HF 3391 - Wrap Up
Well, it was not as long of a night as it was a week ago during the "War of 1812" but it did try to come close. It was also rather eye-glazingly boring at times - especially when the proponents of 3391 got into the defense of the more murky "conceptual" themes of the bill like the "Health Care Homes". There were times when Gary and I were joking that we should request combat pay for sitting through all of that (even though he didn't live blog it). However, if you didn't allow it to bowl you over, there were some very educational moments in the debate.
First and foremost to me were the multiple times when DFL members admitted on the floor that this was a universal health care bill (as I documented in my amendments post last night) although they were mostly on point when they used the euphamism "payment reform" to try to hide the real intent of the bill.
There were, however, a couple of surprise moments last night. First and foremost was how close the vote was on Rep. Finstad's amendment. The fact that the amendment failed by only 4 votes is, to me, very significant. It also tells me just how close we are (thanks to modern technologies like ultrasounds) to finally turning the tide on abortion! That vote alone was a real ray of hope for me. Second was the diversity and the depth of knowledge in the House Republican Caucus. I heard a lot of different members get up and lay out facts and figures and data on this issue that was staggering! They came loaded for bear and there were times when the ONLY defense that the Democrats could fall back on is "where is your plan and why didn't you bring it up before?" - a question that Minority leader Seifert threw right back at them by saying "you shut us OUT of the process until tonight".
The "freedom heros" from last night were Rep. Steve Gottwalt, Rep. Laura Brod, Rep. Paul Kohls and Rep. Mark Olson. All 4 gave some of the most reasoned (and at times very impassioned) defense for a Minnesota Health Care Network that has kept us the "Healthiest State in the Nation". Honorable Mention has to go to Rep. Finstad and Rep.Larry Hosch for putting up amendments that did strike at a couple of the more glaring omissions of Universal Health Care - prenatal and elder care.
Notable surprises were Reps. Madore and Faust voted against the bill. Rep. Madore maybe not too huge of a surprise. She is representing a very conservative district - a district she narrowly won two years ago and she is facing a tough opponent this year.
Another not so surprising vote was Rep. Jim "It's only one vote" Abeler who voted AGAIN to give big government more control over your life. Even after he spoke to great length about how flawed the bill was.
All in all the debate went about the way I expected. The DFL led majority ran rough shod over the minority trying all the normal parlimentary tricks (germainness rulings etc) to keep the minority from putting up common sense amendments to protect the people of Minnesota. It's back in the Senate's hands for Conference now. We'll have to see what happens next.
First and foremost to me were the multiple times when DFL members admitted on the floor that this was a universal health care bill (as I documented in my amendments post last night) although they were mostly on point when they used the euphamism "payment reform" to try to hide the real intent of the bill.
There were, however, a couple of surprise moments last night. First and foremost was how close the vote was on Rep. Finstad's amendment. The fact that the amendment failed by only 4 votes is, to me, very significant. It also tells me just how close we are (thanks to modern technologies like ultrasounds) to finally turning the tide on abortion! That vote alone was a real ray of hope for me. Second was the diversity and the depth of knowledge in the House Republican Caucus. I heard a lot of different members get up and lay out facts and figures and data on this issue that was staggering! They came loaded for bear and there were times when the ONLY defense that the Democrats could fall back on is "where is your plan and why didn't you bring it up before?" - a question that Minority leader Seifert threw right back at them by saying "you shut us OUT of the process until tonight".
The "freedom heros" from last night were Rep. Steve Gottwalt, Rep. Laura Brod, Rep. Paul Kohls and Rep. Mark Olson. All 4 gave some of the most reasoned (and at times very impassioned) defense for a Minnesota Health Care Network that has kept us the "Healthiest State in the Nation". Honorable Mention has to go to Rep. Finstad and Rep.Larry Hosch for putting up amendments that did strike at a couple of the more glaring omissions of Universal Health Care - prenatal and elder care.
Notable surprises were Reps. Madore and Faust voted against the bill. Rep. Madore maybe not too huge of a surprise. She is representing a very conservative district - a district she narrowly won two years ago and she is facing a tough opponent this year.
Another not so surprising vote was Rep. Jim "It's only one vote" Abeler who voted AGAIN to give big government more control over your life. Even after he spoke to great length about how flawed the bill was.
All in all the debate went about the way I expected. The DFL led majority ran rough shod over the minority trying all the normal parlimentary tricks (germainness rulings etc) to keep the minority from putting up common sense amendments to protect the people of Minnesota. It's back in the Senate's hands for Conference now. We'll have to see what happens next.
Labels: Universal Health Care
posted by The Lady Logician at
1:21 PM
3 Comments:
Hey, Logical Lady! Speaking of ways to protect the good people of Minnesota, here's a handy chart to see how many of your fellow citizens die each and every week because they don't have health insurance.
Cool, huh? It's just so great how the free hand of the market kills only three Minnesotans weekly. And you know what? Just between you and me, they probably deserved it, the irresponsible louts -- going off and getting sick when they didn't have coverage. We're probably better off without them.
Have fun at the tax rally, and remember: OUR KIDS, not their kids!
By
Anonymous, at 11:23 AM
Concerning the motivation for Representative Abeler to vote for HF 3391: He may have wished to help further craft the legislation by now being considered by the Speaker to the Conference Committee on the bill hopefully resulting in a more market driven proposed legislation that the Governor may not veto. Listening to the DFL most outspoken proponents during the debate, I believe that they are only looking for something to improve the current market domination by the four non-profits. Should Representative Abeler and other interests during the Conference Committee deliberations have a more sensible solution (I think we agree that there is a better way than the current bill or system) the people of the state wil be better served.
TMA
By
Anonymous, at 12:00 PM
As I suspected, Abeler was appointed to the Conference Committee for HF 3391.
TMA
By
Anonymous, at 6:12 PM
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