by Cylinsier
Just a quickie drive-by thought. Max Baucus was supposed to emerge from his meeting-of-the-middle with the answer to the question, "Will Republicans and Democrats agree on a health care bill?" Well he did, but it wasn't the answer he was looking for.
All we've heard is how Republicans won't agree on anything with a public option because the gubment will kill old people and make babies go away. Baucus, the Senate's Don Quixote, grabbed a couple of his homies and three Republicans who made nice like they were going to reach across the aisle (and by reach across I mean shake the hands of Democrats who come all the way across the aisle to them) so long as the six of them came up with bipartisan legislation. Read my post below about HR 676 to see my thoughts on what a "compromise" for this bill should be.
At any rate, Baucus dropped his pants, bent over and took it hard from the GOP, neutering and essentially dismembering health care reform for them in a naive attempt to create something that would make Republicans happy (no public option and some shitty attempt at non-profits). So, after toiling for weeks over this, he produces his GOP placation bill and the GOP tells him to shove it up his ass. Bravo, Max, bravo.
I only hope this serves as a lesson to the majority party: the Republicans are liars and will not pass anything related to health care reform. Any words otherwise are just a ruse to make you waste more time trying to figure out where the football is so you can try to kick it, only for them to snatch it away at the last second again. Every day that goes by is a day closer to when the GOP hopes to take a few seats out of that Democratic majority and seal the deal on meaningful reform indefinitely. Get it through your thick skulls, Democrats. The only health care bill that will get passed that reforms anything will be done in spite of the GOP, not with them. Sphere: Related Content
8 comments:
I actually think the Baucus bill is a secret ploy to undermine the Republicans' efforts against health care reform. This bill is SO bad, there's no way Baucus thought the left would pass it, and like you said, there's no public option and the Republicans STILL won't respond to it? Just more proof that the right has no interest in negotiating a deal. This bill is a prime example on why the Democrats must go it alone on health care.
Whether it was intentional or not, I hope the Democrats are receiving this message loud and clear.
I hope so too!!!
Now you’re trying to use the far rights’ own tactics against them… Not only is it not going to work (it’s a poor strategy and with so much practice they are WAY better at it) but it undermines the moral/ethical position that rightly belongs to the left (at least where health reform is concerned). The attention should be not on the political motivations and deception (which occurs heavily in both parties) but on the ideological outcome of fairness, equal rights, human dignity, and social reform. The focus should be debunking Republican concepts such as economic recovery through lowering taxes, trickledown economics, laissez faire, etc etc etc. The focus should be on exposing these policies and their current health reform plans as the profit centered, classist, and unjust strategies that they are. As a nation, we are better than this.
I have to disagree. Getting legislation passed is the most important thing here. If the GOP had something on the table as a negotiating point, then I could see where you are coming from, but they've made it blatantly and abundantly clear that the plan is to stonewall everything until 2012. They don't want the Democrats to have a single thing they can call a success in this administration because that's their one and only chance at vindication for the previous 8 years. The ethical thing to do is to see to it that this nation doesn't go another second longer than it has to with the sub-par health care system we have. If lesser values have to be temporarily put aside, so be it. The GOP has sacrificed their right to receive common decency in Congress. Kick them to the curb.
I'm all about reform without Republican support. I agree with your assessment. What I'm not about is throwing emotional tantrums or kicking them to the curb because they are "liars." Perspective is important and there is always a learning curve. You yourself probably hadn't thought twice about the need for insurance reform say two years ago (when it was just as needed but less politically salient).
I didn't think about a lot of things beyond myself about 2 years ago. However, my assessment was based solely on logic, not emotion. You have three parties (I don't mean political parties but groups with an interest here) that are in play here. You have the American people, Congress, and health care opposition which consists primarily of insurance companies. The entire purpose of the legislature is to serve the people. Therefore, Congress should make the decision which benefits the people the most; that is why they exist. The decision that benefits the people the most is a reform plan that decreases cost and increases coverage. All other goals are secondary. Those include pleasing lobbyists, protecting the exorbitant profits of the private insurance industry, and achieving the illusion of bipartisan agreement. Those are all nice things in their own ways, sure. In a perfect world, we would do all of them. But they are not listed under the job descriptions of Congress. Therefore, they are expendable goals if they stand in the way of serving the people.
There is significant evidence to suggest that some form of health care reform is imperative to the sustainability of our economy and the well being of the citizens of the nation. Therefore, it logically follows that some bill must be passed. The Republicans continue to claim that their offers of compromise are ignored, yet no Republican bill exists. As waiting for their input (which won't ever come) is one of the secondary goals I listed above (bipartisanship), it is expendable in the service of reaching the primary goal. Therefore, the conclusion is that one of the existing bills must be passed, preferably the one that benefits the American people the most. Which one is most beneficial is going to be a matter of opinion; mine is that Baucus's bill was a colossal waste of time and won't solve anything.
The reasons for kicking the GOP to the curve are, despite my inherently emotional words, nothing but logical. When progress is absolutely necessary for survival, you do not attempt to integrate hurdles into the solution. You jump over them.
I think it's ridiculous that the Democrats waste even a second trying to come up with something palatable to Republicans, because no such thing exists. If the Democrats propose it, GOP members of Congress reflexively and absolutely oppose it. The other problem is the so-called "Blue Dog" Democrats who must rely on moderate or conservative votes to get re-elected. You can be assured that they'll put their political fortunes ahead of what might be best for the country. And finally, any legislation that does not include a public option is just so much window dressing. I'm going to be one really angry voter next time around if my taxes and/or out-of-pocket health-care expenses rise for next to no real benefit to the country as a whole.
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