My point here is that there are ways to ensure there is no government takeover of health care. It's possible to make the public option work but Republicans have shown that they are unwilling to discuss ways to do this by screaming 'government takeover' every chance they get.

No company can run without books of account. No government can write legislation without a plan in the background. The plan is there. Let's see Obama's written plan. Then, he can talk about it.

The Congress and Obama should proudly present their careful research that supports their proposed rearrangement of healthcare. Obama is a Harvard trained lawyer. He should be up to it.

Where is the policy paper, Obama's research on healthcare reform?

The government demands detailed, researched Environmental Impact Statements before starting a building. We should have Official Policy Impact Statements before our representatives change our society.

We need proposed results, expected evolution, methods, justifications, comparative studies, past successes of similar policy, funding sources, expected difficulties, the works. What has worked, not what might work.
(continued below)

Rahm will tell Dems that if they worry a Yea will hurt them in 2010, they should also worry about primary challenges and no Party or union support if they DON'T vote Yea. If you vote the right way and lose in 2010, we'll take care of you. We only need 60 or 218 and if you're not in the first 60/218, we owe you nothing. I can hear Rahm telling a nervous, wavering Member how little it means to be 61st or 219th!

That's how it's played in Illinois, and it can be very effective. My guess is a lot of Members aren't ready for that.

3 or 4 squishy GOP in the Senate, maybe a dozen in the House (tho maybe not, House GOP held on ARRA), this strategy would have a good chance. I don't like most of this proposal, so I hope that if it gets to a Conference, the GOP conferees would include a few willing to fight and leak hard, so there is some warning… but if the Dem majority just has staff go write a report, I suppose it could get jammed through Conference at 9 a.m. and be voted on in both Houses by 1 p.m. or next day?

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Our objections to the Democrats’ health care proposals are not mere “bickering” or “games.” They are not an attempt to “score short term political points.” And it’s hard to listen to the President lecture us not to use “scare tactics” when in the next breath he says that “more will die” if his proposals do not pass.

In his speech the President directly responded to concerns I’ve raised about unelected bureaucrats being given power to make decisions affecting life or death health care matters. He called these concerns “bogus,” “irresponsible,” and “a lie” — so much for civility. After all the name-calling, though, what he did not do is respond to the arguments we’ve made, arguments even some of his own supporters have agreed have merit.

In fact, after promising to “make sure that no government bureaucrat …. gets between you and the health care you need,” the President repeated his call for an Independent Medicare Advisory Council — an unelected, largely unaccountable group of bureaucrats charged with containing Medicare costs.
————————endquote——————

Sounds like, 'Bring it on.'