folds Chip up into medicaid......

and the PO.

What's your details?

[John Q. Citizen]

22. Are they removiing the one car rule for medicade? Or will people have to sell their other

beater to get it?

The PO will be more expensive than the private plans on the exchange, That's why the CBO estimate 6 million total in the PO by 2019.

Private insurance will get most of the kids. Nice and health and relatively cheap. Should be a real money maker for them.

It's a shame putting all those kids onto welfare. A whole new generation of welfare recipients.

[FrenchieCat]

23. CBO has never been the bible, and I'm not sure why it is now......

But go ahead and believe what you want to believe,
and work actively to kill this bill.

It ain't like there will be anything else in the horizon!
But I guess that's cool with you...
as long as you can say, "I told you so!"

96% insured vs. 47 million uninsured
makes not one difference to you,
obviously!

[John Q. Citizen]

25. Two Americas will happen faster,for sure. Medicare for the poor quality care for the better off. It'

the Democratic way.

it was good enough for Romney, (they are cutting benefits)

And it's good enough for the people who aren't Obama's kids.

But I won't just bend over and take the crumbs that they so generously offer me. But you go ahead. I'll k4eep my dreams of a better Amerca, a more just America. You go ahead and take what AHIP says you get.

[FrenchieCat]

27. Like I said......

You were lost long ago.
It wouldn't matter what was being offered in terms of health care reform,
because you'd then move on to being unhappy about something else.
That's how you operate.
It's ok, though....to each his/her own.

[John Q. Citizen]

29. AHIP is your frind. Never forget what they did for you! You love them, with good reason.

They want to reform health care, for you.

[FrenchieCat]

34. That is such an unintelligent intellectually dishonest argument

until it isn't even funny,
but coming from you, I'm not suprised.
like I said....lost.a.long.time.ago.

[John Q. Citizen]

36. I like the way you put periods after your words. It makes them special like.

Like I said.

I think we could do a whole lot better.

You think we have to take this or else we will turn into a pumkin.


I used to make my living at the Santa cruz Flea market. You wouldn't last a month there because you will take the first thing they offer you and think you got a real deal.

If the people stood up and said, "No dice" we could get a much better deal. You are letting the sharks carve us up, and you don't even know it."

It's sad, for our country and for our people.

[FrenchieCat]

39. I've done Flea markets for years now.....

I live in the Bay Area, and we have our share.
Plus, I grew up in France, and my aunt and uncle
had a stall at the Marché aux Puces every weekend,
and I helped them sometimes.

I'm good at asking how much stuff cost that I'm not interested in....
until the fourth item, which I am interested in....by then,
cause I've turned him/her down three times already,
the seller lowers the price of the 4th item to what it would have been
had it been the first....cause he/she's thinking this is my 4th choice,
and that if he/she doesn't propose something attractive to me,
I'm gonna walk.

I'm not naive whatsoever,
but I know that I ain't gonna get something I really want for free.....
and so I don't pretend that I should expect it.

[saracat]

38. I hope you are proud today.They just announced yet more stringent rules against abortion

That was the obstacle to passage. The f++king anti-choice 40 won. And these were the sort recruited by Rahm for our majority.Women are thrown under the bus again to get a very watered down health care. Disrespecting women seems perfectly acceptable on both sides of the aisle now.The reelection of the Blue Dogs is ensured now that they can tell the folks that they worked to remove abortion from the heath care bill.The morality of the religious right is being upheld.This makes me vomit.

[Clio the Leo]

28. Yep and unfortunately......

.... at this stage in the game, everyone has to make concessions in order to get the thing passed.

There's a list of public servants in DC who I'd trust NOT to harm women's rights in the long term and Nancy Pelosi is pretty high on that list.

..... and two of the gentelmen on that list work in the White House.

[saracat]

40. I see absolutely NO reason to trust them at all, They are already selling this issue out.

They can't spit in my face and say its raining and expect me to believe them.

[boppers]

19. Do you know what the concessions are?

I haven't heard, but since it's an issue that's important to you, I'm curious about the details... maybe it's as simple as not denying federal health-care dollars to dermatologists who oppose abortion, which is a concession I could live with, or maybe it's as ugly as trying to make any abortion illegal if any public funds are involved, which would be worth raising hell over... any ideas what's going here?

[emulatorloo]

7. Plumline: Biden Calling House Moderates

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/health-care/happy-hou... /


Happy Hour Roundup: Biden Calling House Moderates
* Joe Biden has been working the phones in a last-ditch effort to round up support among moderate House Dems for the embattled health care bill.

A senior White House official emails: “He’s calling moderate Democrats and talking up the cost-containment and premium-reduction aspects of the bill — issues that matter a lot to moderates.”

[Clio the Leo]

31. and talkin' and talkin' and talkin' and talkin'...............

.... that's ma Joe!

Of course, perhaps a more effective strategy would be to lock the entire GOP half of the House in a room and let him regale them with stories of things his grandpop did back in Scranton and he'd be able to do his OWN filibuster until the bill was passed.

[Oregone]

11. Water that bitch down some more

I mean, does it really matter at this point?

[jefferson_dem]

13. I think we lost you when you realized single payer was never on the table.

No biggie ...

[John Q. Citizen]

16. They lost me when it became obvious that it's Romney Care. I didn't vote for Romney

[FrenchieCat]

24. You've been lost for quite some time......

even before health care reform was even proposed this year.

Your posting history tells the story.

[Oregone]

35. I realized that long ago, but thanks for your concern

This Nixonian health care model of subsidized and mandated private insurance sucks as bad as when he first pushed it (and a real Democratic Party opposed it)

[timeforpeace]

14. Obama finally gets involved on Friday, November 6th! He's gonna pull this out, baby, you watch!

[Baltoman991]

37. Perhaps if you'd

spent your time paying attention to facts and not worrying about the bullshit spew, you would have known Obama has met with both Senate and House Democrats many times concerning health care.

But I understand that facts don't fit the agenda of many around here.

[HopeOverFear]

45. He got involved a long time ago, you just chose not to see it n/m

[davidpdx]

15. Fuck more concessions

How about the President invite them into the Oval Office one and at time and beat them in submission until they say yes. Make the same threat as we did in the Senate: loss of Chairmanship, no fund raising, no appearances in campaigns, nothing. Furthermore, independent organizations like Move-on are going to run challengers.

[Clio the Leo]

32. "Make the same threat as we did in the Senate: loss of Chairmanship"

.... yeah, 'cause using that strategy Reid has the Senate votes on LOCK just waiting for the House to get it's stuff together. lol

[Pirate Smile]

20. As usual, here we are - herding cats aka the Democratic Party.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWymXNPaU7g

[Clio the Leo]

33. Yep.....

[Pirate Smile]

42. That's perfect.

[Clio the Leo]

43. Isn't it though?

I wish there was a way to make ALL DU'ers see it ...... and it's so true.

As the owner of three cats, I know how hard it can be to try and get all of them to go one place at any given time. I cant imagine having to herd 60 cats with human brains and mouths and constituencies.

And one of those cats is Joe Lieberman.

I should send the President a can of treats to shake over their heads. That usually works.

[Aramchek]

30. It will pass.