In reversal, Specter announces support for public health insurance option.
In reversal, Specter announces support for public health insurance option.
At a union rally in Washington, DC yesterday with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) declared his support for a public health insurance option. Further, Specter said that Americans have a “right” to health care, and predicted that health care reform will happen this year. “I think Senator Schumer has the right idea about having a public component,” Specter said:
I compliment you on your tenacity and your determination and your passion. I agree with you that health care is a right. … I do believe that there will be health care legislation. I know you are very interested in the public component and I think Senator Schumer has the right idea about having a public component which is to have a level playing field with the private sector, but the public component can be in place. [...]
Your enthusiasm has a big effect on what goes on three blocks away on the Congress of the United States. And you will get health care.
Previously, Specter opposed the creation of a public option. In May, NBC’s David Gregory asked Specter if he would support health care reform that included a public component. “No,” Specter replied.
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I’ll believe it when he actually casts a meaningful vote in favor of a public option.
Specter has often talked a good game, until time to cast a difference making vote.
He may prove me wrong, but until he does I’ll keep saying that Pennsylvania (my state) will be better off without him.
June 26th, 2009 at 9:55 amAh yes, he was against it before he was for it…I agree with #1..Specter is for self only, always has been…Wait for the vote…P. B. & J
June 26th, 2009 at 10:00 amI don’t care what his motive is anymore. We all know it’s not honorable. Just so he casts the correct vote.
June 26th, 2009 at 10:05 amSpecter needs to not only support the public option but become a leading advocate, a loud voice, a vote getter on this issue if he stands any chance of winning the Dem primary here next year. Right now he stands at 33% with Sestak, who has yet to get any state-wide name recognition, at 15%.
I’ve written to Specter and said as much. We’ll see how “Democratic” he really wants to be.
PEACE
June 26th, 2009 at 10:05 amSenator Specter is finding out (the hard way) what is important to most Americans.
He isn’t in the Party of No any longer, and if he wants to have a chance of being re-elected, he better get his head out of…errr, the sand!
June 26th, 2009 at 10:05 amI agree that Specter bears watching, & has flip flopped before.
The important thing here is that those words, ‘public option’ remain in the daily buzz lexicon.
Insurers will be pushing back hard to convince those on the fence of just the opposite, & they may ‘fail’ because of a public option.
Of course, that argument is a conundrum. If they’re so cost effective & efficient now, wouldn’t competition be a good thing?
The fact is, they don’t want competition. Just like the banksters, they like the current ‘marketplace’, where collusion and backdoor agreements lead to double digit cost increases annually.
If health care insurers fail due to a public option, the market proves they weren’t competitive to begin with.
June 26th, 2009 at 10:08 amDays late and dollars short, Arlen!
June 26th, 2009 at 10:08 amI have Blue Cross insurance through a group. Even though I pay the premiums for my employees I got a letter yesterday that I can no longer get my prescriptions at my pharmacy I have to get them through mail order from only one provider. And I have to pay my portion for three months at a time which I can do but not everybody can. Well at least there’s not a GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRAT telling me what to do. /sarc
June 26th, 2009 at 10:08 amSpecter’s shift to the left in the name of political self interest isn’t a bad thing. He’s one more Democratic vote for progressive issues and, should he still lose the primary, we get a slightly more leftist Sen in Joe Sestak
June 26th, 2009 at 10:13 amspecter, being the consummate politician knows which way the wind is blowing with the public. thus, he will do anything at this point to pass healthcare reform and keep his consitituents happy.
June 26th, 2009 at 10:13 amIsn’t that the whole point of democracy?
June 26th, 2009 at 10:13 amIf Specter actually walks the walk as well as talking the talk, I’m encouraged. I was beginning to think that President Obama wasn’t making any headway with a Congress bought and paid for by the health insurance industry.
Of course, I have to consider the possibility that Specter is more swayed by the political climate in PA than by the President. But his support is welcome any way it comes.
June 26th, 2009 at 10:18 amtommy@11, not if you’re a cancervative politician, in that case to hell with your constituents. it’s what your corporate masters dictate to you.
June 26th, 2009 at 10:19 amI get the distinct impression that the Big Powers who decided to bypass the voters (in a very undemocratic way) and annoint Specter as the Dem’s candidate in next year’s primary are putting the pressure on him to put up or shut up.
Specter is not very popular here, but if he stands up for the public option and stays true to his position du jour on EFCA, if he votes for climate change legislation and gay rights, he might stand a chance.
Whoever wins the Dem primary here will take the Senate seat. The PA GNOP is running in circles trying to figure out who is the most radical of the wingnuttery to pick for their candidate.
PEACE
June 26th, 2009 at 10:27 amLooks like somebody’s been having some discussions about what it would take to get party support for his next primary. Whatever works, though.
I suspect Specter’s plan was originally to leave his position the same on any “open issues” still on his desk, just to avoid flip-flop attacks. However the stuff coming up is way too important to play those kinds of games with. If he’s gonna call himself a Dem, he needs to start voting like one immediately.
June 26th, 2009 at 10:27 amLet’s see how this chameleon votes. As of today he is not favored by either party: Dems don’t trust him and Reps want their campaign donations back.
June 26th, 2009 at 10:31 amWhat he says is worthless — it’s what he does.
Shayne at #8, this is exactly one of the reasons I got out of retail, and opened a “closed door” pharmacy.
Mail order pharmacies get discounts for buying in bulk, and purchase drugs at a much cheaper rate than your local independent pharmacy.
This is an unfair business practice for your local economy, and I pray that ceases when health care reform happens.
Also, a few years back, the “Big 3″ in Detroit had the master plan of making mail order prescriptions MANDATORY for their employees and their retirees.
June 26th, 2009 at 10:31 amGuess where the mail order pharmacy is located? Las Vegas.
So, in essence, millions upon millions of money, THAT COULD HAVE STAYED IN THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, fluttered to Nevada, causing hundreds of independent pharmacies to close or be bought out by Walgreens.
No wonder the state is in such economic turmoil.
I have no sympathy for the heads of the automobile industry.
NONE.
I do, however, for their employees and other small businesses that will suffer greatly when the mass lay-offs and plant closings commence.
Specter still needs to be voted out in the primary. At his age he only has to worry about one more 6 year term. And as soon as he won this election he’d be back in the corporate pocket. We all should support Sestak.
June 26th, 2009 at 10:35 amHe knows it won’t pass anyway. But if he doesn’t make a show of supporting it, he doesn’t stand a chance in hell of winning office again as a dEMOCRAT. I can make that “d” no smaller…
June 26th, 2009 at 10:37 amDRxJ, my sister in-law had her own pharmacy and had to close too because of these contracts. Of course my out of pocket is not any smaller and if I want non-generic I have to pay the entire cost difference instead of the $6 for generic and $25 for non-generic.
June 26th, 2009 at 10:39 amI am convinced that we’re going to have to take to the streets on this one (look how afraid Congress was when we got outraged over the AIG bonuses)… Unfortunately, I doubt our peaceful attempts at revolution will get the same press coverage on CNN that they’ve given the Iranians…
June 26th, 2009 at 10:41 amSpecter feels strongly both ways — as long as it suits himself.
PA, please vote for Joe Sestak!
June 26th, 2009 at 10:42 amLooks like Arlen has been reading the tea leaves again… or the polls. Whichever.
June 26th, 2009 at 10:42 amArlen may have noticed that his home state has a ton of uninsured and “bitter” voters. He can’t win his primary as a “conservative” so he has to dump as much of their baggage as he can.
June 26th, 2009 at 10:59 amWell, if he’s going to be a flip-flopper…it may as well be in OUR direction for once, eh?
June 26th, 2009 at 11:01 amAnnie, it doesn’t mean a thing until Specter actually casts the vote. I don’t trust him for a second.
June 26th, 2009 at 11:05 amIt makes no difference why Specter has changed positions. The president needs to get public opinion to bear on the conservaDems and enough Republicans to get the public option in the legislation. The Dems and unions as well as many other groups need to start putting out ads in states where the conservaDems and Republicans may be vulnerable in the next elections.
June 26th, 2009 at 11:13 amSpecter must be getting worried about his re-election chances as a Democrat.
Also, please folks, ignore the pathetic troll. As long as you give it the attention it craves, it will stay around stinking up the place.
June 26th, 2009 at 11:17 amIndeed, Zooey. I hear you loud and clear…ol’ Arlen isn’t to be trusted. Period.
June 26th, 2009 at 11:21 amThis “level playing field” term is beginning to bother me. It looks like spin for “making sure any public option will be just as costly as the private sector, doesn’t add competitiveness and will fail”
A public option shouldn’t be based on fairness to private insurance profit making ability, it should be based on fully covering everyone as cheaply as possible without denying coverage or treatment.
I actually agree with what president Obama said about if private insurance is so great why would they worry about people choosing the public option.
Just the fact that there is talk about level playing fields is an admission that government can do what the private sector cannot.
They are not scared that government supplied access to healthcare will reduce quality, they are scared because they know it will work.
June 26th, 2009 at 11:27 amGood ol’ Arlen. He wants coverage for every American so that should any of us be struck by the “magic bullet” we can be brought back to good health. There’s got to be a mental health benefit for all of us as well. what a strange, strange man.
Smokers suck butts!
June 26th, 2009 at 11:30 amSpecter’s single skill: He can read a poll.
June 26th, 2009 at 11:50 amSince there already are functional public funded health care plans operational in Medicare, Medicaid, VA and Congress, just what is the problem?
That the dollars employers and employees pay to private health insurance companies would go to the government plan?
That if health care cost overheads dropped to the public plan levels those contributions would also drop and help make businesses more competitive?
Arlen is a consummate politician. He is slightly ahead of the game because he is being forced to see there is public outrage, especially over the lobbyists buying the government. He has been getting a crash course in climate change, politically speaking.
June 26th, 2009 at 11:52 amSpecter is in trouble
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20090625_Poll__Specter_s_numbers_dive_since__conversion_.html
Poll: Specter’s numbers dive since ‘conversion’
By BOB WARNER
Philadelphia Daily News
warnerb@phillynews.com 215-854-5885
The strong backing of Democratic Party leaders has done little to change slumping public support for the party’s newest convert, U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter. Only 28 percent of all those surveyed say that he deserves re-election, according to the latest Keystone Poll, and double that number say it’s time for a change.
Specter’s party switch, announced April 28, has hurt his job-performance ratings among Democrats as well as Republicans, according to a telephone survey of 498 registered voters, conducted last week by the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College.
Back in March, before the switch, roughly half the voters in each party said that Specter was doing an “excellent” or “good” job in the Senate.
Those numbers have plunged in the latest survey. Whereas 57 percent of Democrats gave him good or excellent ratings in March, only 46 percent rate him as highly now. Among Republicans, 49 percent rated his job performance as good or excellent in March, and only 18 percent gave him those ratings last week.
June 26th, 2009 at 11:54 amI have more respect for a weasel than I have for Arlen Specter.
June 26th, 2009 at 12:25 pmhidflect Says:
He knows it won’t pass anyway. But if he doesn’t make a show of supporting it, he doesn’t stand a chance in hell of winning office again as a dEMOCRAT. I can make that “d” no smaller…
June 26th, 2009 at 1:19 pm““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““
Good point! It really makes you wonder about the others who seemly support a public option. Are they supporting it because they truly believe a public option would be a good thing for the citizens OR are they just saying they support a public option to appear that they are for the people, knowing it will fail anyway?
These are the same politicians who voted down Senator Bernie Sanders amendment to the Credit Card bill last month which would have established a national consumer credit card usury rate of 15%. I’m sure that many of the 30 odd senators who voted for the Sanders amendment did so knowing it would fail, but they wanted to “appear” that they were on the side of their constituents.
June 26th, 2009 at 1:23 pmThis is posturing for the 2010 election.
But I don’t care the reason, it is the right vote so I am for it.
Look for Spector to change a few more votes before the election. Those too will be appreciated.
June 26th, 2009 at 1:23 pmWhen I see Specter I think of the song, “THE HEAT IS ON.” He sees the increasing support for Sestak, and he should be afraid.
June 26th, 2009 at 2:28 pmLet’s see. Today is June 26. I will give him until the end of July and see what he is saying then.
He has to start pandering soon, to sucker Pennsylvania into voting for him.
June 26th, 2009 at 3:56 pm(In reversal Specter.) Those three words have identified this man for his whole career. Each time he seemed able as a Republican to reach over and agree with the other side. Come voting time and he changed back over to his own Republican party. You were never able to see him follow through. What a weak man. Over the years I learned never to listen a Democrat that said they had his agreement. I doubt he has any fixed notions, except to be a Republican. Which he still is, regardless.
June 26th, 2009 at 11:19 pmI live in PA. Alot of hardcore conservatives I know want a public healthcare plan. In fact there isn’t many that I know of that don’t want a public healthcare plan. Specter knows he is in trouble with Sestak. If he doesn’t vote democratic he isn’t getting re-elected. Considering that 60%+ of Pennsylvanians voted democratic this election, I think Specter is getting the hint.
June 27th, 2009 at 3:28 amHopefully Spector will be voted out next time around so we will not have to put up with him any more. He is just another reason why we need term limits: http://pushbackuntil.com.
Be in D.C. to “Push Back Until!”
June 27th, 2009 at 9:41 amDon’t you just “love” President Obama’s wicked grin in the photo and Senator Specter’s chastened look?
June 27th, 2009 at 1:13 pmnice picture
June 29th, 2009 at 12:06 am