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The Senate Finance Committee has approved a health care reform proposal that has the support of Democrats and Republicans.
Sen. Olympia Snowe, a Republican from Maine, joined with Democrats on the Finance Committee in voting for the measure.
The passage of the measure was a hot topic in the Triangle, including on local radio talk shows like WPTF’s Bill LuMaye program.
A sampling of callers included these comments:
A man identifying himself as Josh from Wake Forest said, “Olympia Snowe has dug her own grave and should be ousted.”
Another caller named Ken from Raleigh complained, “The Baucus bill has $404 billion in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.”
A man claiming to be a Conservative Democrat from Sanford named Dave said, “Any Democrat that voted for the bill or is going to vote for it needs to be fired.”
“This is actually bigger than the immigration issue which I thought was the biggest issue ever on talk radio,” said LuMaye. “This blows immigration out of the water.”
The same emotions that marked the health care town hall meetings this past August were heard by LuMaye Tuesday afternoon.
“It’s amazing the passion you’ll get it from both sides on the issue,” he said.
Across town at Southeast Raleigh High School, parents lining up to get flu vaccines for their kids had lots to say about the Senate vote.
“I’m a little upset about the no public option they are putting in there,’’ said Shara Settle of Raleigh who is concerned about the way the bill is shaping up. “I think the public option’s very important.”
Another parent also complained about the Baucus version of bill.
“I wish there was more; especially the government part of the plan,” said George Olmoz.
As the debate rages, some believe the bill President Barack Obama signs will have to satisfy more people than the current measure.
We need more compromise,” said Dr. Atul Goel, who favors health care reform. “Let’s come up with something because I believe at the end of the day this country is ready for some sort of reform even if this is just a first step.”
There are currently five different versions of the health care bill sitting in both the House and Senate. And politicians say it will take weeks to merge them into one measure.
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By Nunyabiz on 10/14 07:44 PM
yeah sure you do, friends and family in Canada Germany and the UK eh? your lying and not worth responding to. For every nitwit you could possibly come up with that doesn't like universal health care I can come up with 1000 that do. It works perfectly.
By Robert Dobbs on 10/14 07:11 PM
Nunyabiz, you're a freaking moron! Do you have any statistics to back up the claim that "universal health care works perfectly in every country that uses it"? Just askin', cause I have family in Canada and lots of friends in Germany and England who would say that this statement is a crock of crap. Just ask them how long they wait to see a doctor, and by the way, the "Cadillac" health care you get in the US just doesn't exist there. They have SOOOO much stuff that isn't covered under their "universal" health care. Case in point, my aunt had cancer in Canada...since she was over 65, they wished her well, gave her as much pain medication as she wanted, and refused to treat the cancer. They did generously allow her to travel to the US to say goodbye to family members, but she couldn't be gone for more than 2 months or her coverage for pain meds would have ceased! Seriously, if you're getting the same coverage as those in Congress for $100 per month, more power to you! But you really have to be pretty stupid to believe that there's not additional cost related to those benefits. Somebody is paying for that. The current bill in committee would drive up the national debt by nearly $1 TRILLION. And that STILL doesn't cover that many additional people (of the 40 million uninsured...no wait, maybe it is 30 million...no, wait...14 million...PLEASE SOMEBODY tell us what the real number is and STOP inflating it!) You know, even if we get the public option, how do you expect to see a doctor? You do realize that we're already 44,000 primary care physicians short right now even without this healthcare bill, right? You do know that Massachusetts enacted "universal" health care over a year ago, and it is already falling into disarray, right? No? Well, MA has already decided that they won't cover foreigners here legally (that's right, foreign citizens PAYING US TAXES because they're greencard or visa holders). If that's not enough, an acquaintance of mine is the CEO of a major multispeciality group near Boston (over 100 docs), and HE had to wait 6 months to get an appointment. For every moron out there who really thinks this healthcare bill will really help you and not raise taxes to infinity and beyond, I HOPE YOU GET WHAT YOU'RE ASKING FOR!
By Nunyabiz on 10/14 06:31 AM
This bill had to be voted on in order to get it out of the way, they have already wasted something like 4-5 months on this piece of trash bill. The other 4 bills waiting to be voted on are the only ones worth a damn. this bill was written specifically the way it was in order to give republicans and insurance companies fodder to put out lying commercials in order to try and kill real health care reform. Contrary to what a few nutty "conservative democrat voters" (read: republicrat) have said it is exactly the opposite as far as anyone claiming to be a democrat that wants to be re-elected. Any blue dawg nut bag that votes against the public option will be voted OUT of office asap. This bill was worthless and it was written to be worthless which is the ONLY reason Snowe voted for it. It is hard to believe that so many Americans have been fooled by Insurance company money to vote/argue/scream against their own best interest and actually fight FOR the big insurance companies so they can keep on over charging, making 100s of billions in pure profit off of the backs of every American. We are the ONLY non 3rd world country on the planet to not have universal health care for all its citizens, we are a laughing stock. What is really needed is Universal health care for all (Medicare for all). It works perfectly in every country that uses it. BTW my wife & I have the best health care you can get in this country, we have exactly what every member of congress has and we only pay about $100 each for full coverage including vision and dental. We have the only "Public Option" available in this country. Shame the rest of you don't think you deserve what my wife & I have.
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