California is a leader in technology, the environment, and citywide indigent healthcare. Now it’s setting its sights on innovative statewide healthcare leadership. The state senate brought that goal one step closer today, passing universal healthcare bill SB 810 by a vote of 22-14. The US House might want to take notice of what happens when you actually bring a quality single-payer bill to a vote.
President Obama got 2 things very right in his brief discussion of healthcare last night. He also got quite a few wrong. While healthcare wasn’t the main focus of his State of the Union Address by a long shot, he made an effort to soothe frayed nerves with the usual awe-inspiring oratorical skill. It was just the content that fell short.
As the healthcare reform outlook continues to deteriorate in Washington, D.C., House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer tells us there are 4 choices. Really, though, there are only 2. In fact, I’d say our choice is coming down to one word: both.
If you’re curious about just how budget reconciliation would work for healthcare reform legislation, Kaiser Health News has the answer for you. We touched on this subject before, but only specific to the necessary Senate 51 votes and potential tricks opponents could use to derail the process. KHN goes a few steps farther.
In addition to explaining how the process works in both chambers of Congress, KHN walks you through the advantages, disadvantages, and technical snafus that might arise from using this tactic to pass meaningful healthcare reform.
Believe it or not, lawmakers have only resorted to reconciliation 19 times in almost 30 years. There’s not much precedent for it, so prepare for a wild ride if Democrats choose this revolutionary route for healthcare.
Read it here. blogsurfer.us
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For the past few days we’ve been bombarded with the news that Massachusetts painted itself red on Tuesday. Equally unavoidable were the countless interpretations of what it all means. Yes, Democrats lost their super-majority, but why? Perhaps the most ironic explanation was victor Scott Brown’s. In a strange twist of an argument we’ve mainly been hearing from uneducated Tea Partiers, he said Massachusetts voters have theirs, and for the rest of the country to go get its own. Fascinating.
