About
Learn More about our progressive online community for the Granite State.

Create an account today (it's free and easy) and get started!
Menu

Make a New Account

Username:

Password:



Forget your username or password?


Search




Advanced Search


The Masthead
Managing Editors


Jennifer Daler

Contributing Writers
elwood
Mike Hoefer
 susanthe
 William Tucker
ActBlue Hampshire

The Roll, Etc.
Prog Blogs, Orgs & Alumni
Bank Slate
Betsy Devine
birch, finch, beech
Democracy for NH
Live Free or Die
Mike Caulfield
Miscellany Blue
Granite State Progress
Seacoast for Change
Still No Going Back
Susan the Bruce
Tomorrow's Progressives

Politicos & Punditry
The Burt Cohen Show
John Gregg
Krauss
Landrigan
Lawson
Pindell
Primary Monitor
Primary Wire
Scala
Schoenberg
Spiliotes
Welch

Campaigns, Et Alia.
Paul Hodes
Carol Shea-Porter
Ann McLane Kuster
John Lynch
Jennifer Daler

ActBlue Hampshire
NHDP
DCCC
DSCC
DNC

National
Balloon Juice
billmon
Congress Matters
DailyKos
Digby
Hold Fast
Eschaton
FiveThirtyEight
MyDD
The Next Hurrah
Open Left
Senate Guru
Swing State Project
Talking Points Memo

50 State Blog Network
Alabama
Arizona
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin

Thank You, Paul, Carol And Jeanne - A Reminder

by: RealNRH

Fri Nov 12, 2010 at 11:25:38 AM EST
( - promoted by Dean Barker)

In the aftermath of the elections, I've got one more thank-you to give to New Hampshire's Democratic federal delegation, both ongoing and otherwise. And that is one more note of thanks for getting the health care bill passed.

Enough has been said about the specifics of the bill itself, and some people will no doubt comment snippily that it was a health insurance bill rather than a health care bill. I want to thank New Hampshire's Democrats in Congress for helping pass this bill in the face of a hostile and partisan media that says things like this:

Gallup: Four in 10 Americans Believe Healthcare Law Goes Too Far

They could have said this instead:

Gallup: 49% of Americans Believe Healthcare Law Does Not Go Too Far
RealNRH :: Thank You, Paul, Carol And Jeanne - A Reminder
49% of Americans think the bill was about right or did not go far enough, including 81% of Democrats and 46% of Independents. Only 42% think it goes too far - 79% of Republicans and 43% of Independents.

That's right. Despite Gallup using their voter model that predicted a 15% Republican edge (which the recent elections quite distinctly disproved at the national level), with Gallup's Republican-leaning Independents... more unaffiliated voters favor the law than oppose it. You wouldn't know to read the slant Gallup put into that article, though.

So once more, thank you, Paul, Carol, and Jeanne. In the face of a media and polling landscape determined to underline the old saying about "Lies, damn lies, and statistics" you hung tough, got something already increasingly popular done, and got something done that takes a major step toward progress in America.
Tags: , , , , (All Tags)
Print Friendly View Send As Email
Thank You, Paul, Carol And Jeanne - A Reminder | 4 comments
What the health care issue boiled down to was who was going (0.00 / 0)
to be entrusted with administering the funding of medical services for everyone who needs them.  It turns out that insurance companies are, sort of like utilities, regulated by the states.  Traditionally, the emphasis of regulation has been on facilitating the target enterprise, more than on guaranteeing high quality service that meets social goals.  So, the question was/is whether the states, which already had a regulatory regime in place, could be prompted to redirect their focus, instead of the federal government becoming the funding administrator for some thirty or forty million additional people and, effectively, gradually supplanting the extant insurance industry as citizens chose a lower cost, more serviceable option.
That private corporations, which are authorized by the states, are not properly restrained and/or directed in their enterprise is not really their fault.  Lax supervision of private corporations is the fault of the several states.  So, the issue isn't restricted to the health insurance sector.  Pushing for effective supervision can have salutary consequences in all kinds of arenas.

We talk about regulatory agencies being co-opted by the industries they supervise.  But, historically, the mission of government agencies was to be helpful to their clients.  Indeed, some proponents of de-regulation were probably sincere in wanting to terminate the preferential treatment which, as often as not, protected a monopoly and kept competitors out.

If the states are not successful in implementing the goals of insurance reform, the national insurance program continues to be an easily implemented option.  Taking the age restriction off Medicare would probably serve to bring it into compliance with the equal protection clause.

Called it. (0.00 / 0)
Well, a levelheaded commentary about the contents of the bill, not a snippy one, but still. I was trying to focus on Democrats persevering despite the unrelentingly viciously hostile two-year media attack on the entire concept of health care reform, rather than the contents of the bill that eventually passed.

Only the left protects anyone's rights.
[ Parent ]
and let's not forget (0.00 / 0)
that this bill is just the start.  Democrats across the country will no doubt vote on future bills to improve this one and hopefully approve a public option in the near future.  Ideally we'll get a single payer system in place.  But, as President Obama has said, these things take small steps before we achieve that goal.

A big THANK YOU to Carol, Paul, and Jeanne for their voices and votes in Washington!

Framing by Republicans (0.00 / 0)
In a recent Repeal It speech by the Senate Republican Leader I noted that he has begun to refer to the bill as the "health spending bill".  A new and improved framing.  Never mind that per CBO it saves piles of money.

It would be nice if we could come up with a way that actually works with voters to counter all of the disinformation being spewed over every media outlet.

Thank You, Paul, Carol And Jeanne - A Reminder | 4 comments

Connect with BH
     
Blue Hampshire Blog on Facebook
Powered by: SoapBlox