The news that insurers hate this bill was a tad premature

From The Nation's "The Beat" blog:

"Health care investors find themselves having confronted their greatest fear, and, while there will be legislation, it will be significantly watered down ..." declared Mike O'Rourke, a leading market strategist.
That news have proven to be the gift that keeps on giving, according to industry analysts.

Aetna stock shares gained 4.7 percent.

Cigna shares rose 3.9 percent.

United Health and Wellpoint "rallied to 52-week highs," according to an insider report that is being highlighted by Congressman Dennis Kucinich, the Ohio Democrat who has long advocated for single-payer health care and during the current debate has argued that, at the very least, any reform measure must include a robust public option.

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And now, Alvin & the Chipmunks

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Evening document dump

Assorted stories of interest:

GOP Senate candidate sat by silently as Obama was called a Muslim.

Health care reform bill not expected to go to Obama for signature until late January, early February.

Taylor Marsh isn't pleased that Obama is denying campaigning for the public option, when he did.

Obama appears to be growing weary of the never-ending GOP filibusters in the Senate. This is good. Obama can bring some serious pressure on the Senate by appealing to the public. He just needs to not let up when the inevitable push back comes from the GOP and their propaganda organ, FOX.

The controversy over Ben Nelson's bronze statue. Seriously.

Dem Rep. Louise Slaughter says to kill the HCR bill and start over. Read More......

Cancer treatment and payment in a socialist hell hole

An update from our dear friend Jane who recently finished her chemotherapy here in Paris. Just as John experienced last summer, the cost of health care in France is stunningly low compared to the US. As an American, it is amazing to see and experience the differences. Again, no system is perfect but the US system really is far behind of this "socialist hell hole." Even worse, it's not even close. Read More......

The filibustering is over in the Senate, for now.

The Senate Democrats cleared the final procedural hurdle -- the filibuster of the actual health insurance bill -- this afternoon by a vote of 60 - 39. Senator Bunning (R-KY) didn't vote.

The vote on final passage is scheduled for 7:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, having been moved forward from the scheduled 7:00 p.m. tomorrow night. After the latest cloture vote, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) tried to get the voted moved til later today, but the Hooker Parton from Louisiana, David Vitter, objected. (One would think that Mrs. Vitter would want the Senator back home where she can keep an eye on him ASAP.)

Also after the vote, Senator Coburn, who has been using every procedural tactic he can find to slow down the process, took some time on the Senate floor to talk about his 41st wedding anniversary. He wanted to tell the country about his wife and how she completed every aspect of his life. Thanks for sharing? Read More......

My podcast with Bicyclemark about the Obama presidency to date

My friend Mark is an American living in Amsterdam. He has a rather successful podcast, and invited me on while he was visiting DC last week. We talked about the Obama presidency, and I tried to explain to a foreign audience why so many of us are so disappointed with the President. You can listen to the interview here. Read More......

Bloomberg reporter reportedly wrote quote for source in effort to criticize Bloomberg competitor

Let's put aside for a moment the fact that Bloomberg is reportedly writing critical stories about its competition, and not divulging that fact to its readers (Bloomberg is starting up a for-profit education venture that few people know about, at the same time that Bloomberg is writing articles highly critical of their future competitors in the for-profit education sector). But as I said, let's put that potentially huge, undivulged, conflict of interest aside. Now what if Bloomberg's reporter, writing critical stories about the future competition, told its sources what specific critical quotes it wanted for the story - literally telling the source what to say?

It is time for another blogger ethics panel?

The future competitor, the University of Phoenix (run by the Apollo Group), forwarded me one of the emails from Bloomberg's reporter:

From: DAN GOLDEN, BLOOMBERG/ NEWSROOM
Sent: Tuesday, September 22, 2009 11:11 AM
To: Mark De Fusco
Subject: RE: interview request/dan golden/bloomberg

Hi Mark,

How are you? My story's going through editing and my editor had a couple questions. One is -- I identified you as an education investment banker -- and he was wondering what deals you've done, and if perhaps there's one that's particularly noteworthy that we might mention.

Also, the theme of my story seems to be along the lines of -- apollo has done well as a stock and had rapid growth, but now it's facing some potential vulnerabilities -- a less sympathetic federal administration, plus possibly the limits to its growth (meaning that its shift to axia college has led to some problems because its growth has come with low-income, less prepared students who are more likely to drop out). I'd love it if you could come up something on the record that might reflect some of this -- perhaps along the lines of -- Phoenix's original model was magic because XXX -- but the current model has some of the same flaws that have dogged other for-profit schools -- X and Y.
Perhaps if you have some time this afternoon we could discuss?

Thanks,

Dan

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The irony is that DOD's pregnancy anti-pregnancy policy will probably lead to more abortions

I've been fascinated by this story that the Pentagon was planning on considering a court martial for women who got pregnant, and the men who helped. At first it sounded outrageous. Then I thought, well it's no different than the what the administration does to gay men and lesbians (two are kicked out every day), even if they don't have sex at all. Then today I realized that by cracking down on pregnancy, you're really providing an incentive for anyone who gets pregnant to get an abortion. Now, I don't have a problem with that, it's up to the woman and her partner to figure that one out. But it is interesting that an administration that is clearly jittery about abortion, as it's one of those "controversial" issues, has a "morals" policy that actually could promote something the right-wing considers immoral. Read More......

As President, Obama campaigned for the public option -- to some audiences anyway

President Barack Obama, July 20, 2009:

“But, I can tell you, as I’ve been very clear about before, I continue to believe a robust public option is the best way to go.”

Obama said that on the conference call with bloggers in response to a question from Joan McCarter from the DailyKos. I heard it for myself on the call. John Amato posted the audio so anyone can hear it.

As John wrote below, the President is now saying, inaccurately, that he never campaigned on the public option. He did. And, he has also "campaigned" for it as President -- or he did to us anyway on that July 20th call -- if we could believe what he was saying. It came up several times. And, as he was wrapping up, the President laid out his "benchmarks" for the bill, what he wants when the legislation comes out of conference:

The conference then is going to be the place where these differences get ironed out and that’s where, you know, my bottom line will remain: does this cover all Americans, does it drive down costs both in the public sector and the private sector over the long term so that it’s sustainable, does it improve quality, does it emphasize prevention and wellness, does it have a serious package of insurance reforms that insure that people aren’t losing health care because of a pre-existing condition or changing jobs or losing their jobs, are we giving relief to small business, do we have serious options -- a serious public option in place. Those are the kinds of benchmarks I’m going to be using…

Got that? Those were the benchmarks identified by Obama himself. We're not making this up.

Shortly after that call, some genius at the White House told the Washington Post that it was only "the left of the left" who were pushing for the public option. In response, I wrote a post titled, "A guy named Barack Obama sold me on the importance of the public option." And, he did. But, now I'm supposed to believe that he didn't.

Are the people in the White House already so ensconced in their bubble that they've lost touch with reality? This just doesn't bode well. And, it's actually painful to watch. Read More......

Top 10 AMERICAblog stories of 2009

Just for fun, I decided to look through our records to find the 10 most read stories on the blog in 2009. One of them, interestingly, wasn't even written this year. Here's our list. And just fyi, our number ten most-read story of the year was actually our 2005 story on Jeff Gannon (oddly). So I included #11 as well (which would be the tenth-most-read story we've WRITTEN this year):

1. 182,129 readers: Obama defends DOMA in federal court. Says banning gay marriage is good for the federal budget. Invokes incest and marrying children.

2. 111,681 readers: RNC Web site promoting anti-Semitic, anti-Latino, and pornographic literature

3. 57,618 readers: Teabaggers attack Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel

4. 54,342 readers:Baucus & Conrad cave again, toughen health care bill's anti-immigrant provisions to appease Joe "You lie!" Wilson

5. 51,896 readers: AIDS activists shut down US Capitol rotunda over Obama reversal on AIDS policy

6. 41,960 readers: Obama DOJ lies to Politico in defending hate brief against gays.

7. 38,200 readers: Did the Mormons baptize Obama's mother, after her death, without his knowledge or consent?

8. 35,641 readers: Whole Foods comes out against health care reform, calls it "socialism".

9. 33,160 readers: Funny, Bill O'Reilly didn't think gay marriage was wrong in 2002.

10. (2005) 29,875 readers: A man called Jeff.

11. 25,135 readers: My whopping $32 emergency room visit in the land of socialized medicine.

(Also, when I give the number of "readers" below, that figure is actually the number of "page views," for any geeks out there.) Read More......

Obama now says he didn't campaign on the public option. The Google says he did, a lot.

President Obama in the Washington Post yesterday:

Obama said the public option "has become a source of ideological contention between the left and right." But, he added, "I didn't campaign on the public option."

Sure you didn't. That's why there's video, and countless news stories with you talking about it over and over again.



Candidate Obama to the Washington Post in 2008:

Every American has the right to affordable, comprehensive and portable health coverage. My plan will ensure that all Americans have health care coverage through their employers, private health plans, the federal government, or the states. My plan builds on and improves our current insurance system, which most Americans continue to rely upon, and creates a new public health plan for those currently without coverage. Under my plan, Americans will be able to choose to maintain their current coverage if they choose to. For those without health insurance I will establish a new public insurance program, and provide subsides to afford care for those who need them. My plan includes a mandate that all children have health care coverage and I will expand eligibility for the Medicaid and SCHIP programs to help ensure we cover all kids. My plan requires all employers to contribute towards health coverage for their employees or towards the cost of the public plan. Under my plan a typical family will save $2,500 each year. We will realize tremendous savings within the health care system from improving efficiency and quality and reducing wasted expenditures system-wide. Specifically, these savings will result from investments in health information technology, improvements in prevention and management of chronic conditions, increased insurance industry competition and reduced industry overhead, the provision of federal reinsurance for catastrophic coverage, and reduced spending on uncompensated care.

And I quote Media Matters Action, at length:

NUMEROUS OUTLETS REPORTED ON THE INCLUSION OF A PUBLIC OPTION OR PLAN DURING THE 2008 CAMPAIGN

July 2008: Senator Obama "Included An Optional Public Plan" In His Health Care Proposals. According to Jonathan Cohn of The New Republic, Senator Obama "included an optional public plan in his eventual blueprint for universal coverage." [The New Republic, 7/30/08]

September 2008: Senator "Obama's Plan Would Create A Voluntary Public Option." In a column in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Tom Teepen wrote: "No, Obama wouldn't 'force families into a government-run health care system where a bureaucrat would stand between you and your doctor.' Obama's plan would create a voluntary public option for the uninsured. Others would keep their current insurance." [Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 9/15/08]

September 2008: Then-Candidate Obama's Health Care Proposal Included A New Public Plan And Health Insurance Exchange. The Columbus Dispatch reported:

For starters, Obama's proposal would require that all children have coverage. He would expand the tax-funded children's health-insurance program to make sure that those unable to join private plans were covered. Although Obama would not require adults to have insurance, he would mandate that large businesses either provide coverage to their employees or pay into a new public plan through which anyone without coverage could buy it. Small-business owners would be exempt and would get a 50 percent health-care tax credit to help ease their cost of employee coverage. People without coverage could buy insurance through new public and private plans. Key to Obama's plan is creation of a National Health Insurance Exchange in which private insurers would offer coverage as generous as the government's plan, with new regulations requiring them to accept and not penalize anyone regardless of pre-existing conditions, Tanden said. [Columbus Dispatch, 9/23/08, via Lexis]

October 2008: Senator Obama's Health Care Plan Includes Both Private And Public Options. The Lima News reported: "Voters taking part in a Lima News election roundtable all had stories about their health insurance and skepticism about plans from Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain. Obama's plan includes the creation of a national plan of private and public options. Mc-Cain is proposing dramatic change to the taxcode and greater reliance on competition." [The Lima News, 10/5/08, via Lexis]

October 2008: Then-Candidate Obama's Public Option Discussed On NPR. During an October 20, 2008 interview on NPR, Trudy Lieberman, Director of the Health and Medicine Reporting Program at New York City University, said:

"I think we can say that there are really two key aspects of Obama's plan. One is that he would expand Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Plan, which was a program set up by Congress about a decade ago. The second part is something that's a little bit nebulous right now and that's called his public option. He's not quite sure how this will work or how it will actually emerge in any kind of legislative process. But the gist of it is that people would be able to buy insurance from this public plan, and he often says that people would be able to buy the same kind of insurance that members of Congress have. It's not clear whether the insurance provided for the so-called public option will be provided by private carriers or whether it will be a Medicare-like program. In that particular program, the government provides the benefits." [NPR.org, 10/20/08]

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Most of AIG bonus money not yet repaid, as promised

How many times is Washington going to be duped by these people? Promises mean nothing with this crowd. Is it asking too much for Obama or Congress to to get tough with Wall Street?

When word spread earlier this year that American International Group had paid more than $165 million in retention bonuses at the division that had precipitated the company's downfall, outrage erupted, with employees getting death threats and President Obama urging that every legal avenue be pursued to block the payments.

New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo threatened to publicize the recipients' names, prompting executives at AIG Financial Products to hastily agree to return about $45 million in bonuses by the end of the year.

But as the final days of 2009 tick away, a majority of that money remains unpaid. Only about $19 million has been given back, according to a report by the special inspector general for the government's bailout program.

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Wednesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

The final vote on the Senate's health insurance bill will occur tomorrow morning around 8:00 a.m. , not tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. The Republicans agreed to cut back the debate by 11 hours. Now, doesn't that really reflect the spirit of the season? One thing to watch for tomorrow is how many people get bumped from their already delayed flights so Senators can get home. The airlines do make special accommodations for members of Congress.

Like so many, I'm scratching my head over Obama's assertion to the Washington Post that he didn't campaign on a public option. He did. And, he told us for the past eleven months how important it was for reform. We'll have more on this, but suffice it to say that it's disconcerting.

The federal government here in DC is fully operational today for the first time since the blizzard. The area is slowly getting back to normal. But, let's just say, no one around here is going to win any awards for snow removal.

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China slammed again for Copenhagen failure

China had been receiving relatively good global press for a while thanks to their increasingly deep business ties to the West. Now that Bush is gone, the world may be looking for a scapegoat for problems. It's not that China doesn't deserve its fair share of blame but their climate change obstructionism (and human rights abuses) is making it easier for critics. As China moves into a more important role, the leadership is going to need to make changes in how it runs its PR. Transforming itself into where it is today was impressive but with a bigger spotlight on their actions, they're going to need to evolve. Welcome to the big stage of global politics.

Here's what actually went on late last Friday night, as heads of state from two dozen countries met behind closed doors. Obama was at the table for several hours, sitting between Gordon Brown and the Ethiopian prime minister, Meles Zenawi. The Danish prime minister chaired, and on his right sat Ban Ki-moon, secretary-general of the UN. Probably only about 50 or 60 people, including the heads of state, were in the room. I was attached to one of the delegations, whose head of state was also present for most of the time.

What I saw was profoundly shocking. The Chinese premier, Wen Jinbao, did not deign to attend the meetings personally, instead sending a second-tier official in the country's foreign ministry to sit opposite Obama himself. The diplomatic snub was obvious and brutal, as was the practical implication: several times during the session, the world's most powerful heads of state were forced to wait around as the Chinese delegate went off to make telephone calls to his "superiors".

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UK recession continues, bleak outlook for 2010

Whether similar challenges in 2010 will also hit the US is a hot topic of debate. Certainly in Europe the concern is growing that the modest growth could hit another wall and many countries could fall back into recession. Either way, the UK situation continues to be quite bad. The reliance on the financial industry to generate business by the Blair team has turned out to be a major failure. Digging out of the hole created by bankers is going to take a long time. The Guardian:

Terry Smith, chief executive of money brokers Tullett Prebon, said: "We will have a crisis of confidence in the credit worth of the UK. People won't be willing to buy gilts at anything like the current interest rate, or even possibly in this currency and we'll have an interest rate hike and/or a good, old-fashioned sterling crisis. Possibly both."

Smith's comments on Sky News came just hours after ratings agency Fitch said that the UK – along with France and Spain – needed to "articulate more credible and stronger fiscal consolidation during the course of 2010 to underpin confidence in the sustainability of public finances".

Failure to do so, the ratings agency added, would greatly increase the chances of a debt downgrade, which would increase the cost of servicing the national debt.

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