Health Care Reform vs Social Security, Why the Democratic Party should be pleased with PROGRESS.

[TheBigotBasher]

It is a simple fact that no previous Congress or President has got as far with health care reform as this. On health care reform we have watched 50 years of failure. A failure that has cost real lives. Yes single payer is the better option. However Congress does not have 60 Democratic Senators singing from a Democratic hymn book Far too many a turn coats all to ready to use a united GOP to blackmail the Democratic Party with whatever agenda they want.

This has however always been the case wth the Democratic Party. It is a Party that unites for General Elections but then disintegrates into a cacophany ranging from Neo Classical Liberals and Catholic Conservatives to Liberal Lions, proud of their Liberal heritage. It is for that reason Single Payer will not get through a Democratic Congress. Fifteen Blue Dog Senators on the inauguration of Barack Obama signed up to a pact to "moderate" him the very next day.

So major structural changes need baby steps. Social Security as it is today, looked nothing like it does now.

Look at Social Security

The Social Security Act was passed by Congress as part of the New Deal and signed by Roosevelt on August 14, 1935. Most women and minorities were excluded from the benefits. Jobs that were not covered by the act included workers in agricultural, domestic service, government employees, and many teachers, nurses, hospital employees, librarians, and social workers. The act also denied coverage to individuals who worked intermittently.

* 1950 inclusion of domestic labor, household employees working at least two days a week for the same person were added in, along with nonprofit workers and the self-employed.
*1954 Hotel workers, laundry workers, all agricultural workers, and state and local government employees were added in.
* 1956 Disability benefits were added
* 1961 Retirement at age 62 was extended to men.
* 1962 Benefits of covered women could be collected by dependent husbands, widowers, and children.
* 1965 MEDICARE was added.
* 1972 The bill also set up a cost of living adjustment (COLA) to take effect in 1975.
* 1977-1990's Amendments regarding the indexing of payments and dealing with the Trust Fund were enacted.

Look at what is coming out of the still largely Conservative leaning Senate.

* Triggered public option
* Medicare buy in 55-64
* Creation of health care exchanges
* Allow individuals to access the Federal Employee Health Benifits Plan (what Congress has)
* Creation of national non profits regulated and negotiated by Federal government (available to all)
* Expansion of Medicaid to cover many millions of low paid workers.

Does anyone really think that this is worse than a McCain Palin plan? Does anyone really think that the solution to Blue Dogs blackmailing the Democratic Party would be to have more Republican members of Congress?

It is not quite the British NHS, but small steps baby, small steps and very much along the lines of if you like your plan you can keep it, if you don't you can have what Congrss has.