Nate Silver over at FiveThirtyEight examines the four scenarios under which health care reform could still pass this year.I'm banking on scenario number one – "Whip the Democrats Into Submission."
It's become pretty clear that Republicans don't have a credible health care alternative, many of them don't understand the intricacies of the policy debate, they don't seem to get why we think reform is necessary and furthermore they don't care. They just want to kill it.
Michael Steele opened his mouth again today and gave us some new word salad. You can watch the video above but there were a couple of telling answers to questions. One of the questions was about the individual mandate policy debate, as to whether or not there should be an individual requirement. Steel was completely ignorant as to what that meant, even though it was a much discussed point of debate during the 2008 election season. Stumped a couple of different times, Steele said, "I don't do policy, ...My point in coming here today was to begin to set a tone, and a theme if you will." I really should not complain because Steele is one of the best things to ever happen to Democrats but I can't help but shake my head when the Chairman of the Republican Party continues to show such a lack of knowledge or grasp of the issues. It's astonishing actually.
Further proof that Republicans just want to kill health care reform comes from remarks made by FOX News pundit, William Kristol and Senator Jim DeMint (S-SC). Kristol said, "My advice, for what it's worth: Resist the temptation. This is no time to pull punches. Go for the kill." Meanwhile, we had Jim DeMint proclaim this past Friday, "If we're able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him."
It's just politics for these guys. They don't care about finding a solution to help 47 million Americans without health insurance. They are not concerned that there are an additional 25 million with insurance so lousy that they are afraid to use it, for fear of being cancelled. It really doesn't stop there either. What about the millions of Americans who can't change jobs because they are slaves to their health insurance and in fear of being dropped if they move to a new job? The only people that I know who are not afraid of their health insurance company are the people in congress who have great coverage and great options. Don't we deserve what they have? Shouldn't we demand it?
I'm very suspicious that anyone trying to slow dow or delay health care reform is simply angling for time to find a way to kill it. Follow the money. Joe Liberman has been on the news this morning, calling for the process to be slowed down. A look at the record shows that he "raised almost $3.6 million in campaign contributions from the health, insurance, and pharmaceutical industries over the course of his career, averaging more than $500 per day since taking office." You can find similar contributions for almost anyone in congress who is calling for a slow down in health care reform.
Obama:
We have talked and talked and talked about fixing health care for decades. And we have finally reached a point where inaction is no longer an option -- where the choice to defer reform is nothing more than a decision to defend the status quo. And I will not defend the status quo.
"In 2006, Courtney promised not to accept taxpayer subsidized health insurance, a privilege offered to all Members of Congress, until all Americans have access to affordable and quality coverage." Congressman Courtney is to be commended for setting a good example. I think they should all have to take that pledge. If it's not good enough for the American people, then they should cancel it for members of congress and their families as well. Let them get out on the street and try to buy an individual policy like the rest of us poor bastards not fortunate enough to have a government or corporate job with paid insurance. They might all decide that reform is in order after all if they got a little taste of what we have to deal with.
I'm sure you've all seen this video of Senator Bernie Sanders by now but it's worth repeating. Bernie reminds John McCain and the other Republicans on the committee that the health care benefits offered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (the VA) is socialized medicine and that most people wanted more VA and not less VA medical care. He asked if any of them wanted to offer an amendment to eliminate the VA and of course none of them dared say a word. He then reminded the committee that Medicare is a single payer system. He asks them to go out and compare attitudes of the people toward Medicare, which does not throw people off the their plan for preexisting conditions or for getting sick the previous year, with the attitudes of people toward private insurance companies. Bernie concludes by reminding the committee and the Republicans that the function of what they are doing there is not to support the private health insurance companies but rather to try and provide the best quality health care to the American people, in the most cost effective way. He said that the United States Congress was the only institution in American that seems to think that the private health insurance companies should be playing the dominant role rather than the government. He's right. Far to many people in congress are trying to obstruct health care reform and trying desperately to stop the public option because they have been bought and paid for by the health insurance lobby. There is ample proof that the large majority of Americans want a public option and many want a single payer system. Yet, many in congress seem inclined to want to ignore the will of the people and bend to the demands of the insurance lobby. That tells me that they are afraid of the insurance lobby more than they are the American people. That's our fault and it's up to us to do something about it. We have to step up, make our voices heard and scare them into representing we the people rather than corporate board and lobbyists.
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