Scott Brown (R) Wins Massachusetts Senate Race

[Red1530]

This evening Scott Brown (R) defeated Martha Coakley (D) in a special election for the Senate Seat of the late Ted Kennedy by a 105,000 vote margin. This result will seriously damages the chances of passing health care reform.

 

[Mario The World Champion]

Obama's health care bill is now fully dead thanks to the guy with the pickup truck. I live in Massachusetts and I somehow feel we're going to get a lot of heat for this one. We Just gave Obama the big "F.U."

 

[Ayselipera]

I have a feeling FOX news is overly delighted that a usually Democratic State voted in a Republican Senator. I can't wait to hear about it for weeks. :<

 

[Mario The World Champion]

Maybe if Martha Coakley drove around all of Massachusetts in a pickup truck like Scott Brown did, this race would have been a lot closer than it was.

Looks like the late Ted Kennedy's dream of universal health care was denied by the guy with the pickup truck.

 

[icomeanon6]

If there's a lesson to be learned here for any of you who are budding to be politicians, it's that elections are won through hard work and character. I wouldn't say this election is as much a referendum on Obama's presidency or health care as it is an illustration of what happens when you run a lackadaisical, thoughtless campaign. I don't think anyone from either party could deny that Scott Brown ran a fantastic campaign and that Martha Coakley just didn't seem to care.

As an encouragement to all you Democrats out there, the health care bill is far from dead. The key is that bipartisan stuff the President was talking about before he jumped to the far left during his candidacy. The Democrats can still reform the health care system if they focus less on making names for themselves and pay more attention to developing a clean, honest bill that restricts corrupt insurance practices without crippling the economy. Everyone wants better health care, and the way to that is through smarter economic thinking and cooperation, not through political maneuvering and backdoor deal cutting.

 

[FreakyLocz14]

This is great news! The people are coming to regret their big mistake of 2008. I don't care what the Dems do with health care as long as there is no "public option" and no infringement on our personal rights like that law that forces people who don't qualify for existing public programs to buy health care.

 

[Ayselipera]

Maybe if Martha Coakley drove around all of Massachusetts in a pickup truck like Scott Brown did, this race would have been a lot closer than it was.

Looks like the late Ted Kennedy's dream of universal health care was denied by the guy with the pickup truck.

The whole pick up truck thing gets me so mad. I feel like he was trying to make himself look like just an average guy. Which contradicts the fact that his wife Gail Huff works for Channel 5 news and a rakes in a good salary.

 

[Mario The World Champion]

Right now, I don't see anything being passed on the health care front nor is there any new revelations in sight. Right now, the health insurance execs must be giddy with happiness since they can still rake in the billions off of Americans with their overpriced insurance plans.

That's why I don't want it.

 

[Aurafire]

Martha Coakley was up by 30% at one point last year and thought it would be a good idea to try to ride the advantage all the way till tonight. She alienated voters and didn't seem to care at all through the entire process. Democrats should look at this election as a big warning sign for what is to come in November. When you flat out ignore the voice of the people, they're going to turn against you.

 

[Wi-fi Battler]

The whole pick up truck thing gets me so mad. I feel like he was trying to make himself look like just an average guy. Which contradicts the fact that his wife Gail Huff works for Channel 5 news and a rakes in a good salary.

well who was it that commented on the truck that gave him that advantage?
*cough*Obama*cough

anyways i also had a feeling that, since Massachusetts already have health care for everyone, that they were going to want someone who is going to vote no on the health care bill because it is basically a tax increase for Massachusetts. i also think that this is going to be a giant warning sign for other Dem. senators. i mean that, Massachusetts, a state that was democratic ever sine john Kennedy became it's senator.

 

[Esper]

If Obama hadn't wasted time trying to get Republican senators to support him on health care (we all know they were never going to) we would probably already have a bill passed and this election wouldn't be so disproportionately important.

 

[FreakyLocz14]

Wasn't the health bill already passed on Christmas Eve anyway?

 

[Ivysaur]

My condolences.

Maybe next century you'll get another chance to reform your third world country health care system.

There are two bills now, one in the Senate and another one in the House of Representatives, so they need to make a single one and pass it again. Chances are it will be impossible now.

@icomeanon6: Far left? Don't come to Europe, the conservative parties here would qualify as "communist" in your book.

 

[Pokémon Ranger ✩ Moriarty]

My condolences.

Maybe next century you'll get another chance to reform your third world country health care system.

My thoughts exactly.

LOLZ HAVING POOR PEOPLE NOT DIE OF COMMON ILLNESSES IS LIEK SO COMMUNIST U GUIZ (except that...when are people going to figure out the Cold War ended in 1989?) Also, Freakylocz...you said in a previous thread (the Walmart BYOB one) that you live in an area so poor that the people around you can't afford to shell out 15c for a shopping bag. How the eff do you afford your healthcare, then? (Not trying to pick a fight, I am genuinely interested.)

Peh. But seriously, I am truly sorry for you guys. It costs my friend in California $340 per month for her anti-depressants. It costs me £7. And before I was 18, it cost me £0. :/

 

[ÇyänïdëÉX]

Hmmm all i gotta say is that since children cant play nicely then nothing will get done up in the white house. Its just going to be argument after argument of denial. I had some hopes for something different but its just not going to happen . heh pick up truck

 

[Netto Azure]

LOL

Obama's health care bill is now fully dead thanks to the guy with the pickup truck. I live in Massachusetts and I somehow feel we're going to get a lot of heat for this one. We Just gave Obama the big "F.U."

I understand your position, I do apologize for my former comments and the like.

Martha Coakley was up by 30% at one point last year and thought it would be a good idea to try to ride the advantage all the way till tonight. She alienated voters and didn't seem to care at all through the entire process. Democrats should look at this election as a big warning sign for what is to come in November. When you flat out ignore the voice of the people, they're going to turn against you.

Ok, here's a food for thought Aura. ^_^

Let's just say that Obama's plan to actually "pivot" to the economy this year (As was the plan after Healthcare) what can the government do besides pass another stimulus (or whatever they want to call it this time)

Unless someone can magically make ANOTHER bubble to invest in consumer consumption will never (and shouldn't) go back to our free wheeling credit based, cheap money, obsessed buying spree.

To be frank even IF the Republicans take over Congress this year, it will be another deadlocked government of the Executive and Legislative. They really haven't even unveiled ANYTHING new this year other than outright lock-step opposition to anything the Administration unveils and more tax-cuts (Yeah forget budget balancing of the Hoover Days)

If Obama hadn't wasted time trying to get Republican senators to support him on health care (we all know they were never going to) we would probably already have a bill passed and this election wouldn't be so disproportionately important.

My thoughts exactly, And if they hammered home the fact that insurance companies are already sucking our money off our pockets and have their own "death panels" then they probably would have a much stronger bill to pass. *sigh*

My condolences.

Maybe next century you'll get another chance to reform your third world country health care system.

There are two bills now, one in the Senate and another one in the House of Representatives, so they need to make a single one and pass it again. Chances are it will be impossible now.

@icomeanon6: Far left? Don't come to Europe, the conservative parties here would qualify as "communist" in your book.

The system of payment and delivery is 3rd world. Not necessarily the hospitals. XD

Oh well...here's the plan when Joe Lieberman opposed the bill earlier:

How to save Health Care Reform from Joe Lieberman

2) Put reconciliation back on the table – I understand budget reconciliation is a convoluted process which the Democratic leadership is weary of employing, but they underestimate its value as a threat to moderate Senators who are willing to cut a deal. Harry Reid should split the Senate bill into its budget and non-budget related components (per standard reconciliation procedure), include the House version of the public option, and submit the bills to the CBO for scoring. Even if Reid never intends to move forward on reconciliation, a pending CBO score for a reconciliation-ready robust public option should hang like the sword of Damocles over the heads of every centrist Senator. If you don't cut a deal, we'll have a more liberal bill waiting to be passed.
3) The public option is still dead – It's been obvious since the summer that the public option wouldn't make it out of the Senate, so the Democratic leadership needs to work overtime to find a good alternative, even if it means taking a hit from the base. Unfortunately, it looks like allowing people to buy into Medicare is a non-starter, but ditching the public option entirely in exchange for ditching annual/lifetime coverage limits, implementing a hard 95% medical loss ratio, ending the monopoly exemption for insurers, and including Ron Wyden's ideas for opening up the health care exchange (singular, not plural) to every American would accomplish just as much if not more than the already-watered down public options would. The key is to keep focused on the purpose of the bill and not the specifics. If a public option can be traded out for a compromise that will encourage stiff competition and actually control costs, be willing to make a deal.
4) Bring back the "constitutional option" – Once again, like reconciliation, I doubt Harry Reid would ever have the balls to pull something like this off, but it's still worth employing as a tactic to get moderate Senators talking. The Democratic leadership should start trying to get whip counts together to see if they can scrounge up 51 votes for the nuclear option. Moreover, they need to make a serious effort to put the legitimacy of the filibuster in the spotlight. Every Democrat should be prepared to decry the filibuster as a parliamentary trick that has no constitutional basis and start peppering their speech with go-to phrases like "up or down vote", "framer's original intent", and "simple majority" as a way of drawing attention to the fact that Republicans are using a procedural loophole to subvert small-D democracy. If Democrats can get the message across, they can assure the public there's no shame in using a loophole to kill another loophole.

My thoughts exactly.

LOLZ HAVING POOR PEOPLE NOT DIE OF COMMON ILLNESSES IS LIEK SO COMMUNIST U GUIZ (except that...when are people going to figure out the Cold War ended in 1989?) Also, Freakylocz...you said in a previous thread (the Walmart BYOB one) that you live in an area so poor that the people around you can't afford to shell out 15c for a shopping bag. How the eff do you afford your healthcare, then? (Not trying to pick a fight, I am genuinely interested.)

Peh. But seriously, I am truly sorry for you guys. It costs my friend in California $340 per month for her anti-depressants. It costs me £7. And before I was 18, it cost me £0. :/

I know. It's crazy.

[/kill me now]

 

[Aurafire]

My condolences.

Maybe next century you'll get another chance to reform your third world country health care system.

Went, our health care is not third world, and you know that as well as anyone else. I'm pretty sure we're better off than most people in the world. It's simply more expensive for some people because of the current system we have in place. Americans have the best health care system in the world with the newest technologies and medicines because we have private companies constantly at work creating them, and the vast majority of us like the system and have no trouble paying for it. Now, I am all for making our health care more accessible to the lower class, which is what we should be concentrating on instead of wasting money trying to provide it for people that can pay for it and are already satisfied. The current health care bill in Congress is opposed by the majority of Americans, so there's no need to feel sorry for us...America is not Europe after all.

To be frank even IF the Republicans take over Congress this year, it will be another deadlocked government of the Executive and Legislative. They really haven't even unveiled ANYTHING new this year other than outright lock-step opposition to anything the Administration unveils and more tax-cuts (Yeah forget budget balancing of the Hoover Days)

They've been too busy trying to counteract the madness that the Democrats have been trying to push through. And by the way, how are they going to unveil anything new if the Democrats continue to create horribly partisan legislation without allowing Republicans have a say? =/

 

[Ivysaur]

Went, our health care is not third world, and you know that as well as anyone else. I'm pretty sure we're better off than most people in the world. It's simply more expensive for some people because of the current system we have in place. Americans have the best health care system in the world with the newest technologies and medicines because we have private companies constantly at work creating them, and the vast majority of us like the system and have no trouble paying for it. Now, I am all for making our health care more accessible to the lower class, which is what we should be concentrating on instead of wasting money trying to provide it for people that can pay for it and are already satisfied. The current health care bill in Congress is opposed by the majority of Americans, so there's no need to feel sorry for us...America is not Europe after all.

Of course, I'm not talking about the quality of the system, but about what you said: it's way more expensive than in any other developed country, and it's making a few companies immensely rich taking money from other companies (that have to pay for their employees), and families and yet leaving 40+ million people without any medical treatment. Even so, the reform aims for reducing the costs to all these people who "can pay for it and are already satisfied".

But you are right, the second half of the last Century caused a great change in the views of both sides of the ocea, moving the centre to the right in the US (being the opposite to the USSR) and to the left in Europe (as a response to the far-right dictatorships that caused WWII).

The core of the differences is that my aunt had a cancer surgery yesterday without paying a single cent, while that would have costed hundreds of dollars (at least) around there. That's why I said the "sorry" part. But yeah, if you are fine with it, it's your right to keep it. I'm just showing my views from the outside.

 

[Netto Azure]

They've been too busy trying to counteract the madness that the Democrats have been trying to push through. And by the way, how are they going to unveil anything new if the Democrats continue to create horribly partisan legislation without allowing Republicans have a say? =/

Madness? Seriously the bills coming out of this Congress are so chock full of corporate giveaways and Obama wasting so much time courting the Republicans it's not even funny. You've heard how many times Republican amendments were already added to multiple bills.

As for the healthcare debate, why must employers be saddled with the healthcare bill and employees STILL have to pay off large amounts of co-pays/deductibles. Seriously when the US spends more per capita, have a lower healthcare outcomes AND the practice of pre-existing conditions plus rescission (aka arbitrary cutting off your insurance) that's not economically and morally responsible.

 

[Red1530]

Seriously when the US spends more per capita, have a lower healthcare outcomes AND the practice of pre-existing conditions plus rescission (aka arbitrary cutting off your insurance) that's not economically and morally responsible.

I hate to break it to you but when it comes to cancer treatment, the United States has the best outcomes. If you force an insurance company to cover someone with pre-existing conditions 100% of the time, then in theory a person can get insurance while they are in the hospital getting an operation done and then claim it.