Let's just hope that Wyden will have enough supporters that they will reject this treatment unlike the tools in Connecticut. Luckily the voters realized what a gem they had in Lieberman and voted him back in.
Sage2 wrote: > Wyden is in danger of being persecuted by the the lefty > politburo similar to what they did to Joe Lieberman. If you have your > own individual thoughts they will intimidate and destroy you Saul > Alinsky style. Like all of their college & public followers they want > to control not only your freedom of speech but your freedom to think > differently. Thanks Dick ! > > ************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** > > On Jun 20, 9:27 am, dick thompson <[email protected]> wrote: > >> The unions are already lining up against him for daring to go against >> their plans for socialized medicine under whatever name they care to >> give it. >> >> Wyden's Third Way >> >> The Oregon senator questions the wisdom of a government health >> insurance plan. >> >> * Article >> >> <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124545885464333145.html#articleTabs=a...> >> * Comments (9) >> >> <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124545885464333145.html#articleTabs_c...> >> >> more in Opinion >> <http://online.wsj.com/public/page/news-opinion-commentary.html> ยป >> >> * Email <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124545885464333145.html#> >> * Printer >> Friendly <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124545885464333145.html#> >> * Share: >> >> Yahoo Buzz >> >> <http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzz?publisherurn=wsj&targetUrl=http://online.w...> >> ? 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More >> <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124545885464333145.html#> >> >> * smaller <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124545885464333145.html#> >> Text <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124545885464333145.html#> >> larger <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124545885464333145.html#> >> >> By COLLIN LEVY >> >> <http://online.wsj.com/search/search_center.html?KEYWORDS=COLLIN+LEVY&;...> >> >> 'People don't want the government in the driver's seat . . . They don't >> want the decisions (about their treatment) made in Capitol hearing rooms >> with a bunch of legislators in dark suits." So says Oregon Sen. Ron >> Wyden of the Healthy Americans Act, his plan for compromise in the >> polarized politics of healthcare reform. >> >> Mr. Wyden, slouched amiably on his office sofa with his long legs on the >> coffee table, looks awfully relaxed for a man in the middle of the >> battle over health-care reform. On the day before our meeting, the >> political calculus shifted: The Congressional Budget Office predicted >> that the bill from the Senate Finance Committee would increase the >> federal budget deficit by $1.6 trillion over the next 10 years. Worse >> for Democrats, the astronomical price tag would still leave millions of >> people uninsured. >> >> [THE WEEKEND INTERVIEW] Zina Saunders >> >> Sen. Ron Wyden >> >> The news changed the views of some who had begun to see a bigger >> government role in medicine as inevitable. It also shifted attention to >> less-radical approaches, like the one Mr. Wyden is co-sponsoring with >> Utah Republican Bob Bennett. >> >> "The country has bailout fatigue," Mr. Wyden explains. "The >> Congressional Budget Office said our proposal was budget neutral in the >> short term and that it would essentially start bending the cost curve >> downward in the third year." >> >> The plans favored by Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy or President Barack >> Obama rely on a "public option" in which government insurance would >> supposedly "compete" with private insurers, a move many see as leading >> to a single-payer system. By contrast, the Wyden-Bennett Healthy >> Americans Act relies on the private insurance market while imposing a >> series of regulations to squeeze savings from the private sector. It >> also requires individuals to buy coverage for themselves, the >> controversial "individual mandate." >> >> The idea, Mr. Wyden says, is to harness the Democratic desire to get >> everyone covered to the Republican interest in markets and consumer >> choice. "Everything I've been up to with this coalition is designed to >> make reconciliation irrelevant," he explains, referring to a political >> maneuver whereby Democrats might try to force through health reform on a >> bare majority of 51 votes rather than the filibuster-proof 60 votes >> normally required. >> >> "People can't be tricked into fixing health care." If you want to bring >> the country together, he continues, you have to aim for 70 votes and the >> kind of bipartisan strength that the Healthy Americans Act has with 14 >> senators sponsoring the bill. "If you . . . just pound it through on a >> partisan vote, you don't have that kind of consensus. You have people >> practically as soon as the ink is dry looking to have it repealed." >> >> Mr. Wyden knows he is walking a wobbly tightrope between the factions. >> At Oregon town-hall meetings six years ago, he remembers, "you'd have a >> bunch of people get up and talk about single payer, and a lot of >> applause." He claps to demonstrate. Then someone else would say, "We >> don't want that, we had a cousin who lived in Canada, they had to come >> to the U.S. to get treated because they couldn't get good care. And then >> both of these groups would look sullenly at each other." >> >> When he first approached Bob Bennett in early 2007 about a compromise >> plan based on the kind of coverage members of Congress get, he got a >> similarly unenthused response. Mr. Wyden puts on a deep, croaky Bob >> Bennett voice and repeats words that Mr. Bennett would later use to >> characterize his reaction: "I told Ron Wyden I'd look at his proposal." >> Smiling, Mr. Wyden says, "As Senator Bennett describes it, that's the >> closest thing you get in the United States Senate to a 'no.'" >> >> Mr. Bennett ultimately came around to the idea, but a lot of Republicans >> remained dubious. "People kind of looked at him like it was all a kind >> of big socialist plot. And he basically said, get over it, they've got a >> point." >> >> "Both parties have come a long way," says Mr. Wyden. "The most >> conservative Republicans accept the idea that they didn't accept in '93, >> that you've got to cover everybody to organize the market," he says. "If >> you don't . . . there's too much cost-shifting, not enough prevention." >> And some Democrats are seeing the wisdom of a market system where people >> will benefit if they make wise selections about their care. >> >> Mr. Wyden takes a long view: "Ever since the 1940s, we essentially >> disconnected individuals from being involved in health care. It's all >> about third parties, and they pay all the bills and individuals don't >> have the opportunities for the choices. In fact, millions of people who >> are lucky enough to have employer coverage don't get any choice." >> >> Which brings us back to dealing with the price tag of reform. Mr. Wyden >> is in the hot seat because his plan would convert the current tax >> exclusion for health benefits into a tax deduction for individuals to >> make insurance more portable. But taxing health benefits was pilloried >> on the campaign trail by Barack Obama, and the opponents have kept after >> it. "I think the way to go," Mr. Wyden says, "is with a generous >> deduction that sends a market-oriented message." He says that means >> that, if you shop carefully for your health care, you're going to get >> your taxes cut. >> >> The typical family of four spends about $13,000 a year for their health >> care for the year, he says. In the Healthy Americans plan, they set the >> deduction at $19,000. "If you get a deduction of between $17,000 and >> $19,000 for a middle-class family of four . . . [that] now spends >> $13,000 on health care, we've got a chance to give millions of people . >> . . more money in their wallet because they got a chance to shop in a >> new system driven by informed choice and financial incentives to make >> those choices." >> >> The tax aspects of the Wyden plan have nonetheless earned him the wrath >> of some Democrats as well as labor unions that carry fully loaded >> benefits plans and benefit from the current tax exemption. Some unions >> have even taken out ads against him in his home state of Oregon. As a >> powerful Democratic interest group, their objections have caused other >> would-be health-care reformers to capitulate. Montana Democrat and >> Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus has said his own health reform >> plan will create a union carve-out. >> >> Is Mr. Wyden surprised by the opposition his proposal has generated from >> the left? "Let's take it one at a time," he tells me. "First, there's a >> pretty good cross section of Democrats on this bill. Arlen Specter of >> course is now a Democrat." Other supporters include Debbie Stabenow, >> Mary Landrieu, Bill Nelson. >> >> And Labor? Unions have every right to bargain for the best possible >> package, he says. "But nobody, be it a CEO or a labor [union] member >> ought to be getting what amounts to gold-plated coverage with the tax >> subsidies paid for by somebody who is a modestly compensated woman at a >> small business who doesn't have a health plan." >> >> Breaking with the Democratic orthodoxy has earned him a few cold stares >> in other areas as well, including the plan's treatment of Medicaid and >> malpractice reform. The Healthy Americans Act transitions poor people >> out of Medicaid and will give them choices of private plans like members >> of Congress, he says. "We've taken a lot of flak for it . . . but >> Medicaid is a caste system. It is unfair to poor people and it is unfair >> to taxpayers." The system, he says, makes it hard for physicians to take >> care of the most vulnerable in society. >> >> In a speech to the American Medical Association this week, Mr. Obama >> also opened the door to the possibility of malpractice reform, something >> Messrs. Wyden and Bennett support to help keep costs down. Democrats >> always blame the insurance companies, says Mr. Wyden, and Republicans >> always blame the trial lawyers. Insurance companies "are going to >> compete on the basis of price, benefit and quality," he insists. But a >> new system also requires "tough malpractice reforms." >> >> The problem of spiraling costs is on display in Massachusetts, where a >> universal coverage plan started under former Gov. Mitt Romney, a >> Republican, is proving more of a cautionary tale than the inspiration >> Democrats would like to call it. "I've gone and met with the >> Massachusetts folks," Mr. Wyden says, and "cost containment is the >> Achilles heel." >> >> Using government health programs to try to find savings in the short >> term is problematic, he says, as it leads to inevitable concerns about >> rationing of care. "If you try to go the government route, the danger is >> you will find savings that are not realized with massive new >> commitments, and that's a prescription for trouble." >> >> Mr. Obama has endorsed a public option, though the commitment has lately >> come under renewed doubt from Democrats. Former Majority Leader Tom >> Daschle, who was once Mr. Obama's nominee to lead the Department of >> Health and Human Services, this week endorsed a compromise plan. >> Partnering with fellow former majority leaders Bob Dole and Howard >> Baker, Mr. Daschle's idea would seek a compromise on the public option, >> letting states establish programs with help from the federal government. >> North Dakota Sen. Kent Conrad has likewise questioned whether Democrats >> could muster enough votes for a public option. >> >> Mr. Wyden has been meeting with the president on the issue, so is Mr. >> Obama committed to the public option, I wonder? Mr. Wyden won't tell, >> but directs me instead to review Mr. Obama's book, "The Audacity of >> Hope." In it, he says, "he talked about a system like what we're talking >> about in the Healthy Americans Act." >> >> A single-payer solution is just not the Oregon senator's cup of tea. >> "I've never even understood how you would get there from here," he says. >> "A lot of the people who are for a public option want a single-payer >> system, and they haven't minced any words about it. Bless their hearts, >> extra points for honesty. But that's not where I am." >> >> Mr. Wyden isn't necessarily opposed to a public option, he says, >> provided the caveats that it "can hold costs down and deal with the >> misguided incentives." So would he vote for the public option if it came >> to that? >> >> "I'll look at it," he smiles. "I think I have an obligation as a >> legislator." Just like Bob Bennett used to say. >> >> * Ms. Levy is a senior editorial writer at the Journal, based in >> Washington. * >> > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
