Thanks again, Max Baucus, for the Max Baucus Committee Bill. In case you hadn't noticed, the rest of your official committee is just a little pissed off about that whole thing. And with damned good reason. The more we find out about it, the worse it gets.
But some liberal Democrats, like Senators John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, expressed reservations about concessions being made by Democrats to keep a few Republicans on board.
Mr. Rockefeller said he was unhappy that the legislation would end the Children’s Health Insurance Program and could reduce the scope of benefits for 11 million children in the program.
Asked if he would support the bill, Mr. Rockefeller shot back a somber, stony look. "Can’t you see the joy on my face?" he asked.
Right, you fight for years for an SCHIP expansion so you can use it as a bargaining chip to get "bipartisan" support for "reform." Now if this were real reform, if the Baucus plan actually managed to expand affordable care and choices to American families, it wouldn't be a problem. SCHIP was always intended to be a stop gap to make sure at least children were covered until real reform finally happened. Now you want cut 11 million children out again?
For these people?
John Thune took to the Senate floor yesterday to warn that the House health care bill’s surtax—a measure that would only effect 1.3 percent of the population—would lead to "most Americans and most small businesses" paying "fifty cents of every dollar in taxes."
The health insurance industry is one of the most regulated industries in America," said Sen. Jon Kyl (R., Ariz.) on the Senate floor Monday. "They don't need to be 'kept honest' by the government."
And my personal favorite:
The House Republican leader, Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, said, "This provision may start us down a treacherous path toward government-encouraged euthanasia."
You want to work with people who are telling old people Democrats want to kill them? You're giving them gifts? You're taking healthcare away from 11 million children to get them on your side? And you think you can slap a big red bow on this shit and call it "bipartisan reform" and we'll actually buy it?
Think again, Mr. Baucus. The same goes for all the other Democrats on the Finance Committee, starting with Rockefeller and Stabenow. Don't let this piece of crap out of committee if you're so upset with it. Stay through August and fix it.
Update: Greg Sargent sends a reminder about who's behind the "Democrats want to kill granny" meme:
The leading hawker of this claim is one Betsy McCaughey, who points to a provision buried in the health care bill that would require Medicare to cover "end-of-life consultations." McCaughey is usually described as a former New York lieutenant governor and "conservative health expert."
But those with long memories will recall that Betsy McCaughey was widely credited with helping kill health care reform in the 1990s — with equally lurid and questionable claims. McCaughey published a high-profile New Republic article hammering Bill Clinton’s health care plan that was widely panned for distortions and for ripping key facts out of context. The article quite literally made her famous and was wielded by reform opponents for months.
