lieberman has always been a fiscal conservative, and didn't come out against obamacare until reid and pelosi REINTRODUCED the budget busting public option.

oh, and reid and pelosi also tried to sneak through a $247 billion unfunded gift to doctors, to make up for the income hits doctors would take under obamacare - with no way to pay for the $247 billion. THAT budget busting bill has been shelved for the moment, but the discredited and won't die public option is back on the table.

this isn't about kissing ass with republicans - its about fiscal rectitude, which lieberman has always stood for.

CBO finds Dem bill with public option reduces deficit From Deirdre Walsh
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A preliminary estimate from the Congressional Budget Office projects that the House Democrats' health care plan that includes a public option would cost $871 billion over 10 years, according to two Democratic sources.

CBO also found that the Democrats' bill reduces the deficit in the first 10 years.

This new CBO estimate, which aides caution is not final, is significantly less than the $1.1 trillion price tag of the original House bill that passed out of three committees this summer. More importantly, it comes under the $900 billion cap set by President Obama in his joint address to Congress last month.

CBO analyzed what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calls a "more robust" public option -- one that ties reimbursement rates for doctors to current Medicare rates, plus a 5 percent increase.

At a meeting with House Democrats on Tuesday night, Pelosi did not release CBO's preliminary numbers, but told members that CBO told leaders the House bill would cost well below $900 billion. Aides say final CBO numbers could be released on Wednesday.

Senior Democratic aides told CNN that House Democratic leaders are likely to put this version of the public option favored by liberal Democrats in the final bill they are drafting. While no final decision has been made, on Tuesday night Speaker Pelosi made the case to House Democrats that this approach saves the most money and would put the House in a better negotiating position when it comes time to negotiate a final health care bill with the Senate.

Pelosi instructed House Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn, D-South Carolina, to begin canvassing all House Democrats on Wednesday to determine whether this bill had enough votes to pass in the House. According to several sources in the meeting, Pelosi acknowledged she did not currently have the 218 votes needed to pass this version on the House floor, but believed she was close to having around 200 votes.

Moderate, "blue dog" Democrats in the House largely oppose the robust public option and instead argue for a government run insurance option that could negotiate reimbursement rates directly with doctors and hospitals. CBO's analysis of that approach was not available according to Democratic sources, but aides say the preliminary analysis shows it does not save as much as the approach pushed by Pelosi.

That label is miss used. We are getting the full effect of "GOP Fiscal Conservatives" NOW!

30 years of not slowing the national debt, Not having the balls to balance the budget.

Reagan nor any GOP president ever proposed a legitimate cost saving measure. He did ask for more expensive toys. the label borrow and spend belongs to th GOP.

No GOP member has voted for real concrete economic measures.

"oh, and reid and pelosi also tried to sneak through a $247 billion unfunded gift to doctors, to make up for the income hits doctors would take under obamacare"

I hadn't heard that the doctors were getting a "gift". I'm curious to see exactly what that means.

DvB

The public option reduces the overall cost of the package, due to driving down costs. The CBO agrees.

This has not a damn thing to do with fiscal conservatism. Deficit hawks should either favor a public option, or oppose the whole package. The charitable view is that it's a stand on libertarian principle. The less charitable view is that it's quid pro quo for campaign funds from the insurance industry.

But how do you deny benefits to needy foreign kids who don't speak english? It's much easier to oppose expanding the role of a government that hasn't done a damn thing right ouside of what's enumerated in the constitution.

tonydavisnelson:

But how do you deny benefits to needy foreign kids who don't speak english? It's much easier to oppose expanding the role of a government that hasn't done a damn thing right ouside of what's enumerated in the constitution.

I hope we're not about to see the "English only" screaming point introduced into healthcare debates. If Republicans were to try that it would be wrong and illegal. Illegal, because Ronald Reagan signed into law the requirement that no person presenting at a hospital emergency facility can be denied treatment. It's the law.

Now, hospital emergency facilities are probably the least efficient, most expensive way to treat most medical needs. But they are, nevertheless, the primary treatment media for many poor Americans -- and, yes, for many illegal immigrants, too. It's the law.

Should Republicans seek to introduce some sort of "English Only" provision, it would at least have the good effect of further reducing their influence in American political discourse.

English only would be a bad idea. However, a valid photo ID that proves citizenship for any adult to use any public dollars on non-emergent care seems perfectly reasonable.

Youwantmymoneywhy:

English only would be a bad idea. However, a valid photo ID that proves citizenship for any adult to use any public dollars on non-emergent care seems perfectly reasonable.

A sort of "national ID card"???

I would LOVE to see GOP politicians trying to sell their teabaggers on that one!

Well, I think the current idea is to have uniform driver's license standards (and state ID for those who don't/can't drive) accross the nation by 2012 or something like that. Simply make one of those two documents a pre-req for use of any government funded insurance programs.

Belive the Democrats keep voting any kind of proof of identity clause down-hence the "you lie" comment by the knuckhead from SC. He was wrong technically, as the plan doesn't specifically provide for illegals, but it also seems to do nothing to screen them out that any 12 year old couldn't bypass.

"RealId" is failing.

So what if unauthorized residents can get healthcare? It still REDUCES costs

you can obtain a drivers license without proof of identification. just pass the test and you get one. oh . . . and the test is bilingual.

this is because LEGAL hispanics are pressuring their elected officials and bureaucrats on behalf of their ILLEGAL relatives - those illegal aliens need drivers licenses to get to their jobs and raise the entire household's income and living standard.

i'd probably do the same (if i were a relative of an illegal alien) but it doesn't make it right.

the first time someone sets off a car bomb, and has one of those "no ID required" licenses, there's going to be hell to pay, politically.

No its the Insurance Cos that are applying the pressure. If unauthorized residents can't get a DL, then they cannot get insurance. That means skyrocketing "uninsured driver" payouts that can't be offset on the "at fault" driver's insurance".

Making sure everyone has a DL means you can enforce the Mandatory Insurance clause.

the first time someone sets off a car bomb, and has one of those "no ID required" licenses, there's going to be hell to pay, politically.

I see. so someone setting off a truck bomb is MORE lilkely to use a real DL to rent the truck than a fake one - just like Timothy McVeigh did ...uhuh. sure that makes sense.

It's hard to imagine some sort of credential that couldn't be faked well enough to fool a car rental office. It's even harder to imagine how a really secure drivers license could prevent a mcVeigh-style carbomb. Jeeze! it's easy enough to just STEAL a van for that purpose.

EbenCooke:

It's hard to imagine some sort of credential that couldn't be faked well enough to fool a car rental office. It's even harder to imagine how a really secure drivers license could prevent a mcVeigh-style carbomb. Jeeze! it's easy enough to just STEAL a van for that purpose.

'Zactly