22 Nov 09, 07:35 PM
Lisa: WTH!!!!!!!!!!!!22 Nov 09, 09:35 AM
Autoit Script Test: It’s not completely clear that he’ll be able to accomplish any of those goals, and the public is catching on.22 Nov 09, 09:35 AM
Autoit Script Test: When Obama campaigned on enacting reform, he pledged to cut premiums, reduce the spiraling growth in medical costs and not add a dollar to the federal deficit.22 Nov 09, 09:35 AM
Autoit Script Test: “PhRMA would have to let people know the truth,” said a senior pharmaceutical lobbyist. “I don’t know why they would want to increase premiums.”22 Nov 09, 09:35 AM
Autoit Script Test: PhRMA insists that would bump up the seniors’ Medicare prescription drug premiums by 20 percent. If the Senate includes the rebates, industry officials privately say that they’ll consider running ads22 Nov 09, 09:34 AM
Autoit Script Test: But there’s another danger to Democrats lurking in the bill – dissent toward the White House deal with the drug-makers. Many Democrats feel PhRMA got off easy by only having to kick in $80 billion in22 Nov 09, 09:34 AM
Autoit Script Test: Democrats are keenly aware of the danger in a senior revolt and note that AARP, the nation’s largest seniors’ lobby, would not have endorsed reforms if they hurt seniors.22 Nov 09, 09:34 AM
Autoit Script Test: The reductions will almost certainly cut some seniors’ benefits, a fact that has become a central opposition argument echoed from Capitol Hill to K Street. The cuts are likely to bump more than half t22 Nov 09, 09:34 AM
Autoit Script Test: Republicans also tried to stir this sleeping giant Saturday, pounding Democrats for big cuts in Medicare under the Senate plan – at least $300 billion worth.22 Nov 09, 09:34 AM
Autoit Script Test: Is there any give? Reid signaled he might be inclined to get a little closer to the House by saying he’d bump up the Medicare tax on high-earners. The “botax” on cosmetic surgery also seems aimed at t22 Nov 09, 09:33 AM
Autoit Script Test: Reid relies heavily on taxing the Cadillac plans – but won’t touch a millionaires tax, which was never debated in the Senate.22 Nov 09, 09:33 AM
Autoit Script Test: And bowing to pressure from powerful union backers, Democrats steered clear of any tax on the so-called “Cadillac” plans – high-cost policies that many unions have negotiated for their workers over th22 Nov 09, 09:33 AM
Autoit Script Test: Not surprisingly, politics are at play. The House went with a populist soak-the-rich tax on “millionaires” to pay for almost half the near-trillion dollar price-tag in its bill.22 Nov 09, 09:33 AM
Autoit Script Test: What’s worse for Democrats is that the House and Senate have starkly different visions of how to pay for reform. And the House hates the Senate tax, and the Senate hates the House tax.22 Nov 09, 09:33 AM
Autoit Script Test: Republicans pounded one big talking point all day Saturday: health reform raises taxes. And it’s true, the plans would.22 Nov 09, 09:32 AM
Autoit Script Test: Is there a middle ground? That’s not at all clear.22 Nov 09, 09:32 AM
Autoit Script Test: The big player here isn’t Reid or Pelosi but the Catholic Church, which helped get the Stupak amendment into the House bill. Any abortion language may have to win the backing of the church for members22 Nov 09, 09:32 AM
Autoit Script Test: At the same time, about 40 Democrats in the House say they can’t vote for a bill that goes as far as the House bill does now, with the so-called Stupak amendment that prevents a public insurance plan22 Nov 09, 09:32 AM
Autoit Script Test: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi could lose at least 10 Democrats if the Senate tried to water down the tough anti-abortion language in her bill.22 Nov 09, 09:32 AM
Autoit Script Test: Reid can’t afford a single defection – and already, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), who opposes abortion rights, says weak language could be enough to oppose final passage.