Robert Reich on Universal Health care. He says the public wants it..why isn't it being done?

[BrklynLiberal]

2009 · President Obama has scheduled a town hall meeting to promote his health care overhaul plan this week. He's been on the stump, pushing his plan in different forums: in press conferences, town hall meetings and discussions with several governors. But will he be able to achieve health care for all? Robert Reich says it will be difficult, but with the right strategy, Obama can prevail. Reich, former Labor Secretary and former advisor to Obama, explains how he thinks the president can remake health care policy.
listen to this interview at:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10...

Memo to President Obama
Six things you must do to save universal healthcare
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/06/20/healthc...

The healthcare war has officially begun
Will Obama stand up to lobbyists and insurers to give Americans a needed public option?
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/06/12/reich /

Demand a real public healthcare option
Don't be fooled by the watered-down versions that desperate Democrats are using to lure Republican votes.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/06/12/healthc... /

Links to all of the above and more....
http://dir.salon.com/topics/robert_reich /

[redqueen]

1. "Demand a real public healthcare option

Don't be fooled by the watered-down versions that desperate Democrats are using to lure Republican votes."

That's my favorite.

[Cleita]

2. It's the same reason we couldn't stop the march to the invasion of Iraq.

No matter how much the people didn't want war and no matter how much we showed them we didn't want it, we really had no power to make our leaders listen to us. That became very apparent then and it looks like the same forces are at work on this issue too.

[mod mom]

4. that's the exact reason they don't want to act on fraudulent elections. They need to hold

on to their power despite what the people want.

[sisters6]

7. Dems are too willing to compromise --as is the WH.

[bvar22]

13. Couldn't stop the Welfare for Wall Street either.

*

[NightWatcher]

3. people who make money from the current system are buying influence

and there is no way that Congress is going to vote against their wallet

[checks-n-balances]

11. That'll be a short-term gain, even for them...Oh, wait

...they still have their permanent government-provided health care.

I can't even find an expletive strong enough to call these unAmerican, inhumane zombies.

[old mark]

5. Rec. Certainly a good question.....nt

[xchrom]

6. if dems would step up and GOVERN - half the issues

notably health care would get done.

this dithering over what republicans will make of you if you actually govern -- bah.

[Tejas]

9. Yes, try 'governing' instead of the current push to 'RULE'

[JimWis]

8. I think his "6 things" are right on the money. I hope President

Obama has a chance to read that. Thanks for the links and info.

[lindisfarne]

10. Keep in mind: universal health care & single payer are NOT synonymous. Germany does not have single

payer, but it does have universal health care.
There are multiple European countries with UHC but not SP.

[subterranean]

12. Switzerland and the Netherlands are two others that come to mind.

[MasonJar]

14. Why isn't Robert Reich an advisor? He is the type of former Clinton

advisor Obama would have been wise to choose. If Obama had wanted to pass single payer, he could have. The public was ready for him to lead on this; he could have gone down in history for changing the plight of Americans and our economy.

[BrklynLiberal]

15. I agree....

[invictus]

16. It doesn't matter what the public wants. We live in an oligarchy, not a republic.

These cretins in Washington take the corporations' money, take our votes, and then laugh at us behind our backs. They laugh all the way to the bank for all the cushy lobbying jobs they get rewarded with after they leave government. Clinton made $1 billion after leaving office. That is sickening, after all he did to screw the working class.

[omega minimo]

17. kR -- Excellent. Thank you.

[Kablooie]

18. Because the Republicans don't want it. Democrats always defer to the GOP in times of crisis.

That's just the Democratic way.