And it’ll achieve 94% coverage.
And it costs $849B.
CNN has more about some of the key points in the new bill…
Among other things, they’ve agreed to subsidize insurance for a family of four making up to roughly $88,000 annually, or 400 percent of the federal poverty level.
They’ve also agreed to expand Medicaid and create health insurance [...]

I found the following numbers from Gallup about government’s role in health care to be, well, eye opening.
Check it out…

Hmmm, what happened in 2008…I can’t really think of anything.
Republicans can not like Obama all the want, but this smacks of “Soreloserism.”
Why, just look at how this drop has effected the overall opinion on this topic…

So [...]

Gallup is out with a poll that suggests more problems for the Dems and a 10 point shift in voter preference since July.
First, the numbers…

The bigger news here? Independents are swinging wildly in favor of the generic Republicans.

There’s about a year to go before the 2010 elections, but this shift does not bode well for [...]

It bugs me when either party peddles a false meme before a certain event, as was the case last night with the “GOP is making a comeback if we win anything” talking points.
And yet today the media is grabbing it hook, line and sinker.
But why?
Let’s look at the facts…
Republicans won the gubernatorial races in Virginia [...]

Ahh, I “love” the political critters in the House. Why?
Just watch…

Here’s the thing, the reason these folks can get away with nonsense like this is because congressional districts have been so gerrymandered as to be almost completely red or blue. And given that Rep. Foxx is from North Carolina’s 5th district (very safely Republican) [...]

Well, at least the opt out version.
Here’s Joe…
“We’re trying to do too much at once,” Lieberman said. “To put this government-created insurance company on top of everything else is just asking for trouble for the taxpayers, for the premium payers and for the national debt. I don’t think we need it now.”
And guess what? They [...]

Despite the election of Barack Obama and the continuing misfortunes of the GOP, the United States is still a center-right country:
PRINCETON, NJ — Conservatives continue to outnumber moderates and liberals in the American populace in 2009, confirming a finding that Gallup first noted in June. Forty percent of Americans describe their political views as conservative, [...]

I suppose it’s possible, but more and more evidence is pointing to the contrary.
Here’s some telling info from a Washington Post/ABC News poll out yesterday…
Poll respondents are evenly divided when asked whether they have confidence in Obama to make the right decisions for the country’s future, but just 19 percent express confidence in the Republicans [...]

Yep. That’s right. A group of economic forecasters are projecting that we’ll see growth in the next quarter, so the recession is technically over. And hey, we can all be thankful for that.
However, the pain will linger for years to come.
The problem is that all of the lagging indicators of true economic health (rising employment, [...]

Regardless of what you think about the current health care legislation being debated on Capitol Hill, being able to read it before it goes to the floor for a vote is the right thing to do and I’m glad to see a Senator from Missouri calling for it.
But will the Dems listen?
From Politico:
As the health [...]

Gallup has some numbers that might surprise.
Basically, the folks who decide the elections (the indys) are starting to consider the Republicans more and Dems better pay attention. Because the only reason they made such historic gains in 2006 is because the DNC targeted districts that wanted more moderate leadership and took seats from the GOP.
More [...]

Numbers just came out today and in July the number was 247,000. This is obviously disappointing because the numbers had been consistently dropping since the beginning of the year and this uptick was not expected.
More from Reuters:
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected non-farm payrolls to drop 180,000 in September and the unemployment rate to rise [...]

Stepping out of the shadows and into the spotlight today is Dem Senator Tom Carper from Delaware. He’s offering a third way on health care that could garner enough bipartisan support to pass.
Essentially, it gives states the option to choose between private co-ops or a public option. Pretty easy.
Here’s more…
Carper wants to allow states to [...]

First Drudge tried to make it seem like Obama is forcing a news station to not report a story about people who don’t want the Olympics to come to the Chicago…
…and now John Boehner jumps on the pile…
House Minority Leader John Boehner torched President Barack Obama Wednesday for his European trip to pitch the Chicago [...]

I’m starting to notice some poll numbers that suggest an interesting trend. Basically, Americans aren’t necessarily happy with Obama’s health care plans, but they trust Republicans a LOT less.
Take a recent CBS/NY Times poll as an example:

52% of Americans trust Obama to make the right decisions for health, while only 27% feel Republicans are more [...]

It’s pretty easy…the only people that voters like less than Congressional Democrats and Congressional Republicans.
Add in the facts that Republicans have no coherent plan, no definitive leadership and are allowing right wing pundits to organize and promote this Tea Party movement and you have a reality where Dems might actually pick up seats next year.
Personally [...]

I write one, Jason writes one, I write another, and Jason writes another.
And so I write this…

“We finally have a bipartisan health-care bill, the Baucus bill–both sides hate it equally.”
- Huckabee talking to Values Voters conference (via @thenote)
I think he meant it as a slight, but when neither side is getting what they want…that’s a pretty good sign to me that you’ve found something that both sides should be agreeing on.
We [...]

This is partially in response to Jason’s post over at Poligazette that the Baucus bill doesn’t represent bipartisan compromise and the lion’s share of blame shouldn’t fall on Republicans to accept it. In fact, he states that the tenor of this debate (which he claims liberals are equally responsible for) is the real reason why [...]

The bill that Baucus passed today didn’t have a public option in it. Let me repeat that…Baucus’ bill had NO PUBLIC OPTION in it.
Yes, there are decentralized not-for-profit co-ops, but that’s definitely not a public option as had been proposed.
Here’s more about what’s in the bill, from Politico:
The bill requires individuals to buy insurance, or [...]