Senate almost done putting screws to us

You should be happy. Max Baucus and the conservatives, moderates, conservatives, and conservatives that are writing the Finance Committee Health Care bill are almost done with their careful negotiations. They've worked through some tough bumps in the road but are almost ready to unveil a compromise plan that will end up gaining about zero Republican votes. Whew! Good thing they did all that bipartisan compromising. The bill claims it will reduce costs and provide coverage without using the a public option, which is the most politically viable option to reduce costs and provide coverage. Good luck with that.

Senate negotiators are inching toward bipartisan agreement on a health-care plan that seeks middle ground on some of the thorniest issues facing Congress, offering the fragile outlines of a legislative consensus even as the political battle over reform intensifies outside Washington.

The emerging Finance Committee bill would shave about $100 billion off the projected trillion-dollar cost of the legislation over the next decade and eventually provide coverage to 94 percent of Americans, according to participants in the talks. It would expand Medicaid, crack down on insurers, abandon the government insurance option that President Obama is seeking and, for the first time, tax health-care benefits under the most generous plans. Backers say the bill would also offer the only concrete plan before Congress for reining in the skyrocketing cost of federal health programs over the long term.

Cuts $100 billion? Why however did they get such a round number? Surely it was through the intelligent and prudent cutting that made the bill better and not grunting, hooting, a desire to look like they did something, and 100 furious footstomps on the ground denoting how many billion they'd like cut out. And I'm sure a overly complex, piecemeal network of member-owned cooperatives negotiating on their own with insurance companies will work just as well as a simple, competitive government insurance option.

It's nice you're also claiming this is the only concrete plan for reigning in health care costs. You know, except for all those other plans that have been passed through committee or suggested. It certainly bodes well for the intelligence and honesty of your efforts when you lie about such minuscule stuff as that. But you should be happy to know that starting from a position of 60 senator strength, the Democrats started off compromising and then took it upon themselves to negotiate further compromises. What did it get them? Well, lots of money from the health care industry. LOTS of money. I can't stress how much money they got. But all their efforts towards "bipartisanship", "compromise" and "centrism", will net Democrats about 3 Republican votes total in the Congress, according to the Vegas over/under. Well done. This was certainly a better option than trying to enforce party loyalty or pushing a bill through the filibuster-proof reconciliation process. Golf claps abounds.