Thursday, July 30, 2009
Congress / Woods Cooper: the Scrooge of the Health Care Debate
Posted by Jeff Woods on Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 7:02 AM
"It's a lot easier to be Santa than Scrooge," harrumphs Jim Cooper. The congressman from Tennessee is complaining about the health-reform plan unveiled in July by the Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives. He thinks it is a populist initiative that will end up fueling rather than curbing America's runaway health inflation. Such tough talk would not be in the least surprising coming from the opposition party; but Mr Cooper is a Democrat. And he insists that reform efforts have gone so badly wrong that it is time to "go back to the drawing board."According to the Economist, Cooper and the House Blue Dogs and Max Baucus' Gang of Six in the Senate are the level-headed ones in this debate, pushing for much-needed cost reforms like the creation of an Independent Medicare Advisory Council to take decisions about that program out of petty politics. With the good comes bad for Cooper. He's also featured prominently in that report we mentioned yesterday from the Center for Responsive Politics titled "Blue Dog Bark Backed by Insurers." The typical Blue Dog has received $10,300 more from insurers than the typical non-Blue Dog Democrat in the House (including health and accident insurers, HMOs and other health services) and only $3,625 less than the typical House Republican. According to the report, Cooper has taken $921,670 from the health sector in the last twenty years, including $153,175 from health insurance concerns and $104,650 from pharmaceuticals companies. Is it any coincidence that Blue Dogs argue the public health insurance option should be created only if market reforms and competition don't lower costs on their own? The Blue Dogs just cut a deal in the House to relieve more small businesses from the employer mandate. But if small businesses don't have to offer insurance and there's no public option, won't that leave a lot of people without coverage?
Comments (7)
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The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan. (Vom Kriege, 1832)
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And he insists that reform efforts have gone so badly wrong that it is time to "go back to the drawing board."
Cooper sure loves that drawing board.
Coop time to poop or get off the pot.
After whining about being out of power since 1994, my Democratic party now looks like it doesn't know what to do with power.
There was never any chance a Republican Congressional majority was going to enact meaningful health care reform. (Think Marsha Blackburn) Fixing our broken system was always going to be the responsibility of the same party that crafted Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid. The past shows us that the proper conditions to enact such historic changes don't come along very often, so you have to be prepared to seize the initiative when you can.
If this chance passes us by (and it very well might) it will be the fault of people like Jim Cooper, who failed to grasp the opportunity when they have the power to make that opportunity a reality.
If this chance passes us by (and it very well might) it will be the fault of people like Jim Cooper, who failed to grasp the opportunity when they have the power to make that opportunity a reality.
But Jim Cooper and his family won't ever have to worry about losing their healthcare.
Andy,
"But Jim Cooper and his family won't ever have to worry about losing their healthcare."
So then you would agree with me that it is no surprise that Ted Kennedy always favors higher taxes for all Americans because he is so rich that higher taxes don't impact him?
Similarly you agree that the left wing in Congress is so happy to regulate businesses because few of them have any experience in the private sector?
how about this idea...save the money from your daily latte and buy your OWN insurance. I did! And not from some fly by night operation. Its from Blue Cross Blue Shield of TN. Pretty freakin reasonable.
Good luck with that, Mr. Anonymous.
Have you had to really use your BC/BS yet? I have a friend who developed prostate cancer and BC/BS paid for the treatment. Afterwards, they discovered that 10 years earlier he had a test that showed a spike in his PSA, an indicator that he might be at risk for prostate cancer in the future. BC/BS, however, claimed this was proof of a pre-existing condition and took back their payment. At age 60, my friend had to mortgage his home in order to pay the medical bills.
You're only covered if their team can not find any reason to deny you.
