Some Pro-Mandate People Have Gone too Far

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The latest was Markos Moulitsas, whom I usually like, claiming that Dennis Kucinich deserves a primary challenge. He went so far as to say, “I’m going to hold people like Dennis Kucinich responsible for the forty-thousand Americans that die each year.” Inexcusable hyperbole. It is very reminiscent of the pro war arguments of 2002 and 2003. If not in substance, at least in form. People like Kucinich have been coming up with cogent arguments against the mandate, and reasons why we need actual health care reform that includes a Medicare expansion or a real public option, with the ability to compete with the insurance companies - and the response has been insults and platitudes.

Of course this bad bill, which even supporters like Moulitsas admit is “not perfect” will not be fixed at a later date. It has never been explained how this fix will come about. When the bill has become worse with each passing month and the popularity of the Democrats and the bill has dropped with each concession to the insurance industry, just how is this bill going to be improved with less energy from the populous and less Democrats in congress? Just like NAFTA and TARP were improved? Not buying because it’s not true.

Up until a few months ago, the public option was one of the central tenets of health care reform. Now, once it became obvious to all that Obama had no intention of fighting for it, even looking like he had been fighting against the public option, supporters started insulting those who point out obvious flaws by claiming the ones who object are unrealistic or crybabies. That they “don’t understand how politics works.” Actually, they do. Better than most - by a long shot. We are losing, or have lost our best shot at real reform, something almost everyone else in the world takes for granted, (at least in the industrialized world) not because some want to hold out for desperately needed reform, but because others are willing to sell out our principles for a few minor improvements. Are there still going to be many going bankrupt, many worse off financially, and many still dying for lack of insurance? I still agree with candidate Obama, forcing people to buy into a broken system is not reform.

For some time now people have been claiming that only an idiot would not understand that this is the best we can get. And for the same amount of time I have been asking these people to come up with proof they had always held this opinion. So far no takers. During the summer we had the right-wing fighting against phantom provisions like death panels, social Nazism and killing grandma. Ludicrous positions held by the gullible. And the left went out to fight for the betterment of the country and against the lies. Only now it seems like both sides were fighting for nonexistent provisions and easily sold out ideals.

The public option or a Medicare expansion has been continuously popular, not only with the left, but with the country as a whole. For that reason this bill is not only bad policy, it is bad politics. It is very hard to understand why people in power would indulge in such obvious self destructive behavior, but it is certainly not the first time. And no matter how often or loudly those that are on the side of the current bill insist it is the left who will be responsible for fallout that will surely happen, there is no doubt that it is the ones pushing the unpopular legislation that will be at fault. Just like it did for the Republicans before, reality will catch up. It always does.


When Moulitsas was asked how Dennis Kucinch’s position was viewed by the left-wing on the internet, he avoided the question and simply attacked by claiming the congressman’s approach was a “Naderesque.” He also claimed, against all logic and decency that his position was no different than the Republicans position. To make the claim that there is no difference between people who are proud of their greed and refuse on principle to help follow their countryman and those who trying their best to help everyone they can, is dishonest, and frankly reprehensible.







http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/07/obama-overrides-aide-on-health-insurance-public-option/


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/19/AR2009101902451.html


http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=5ba17aa2-f1b9-4445-a6b8-62b9d1ba8693