Those trying to reform Health Insurance in good faith need to remind Bart Stupak that he controls around ten or twelve votes and not forty to sixty like his imagination tells him. The deal was this: Bart gets his up or down vote on Stupak -Pitts, after that the deal has been completed. Stupak-Pitts:

NARAL Pro-Choice America criticized the amendment, stating it could mean that people whose health insurance currently covers abortions will lose that service. Those who voted against the amendment argued that since premiums of private individuals would pay for the abortions, they are distinguished from situations covered by the Hyde Amendment.

The Republican National Commitee:

The RNC's health insurance plan "covers elective abortion -- a procedure the party's own platform calls 'a fundamental assault on innocent human life,'" reports Politico.

FEC records "show the RNC purchases its insurance from Cigna. Two sales agents for the company said that the RNC's policy covers elective abortion."

A little hypocritical. I'm beginning to wonder if the GOP sharps really care about abortion or is it more of a political carrot on a stick which they never intend to resolve. The last fifteen years in the House and eight years in the Executive makes me wonder.

The voice of the poor, working, single woman in this country has been severely mitigated due to dismissal of their interests as "feminist" with the under current fear that the real majority in this nation, Women, will vote like a majority. Why are we asking the base of our party, women, to choose between health reform and equal access under the law to safe legal abortions in the first tri-mester, or at least let them get what the RNC has? I guess it doesn't effect the men so who cares, right? Men negotiating away the rights of women who are the real majority? Women need to become the majority of Likely Voters not just the largest by-standers in the history of democracy who had all the power, but never uesed it to protect their interests. It's an auto-apartheid.

This is a health bill, not an abortion bill. We need to stop negotianting away our beliefs to no benefit. The GOP gave Democrats how much credit for passage of Stupak-Pitts? How about the Evangelicals? It pleased nobody, and pissed off the people we're trying to protect.

Draft language for the 2008 Democratic Party platform on abortion:

The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v Wade and a woman's right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and we oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right.

Except when Bart Stupak decides otherwise. I think the tracks are laid, and we will soon see how we plan to pass our major domestic policy proposal while maintaining an iota of respect for the women who sent the Democrats and Obama into office.

Abortions are an unintended reality of life and we found out the hard way that prohibition of this as a legal surgical proceedure in the first trimester causes poor women to get maimed in back alley's and attend black market abortions that kill women. Wealthy women just fly to the next state, or the next country, or offshore to a boat like in Ireland. I hope that most pregnant women who can't support their pregnancy talk to their doctor and whomever they trust to determine for themselves what is right and wrong. We need to stop stigmitizing the law as insured by of Roe v. Wade. Science doesn't believe that a soul enters the body, if you believe it does, then do what you believe, but this nation doesn't operate when other people try to force beliefs on people of a theological nature. It just drives the behaviour you dislike underground, where the unintended consequences are made worse and the confluence of influences exasberates the orbiting problems.

I prefer that we create a society that deals in honesty with facts, where there are less unintended pregnancies and more pre-natal, and post-natal care for Mother's, that what this bill will unsure that for millions of women by providing access to insurance for the working poor, most of whom are working, single, mothers. Better schools, more oppurtunities for higher education, better self-esteem this liberates girls and women from denail of choices, and always lifts every society. Develop and support our women and they will develop and support our nation exponentially.

Political Wire: Obama's best speech ever. It was one of those speeches that makes you especially proud to be an American.

Marc Ambinder: "I guarantee: they'll be teaching this one in rhetoric classes. It was that good. My gloss won't do it justice. Yes, I'm having a Chris Matthews-chill-running-up-my-leg moment, but sometimes, the man, the moment and the words come together and meet the challenge. Obama had to lead a nation's grieving; he had to try and address the thorny issues of Islam and terrorism; to be firm; to express the spirit of America, using familiar, comforting tropes in a way that didn't sound trite."

Chuck Todd: "That's going to be a speech that's remembered and quoted from for quite some time; struck a balance of commander and consoler; not easy."

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Text of President Obama's Remarks at Ft. Hood November 10, 2009

We come together filled with sorrow for the thirteen Americans that we have lost; with gratitude for the lives that they led; and with a determination to honor them through the work we carry on.

This is a time of war. And yet these Americans did not die on a foreign field of battle. They were killed here, on American soil, in the heart of this great American community. It is this fact that makes the tragedy even more painful and even more incomprehensible.

For those families who have lost a loved one, no words can fill the void that has been left. We knew these men and women as soldiers and caregivers. You knew them as mothers and fathers; sons and daughters; sisters and brothers.

But here is what you must also know: your loved ones endure through the life of our nation. Their memory will be honored in the places they lived and by the people they touched. Their life's work is our security, and the freedom that we too often take for granted. Every evening that the sun sets on a tranquil town; every dawn that a flag is unfurled; every moment that an American enjoys life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - that is their legacy.

Neither this country - nor the values that we were founded upon - could exist without men and women like these thirteen Americans. And that is why we must pay tribute to their stories.

Chief Warrant Officer Michael Cahill had served in the National Guard and worked as a physician's assistant for decades. A husband and father of three, he was so committed to his patients that on the day he died, he was back at work just weeks after having a heart attack.

Major Libardo Eduardo Caraveo spoke little English when he came to America as a teenager. But he put himself through college, earned a PhD, and was helping combat units cope with the stress of deployment. He is survived by his wife, sons and step-daughters.

Staff Sergeant Justin DeCrow joined the Army right after high school, married his high school sweetheart, and had served as a light wheeled mechanic and Satellite Communications Operator. He was known as an optimist, a mentor, and a loving husband and father.

After retiring from the Army as a Major, John Gaffaney cared for society's most vulnerable during two decades as a psychiatric nurse. He spent three years trying to return to active duty in this time of war, and he was preparing to deploy to Iraq as a Captain. He leaves behind a wife and son.

Specialist Frederick Greene was a Tennessean who wanted to join the Army for a long time, and did so in 2008 with the support of his family. As a combat engineer he was a natural leader, and he is survived by his wife and two daughters.

Specialist Jason Hunt was also recently married, with three children to care for. He joined the Army after high school. He did a tour in Iraq, and it was there that he re-enlisted for six more years on his 21st birthday so that he could continue to serve.

Staff Sergeant Amy Krueger was an athlete in high school, joined the Army shortly after 9/11, and had since returned home to speak to students about her experience. When her mother told her she couldn't take on Osama bin Laden by herself, Amy replied: "Watch me."

Private First Class Aaron Nemelka was an Eagle Scout who just recently signed up to do one of the most dangerous jobs in the service - diffuse bombs - so that he could help save lives. He was proudly carrying on a tradition of military service that runs deep within his family.

Private First Class Michael Pearson loved his family and loved his music, and his goal was to be a music teacher. He excelled at playing the guitar, and could create songs on the spot and show others how to play. He joined the military a year ago, and was preparing for his first deployment.

Captain Russell Seager worked as a nurse for the VA, helping veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress. He had great respect for the military, and signed up to serve so that he could help soldiers cope with the stress of combat and return to civilian life. He leaves behind a wife and son.

Private Francheska Velez, the daughter of a father from Colombia and a Puerto Rican mother, had recently served in Korea and in Iraq, and was pursuing a career in the Army. When she was killed, she was pregnant with her first child, and was excited about becoming a mother.

Lieutenant Colonel Juanita Warman was the daughter and granddaughter of Army veterans. She was a single mother who put herself through college and graduate school, and served as a nurse practitioner while raising her two daughters. She also left behind a loving husband.

Private First Class Kham Xiong came to America from Thailand as a small child. He was a husband and father who followed his brother into the military because his family had a strong history of service. He was preparing for his first deployment to Afghanistan.

These men and women came from all parts of the country. Some had long careers in the military. Some had signed up to serve in the shadow of 9/11. Some had known intense combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, and some cared for those did. Their lives speak to the strength, the dignity and the decency of those who serve, and that is how they will be remembered.

That same spirit is embodied in the community here at Fort Hood, and in the many wounded who are still recovering. In those terrible minutes during the attack, soldiers made makeshift tourniquets out of their clothes. They braved gunfire to reach the wounded, and ferried them to safety in the backs of cars and a pick-up truck.

One young soldier, Amber Bahr, was so intent on helping others that she did not realize for some time that she, herself, had been shot in the back. Two police officers - Mark Todd and Kim Munley - saved countless lives by risking their own. One medic - Francisco de la Serna - treated both Officer Munley and the gunman who shot her.

It may be hard to comprehend the twisted logic that led to this tragedy. But this much we do know - no faith justifies these murderous and craven acts; no just and loving God looks upon them with favor. And for what he has done, we know that the killer will be met with justice - in this world, and the next.

These are trying times for our country. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, the same extremists who killed nearly 3,000 Americans continue to endanger America, our allies, and innocent Afghans and Pakistanis. In Iraq, we are working to bring a war to a successful end, as there are still those who would deny the Iraqi people the future that Americans and Iraqis have sacrificed so much for.

As we face these challenges, the stories of those at Fort Hood reaffirm the core values that we are fighting for, and the strength that we must draw upon. Theirs are tales of American men and women answering an extraordinary call - the call to serve their comrades, their communities, and their country. In an age of selfishness, they embody responsibility. In an era of division, they call upon us to come together. In a time of cynicism, they remind us of who we are as Americans.

We are a nation that endures because of the courage of those who defend it. We saw that valor in those who braved bullets here at Fort Hood, just as surely as we see it in those who signed up knowing that they would serve in harm's way.

We are a nation of laws whose commitment to justice is so enduring that we would treat a gunman and give him due process, just as surely as we will see that he pays for his crimes.

We are a nation that guarantees the freedom to worship as one chooses. And instead of claiming God for our side, we remember Lincoln's words, and always pray to be on the side of God.

We are a nation that is dedicated to the proposition that all men and women are created equal. We live that truth within our military, and see it in the varied backgrounds of those we lay to rest today. We defend that truth at home and abroad, and we know that Americans will always be found on the side of liberty and equality. That is who we are as a people.

Tomorrow is Veterans Day. It is a chance to pause, and to pay tribute - for students to learn of the struggles that preceded them; for families to honor the service of parents and grandparents; for citizens to reflect upon the sacrifices that have been made in pursuit of a more perfect union.

For history is filled with heroes. You may remember the stories of a grandfather who marched across Europe; an uncle who fought in Vietnam; a sister who served in the Gulf. But as we honor the many generations who have served, I think all of us - every single American - must acknowledge that this generation has more than proved itself the equal of those who have come before.

We need not look to the past for greatness, because it is before our very eyes.

This generation of soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen have volunteered in a time of certain danger. They are part of the finest fighting force that the world has ever known. They have served tour after tour of duty in distant, different and difficult places. They have stood watch in blinding deserts and on snowy mountains. They have extended the opportunity of self-government to peoples that have suffered tyranny and war. They are man and woman; white, black, and brown; of all faiths and stations - all Americans, serving together to protect our people, while giving others half a world away the chance to lead a better life.

In today's wars, there is not always a simple ceremony that signals our troops' success - no surrender papers to be signed, or capital to be claimed. But the measure of their impact is no less great - in a world of threats that no know borders, it will be marked in the safety of our cities and towns, and the security and opportunity that is extended abroad. And it will serve as testimony to the character of those who serve, and the example that you set for America and for the world.

Here, at Fort Hood, we pay tribute to thirteen men and women who were not able to escape the horror of war, even in the comfort of home. Later today, at Fort Lewis, one community will gather to remember so many in one Stryker Brigade who have fallen in Afghanistan.

Long after they are laid to rest - when the fighting has finished, and our nation has endured; when today's servicemen and women are veterans, and their children have grown - it will be said of this generation that they believed under the most trying of tests; that they persevered not just when it was easy, but when it was hard; and that they paid the price and bore the burden to secure this nation, and stood up for the values that live in the hearts of all free peoples.

So we say goodbye to those who now belong to eternity. We press ahead in pursuit of the peace that guided their service. May God bless the memory of those we lost. And may God bless the United States of America.

I don't know of any way to help more Americans in a meaningful way all at once, then passing Health Reform this year. It will be one of the best things, smartest things, good things we the people could ever accomplish.





With all of these undecideds, (23% GOP, 33% Independents, 37% Dems!!), whom many are persuadable it's in the Administration's interests to have The President, the First Lady, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Howard Dean, (yes because the base cares about him for good reason, as chairman of the party he helped engineer our current legislative majorities), all and and every "celebrity" in the party whom the people trust speaking at targeted groups that respect their opinions, it's time to put up or shut up. The party will sink or swim based on their capacity to deliver on their promises, and we literal must reform the health insurance system or this country will go even more broke then it already is. Obama and all the Democrats, are all in this together, like it or not, so they better bring it home. That means communicating how these reforms will improve people's lives by providing health security and alleviation from the worry of not being able to get insurance and/or pay your bills.

With 27% of the country under employed or unemployed, most unable to pay COBRA, they are one accident or other health emergency away from the poor house. If the Democrats can't deliver on this fifty-four year promise then they might as well pack up and go home, because I and millions of others will find a new party. This isn't about being a fan of Democrats or Republicans like a fucking sporting event, winning elections, it's about delivering for the people who invested their trust and vote to us before they went back to work, 30 million of whom back to work with no health insurance if a drunk driver runs a red light and puts them in the hospital. Cancer doesn't care if you work hard and play by the rules. Nobody should needlessly suffer in 2009 in the United States. It's archaic, pathetic, immoral, corrupt, selfish, destabilizing, unnecessary, bad for the national security, sociopathic, and it needs to end this month. If we hold our equality as an obvious, inalienable truth, how can your pursue life, liberty, and happiness without health insurance? How can you pursue your dreams if there is no safety net to catch you win some drunk asshole runs a red light or you get a lump on breast? When we can prevent treatable conditions from compounding into a situations where a diabetic who has to have their limbs removed because they haven't seen a doctor in thirty years.

This bill incentivizes people to go into nursing or all the other careers in health care with grants and loan forgiveness, because with the baby boomers retiring we require more of all forms of health care workers. A national health system that's digital, with the best minds sharing information in the abstract to better treat people at the clinical level. We need to free up the Emergency rooms for emergencies and treat chronic illness at the doctor's office. Nobody should lose all their savings, their property, their pride, and go bankrupt because they became ill for no fault of their own. People who aren't sick need the security in the knowledge that if the worst does happen, that their insurance won't be pulled out from under them, or have to fight on the phone with Private Insurance Bureaucrats while they are dying. Our national health care system is as vital as our national highway system, or the military. The amount of lost time due to illness and injury costs US Businesses billions of dollars each year, a point the Chamber of Commerce should admit. When this bill becomes law, 95% of Small Business will be exempt, but if they can afford to offer health care, they now will be able to.

This post-conference bill won't please everyone, it could never possible accomplish that feat with all of the tuning to meet the demands of the members of Congress to make a majority. This is the classic impediment to progress, the fear of the unintended consequence and of change, but we are prescient of this and know that if this bill passes and fails to alleviate the problems of the American people we will have no one to blame but ourselves, and that's the way it should be. This fact should make the Conference Committee very aware of the need to make this bill quickly help as many people as possible as soon as possible.

Don't let Joe Lieberman or any other Senator on the for profit healthcare payroll take this away from you. Don't make the perfect the enemy of the good. This is as important as the Civl Rights Laws, Medicare, The Interstate Highway Commission, standing up to Big Tobacco or any other law/policy that the people have passed that has advanced this society and made this a better place. This is the most important bill that will ever come before Congress in your lifetime. This is about security for you and your family, the liberty to pursue your dreams more freely, this is about the justice of allowing 30 million Americans who work all day every day with no health insurance the reassurance that America is just, doesn't just care about rich people, and working people not only count, they make this society possible and should be honored. When society prevents 30 million working people from having health insurance they're telling them that they are worth less. It's time to redress the balance and besides this bill will improve the lives of the wealthiest American and the poorest American by turning down the stress level in society in ways we can't even see yet. These reforms must be the beginning and as we learn what works and what doesn't work we will continue to improve the law.

The Health Insurance Problem is a man made problem, and any man made problem has a man made solution. The impediments to progress always claim that unintended consequences outweigh the need to change, but when the problem worsens, and the tension builds, you can no longer contain the natural progression of society. You cannot control the river of progression as it's tied to demographic changes in America that for one allow a Constitutional Law Professor named Barack Hussein Obama to win North Carolina, Indiana, Oho, Virginia, and become President. You couldn't contain slavery forever. You couldn't contain Women's Suffrage forever, You couldn't contain segregation forever. You cannot contain injustice forever, we grown naturally out of malignant policy. The only variable is the rate of change. How fast do we go. That's up to the people, if the people want it, they always get it. But you have to demand it. Otherwise we are going to be in for a bad surprise, if you though W was bad imagine Huckabee or Palin taking charge of the agenda. Failing to deliver on these reforms will lead the American people to believe that we are to vain to work together, that the needs of the politicians to retain their positions is greater then their interests, and they won't vote at the rate we need them to vote to win even an election for Dog Catcher. You will such the hope right out of half the Democratic Electorate.

So Ben Nelson, Joe Lieberman, Mary Landrieu, Blanche Lincoln, Kent Conrad, Max Baucus, understand that if this bill fails, the Democrats fail, and you will fail. We're all in this together. If you do the right thing. You will be heroes forever.

The time for bullshitting and pussyfooting is over. Do the right thing for someone other then the wealthiest 5% for once in fifty years.

Real Unemployment is also considering those who ran out of unemployment insurance and workers who are underemployed below 40 hours/fulltime status, that number is around 27%. If the private sector is unable to employ the fruits of 100% America's GDP output aka near full employment, then the public needs to borrow from FDRs CCC, Tennessee Valley Authority, and other projects that defray the unintended consequences of idle hands and lack of income on society. Crime, not meeting education goals, and direct harm to Children. Because Mom and/or Dad is out of work. Lack of stability destroys families, and stability is dependable income which allows for planning and allows for the function of the family to continue undisturbed.

After the failure of Prohibition nobody is allowed to discuss the role of alcohol in obliterating people and families in America, especially when they are made vulnerable by medical, educational, or economic emergencies, but then I just did.

The Obama Administration and Congress needs to introduce another round of economic stimulation, because the first round stabilized the economy but the patient needs more inducement to remain stable and hopefully get up and walk around on it's own. The prevalence of middle men which didn't occur at the same rate in FDRs day makes it harder to be stimulative when the people bequeath money with no strings attached to giant corporations and then those entities either steal it or subcontract, and subcontract, and subcontract, and subcontract, and subcontract, until the money that was supposed to improve people's lives has been picked apart to the point where it loses it's power to change lives. If you don't believe me google "Katrina Contract Crimes", or "Military Industrial Complex." The root of the problem is campaign finance reform that de-leverages lobbyist's capacity to steal from the people via theft, kickbacks and "the old boy network(s)."

Time is of the essence.

As we progress here through the Congressional Calender we have a dearth of procedural motions that are left for the end of each year, then you're into campaign season. The Senate needs to complete Health Insurance Reform this Month. So as the first stimulation begins to flow next quarter and into subsequent quarters it can be followed with a continued flow of economic stimulation that produces jobs, jobs, and jobs.

Write Joe Lieberman, type written, print it out, buy a stamp, and Tell Joe that you want your Senator's to have the opportunity to vote up or down on Health Insurance Reform and you oppose his threat to filibuster a bill that includes a public option.


Joe Lieberman: (202) 224-4041
One Constitution Plaza
7th Floor
Hartford, CT 06103
(860) 549-8463,Voice (800) 225-5605 In CT

DC: 706 Hart Office Building Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-4041,Voice (202) 224-9750,Fax

It's now up to public sentiment and willpower to get these historic reform passed. An end to pre-existing conditions, an end to recession, an end to sneaky insurance company tricks, higher quality, and lower prices.