Just endured the always painful experience of watching the Sunday morning news shows. By all accounts, and naturally there was not one advocate on any program for the liberal position, the Public Option is going to be off the table by the time this godforsaken health care reform legislation gets to the President's desk later this fall.
Consider this: while there are certainly other worthwhile components of the measure (i.e. closing the Medicare donut hole, ending lifetime caps and eliminating rescission and pre-existing condition exclusions), the yin and yang of this thousand-page bill was a requirement that all Americans buy health insurance and have access to the public option. One without the other makes no sense. The reason we have so many uninsured already is because people can't afford health insurance!! Now, the idiots in Washington are readying themselves to get rid of the public option...but retain the requirement -- under penalty of fine, no less -- that everyone buy insurance. If that doesn't amount to the biggest giveaway to the insurance companies in the history of the Republic, then I don't know what does.
What's the point of having a Democratic majority if we can't pass our legislative priorities on our terms? I'm telling you, if Congress passes -- and the President signs into law -- a bill with a universal coverage requirement but no public option, the Democrats are going to get slaughtered in the 2010 mid-term elections.
And it will be what they deserve.
Consider this: while there are certainly other worthwhile components of the measure (i.e. closing the Medicare donut hole, ending lifetime caps and eliminating rescission and pre-existing condition exclusions), the yin and yang of this thousand-page bill was a requirement that all Americans buy health insurance and have access to the public option. One without the other makes no sense. The reason we have so many uninsured already is because people can't afford health insurance!! Now, the idiots in Washington are readying themselves to get rid of the public option...but retain the requirement -- under penalty of fine, no less -- that everyone buy insurance. If that doesn't amount to the biggest giveaway to the insurance companies in the history of the Republic, then I don't know what does.
What's the point of having a Democratic majority if we can't pass our legislative priorities on our terms? I'm telling you, if Congress passes -- and the President signs into law -- a bill with a universal coverage requirement but no public option, the Democrats are going to get slaughtered in the 2010 mid-term elections.
And it will be what they deserve.
What they deserve sure but perhaps not what we deserve. Despite the spinelessness and failures of the democratic majority i'd still rather have them in the drivers seat.
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