Citing what he described as the "the persecution of a great hero who rid their land of Godless communists" as a possible cause, prominent TV evangelist and amateur seismologist Pat Robertson [...]

General Pinochet, who spent the last eight years of his life fighting prosecution on human rights and other charges before succumbing to congestive heart failure in December 2006, could not be reached for comment, even by Robertson.

That's about as valid an assessment as the minister's son who talked about finding a toad "and beating him with a stick, running him over with the lawnmower..until the Lord called him home"

The popular host of `The 700 Club' and longtime bingo circuit icon also added, "General Pinochet not only assisted the CIA in the overthrow of Chile's Marxist government, but is widely credited with personally arranging the meetings of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of his countrymen with Jesus."

Oh my.

From real health CARE to health insurance reform to...""big enough' to put the country on a 'path' toward health care reform." Well, "care" and "reform" ought to be in skepticism quotes as well.

And selling health insurance across state lines? Oh, really, give us a break, Obama! Race to bottom and increased paperwork from even more insurers, more calls to insurers, lack of regulation...what's to think about liking???

Wednesday: Date for New, Improved Obama Mishmash!

I guess some of how I view this will depend on just what's in this smaller bill.  In a way, if some of the really bad parts of the Senate and House bills are stripped out, but enough of the good parts are kept?  It's tough to say until one knows just what they intend to include and exclude in the smaller bill.

President Barack Obama will use a bipartisan summit Thursday to push for sweeping health-care legislation, but if that fails to generate enough support the White House is working on a more modest Plan B.

The alternate approach would provide health insurance to perhaps 15 million Americans, about half what the comprehensive bill would cover, according to a person familiar with both plans.

It would do that by requiring insurance companies to allow people up to 26 years old to stay on their parents' health plans, and by modestly expanding two federal-state health programs, Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, this person said. The cost to the federal government would be about one-fourth the price tag for the broader effort, which the White House has said would cost about $950 billion over 10 years.

Greg Sargent reports that both Pelosi and Hoyer seem to indicate they will have House vote on Senate bill as is prior to Senate making any "improvements" to make the bill more palatable to the House members.

Pelosi told Elizabeth Vargas in a videotaped interview shown on This Week yesterday that now just wanting a public option is, well, OK enough (it's about 1/4 of the way down in the transcript)....

VARGAS: What do you say to your members, when it does come to the House to vote on this, who are in real fear of losing their seats in November if they support you now?

PELOSI: Well, first of all, our members -- every one of them -- wants health care. I think everybody wants affordable health care for all Americans. They know that this will take courage. It took courage to pass Social Security. It took courage to pass Medicare. And many of the same forces that were at work decades ago are at work again against this bill.

But the American people need it. Why are we here? We're not here just to self-perpetuate our service in Congress. We're here to do the job for the American people, to get them results that gives them not only health security, but economic security, because the health issue is an economic issue for -- for America's families.

VARGAS: Do you wish, though, that the president had posted his bill before this week, that six months ago it might have been more helpful for you, that maybe six months ago you knew that the public option was something he was going to drop before you fought so hard for it?

PELOSI: Well, we -- we still fight for the -- what the public option will do. Whether it's in the bill or not, its purpose must be recognized and that is to keep the insurance companies honest, to keep them accountable, and to increase competition. And I think in the summit on Thursday it became very clear that what the president was proposing was regulation of the insurance companies.

Left to their own devices, they have done harm to the American people. They need to be regulated. And that is one of the biggest differences between the Democrats and the Republicans.

Another one, for example, is -- an example of it is ending the denial of -- of coverage to those who have a pre-existing condition. The Democrats have that in their bill; the Republicans do not. (My emphasis)

Instead of taking votes on issues, working to create new progams, now, it seems, Dems are trying to say that just talking about issues will make them effective? Against the BHIPs???? (Big Health Insurance Parasites). Oh, yeah, that will cut those premium increases waaaaay down. Surely, sternly worded letters will do so much more.

Well, looks like Obama's gonna get his Health Insurance Corporate Bailout on? And his mandate the people must buy those parasite's offer of sucking the financial life out of them? The Corporate Shakedown with Government Muscle?

This country has gone farkin' nuts.  Forget about criminalizing cancer treatment or tripping down some stairs...it seems to me we've criminalized living.  Cue Ayn Rand...

"There's no way to rule innocent men.
The only power government has is the power to crack down on criminals.
Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them.
One declares so many things to be a crime
that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws."