Health Care Blackmail: Merry Christmas America
After months of internal struggles, the Democratic caucus in the US Senate has passed its version of health care reform. Announcing he had at last marshaled the 60 Democratic votes necessary to shut down a Republican filibuster, majority leader Harry Reid set up a Christmas eve vote that will effectively surrender many of the key reforms supported by the progressive wing of the Democrats.
After having promised during the initial phases of the health care debate that he would not sign a bill that lacked an optional public health care alternative to compete with private insurance, President Obama, along with several key progressive Democrats, have bent over backwards to insure the continued health of the private insurance model of health care delivery. In the end, the administration and Congressional allies were willing to shelve truly systemic reform in order to appease two Democratic conservatives (Joe Lieberman (ID-CN) and Ben Nelson (D-NE) whose motives were questionable at best. In the end, with the health of millions of Americans at stake, Democrats will cave in to what can only be described as legislative blackmail.
After weeks of demanding that the Senate include strong anti-abortion language in the final bill, former insurance executive Nelson bartered his vote for a special exemption for Nebraska's Medicare payments; and Joe Lieberman once again insured the largess he regularly receives from the insurance lobby in his home state of Connecticut by lording over the death of the public option.
In order to get the watered-down reform bill passed, progressives will end up swallowing their outrage at a process that initially offered the promise of many substantive reforms only to see them shot down by back-room, last minute deals. They will have to swallow their fear that many of the key provisions of the bill won't take effect for several years, giving the GOP and its insurance industry sponsors plenty of opportunity to try to reverse the remaining gains that were secured. They will have to swallow their disgust and the political bile that goes with it.
In the health care debate of 2009, the United States has had to face serious questions regarding its sense of morality and its perception of the role government should play in the life of the nation. We have demonstrated to the world that, beyond plaudits about individual freedom, what is most important to us is maintaining the primacy of private capital over the human needs of our citizens. Merry Christmas.
After months of internal struggles, the Democratic caucus in the US Senate has passed its version of health care reform. Announcing he had at last marshaled the 60 Democratic votes necessary to shut down a Republican filibuster, majority leader Harry Reid set up a Christmas eve vote that will effectively surrender many of the key reforms supported by the progressive wing of the Democrats.
After having promised during the initial phases of the health care debate that he would not sign a bill that lacked an optional public health care alternative to compete with private insurance, President Obama, along with several key progressive Democrats, have bent over backwards to insure the continued health of the private insurance model of health care delivery. In the end, the administration and Congressional allies were willing to shelve truly systemic reform in order to appease two Democratic conservatives (Joe Lieberman (ID-CN) and Ben Nelson (D-NE) whose motives were questionable at best. In the end, with the health of millions of Americans at stake, Democrats will cave in to what can only be described as legislative blackmail.
After weeks of demanding that the Senate include strong anti-abortion language in the final bill, former insurance executive Nelson bartered his vote for a special exemption for Nebraska's Medicare payments; and Joe Lieberman once again insured the largess he regularly receives from the insurance lobby in his home state of Connecticut by lording over the death of the public option.
In order to get the watered-down reform bill passed, progressives will end up swallowing their outrage at a process that initially offered the promise of many substantive reforms only to see them shot down by back-room, last minute deals. They will have to swallow their fear that many of the key provisions of the bill won't take effect for several years, giving the GOP and its insurance industry sponsors plenty of opportunity to try to reverse the remaining gains that were secured. They will have to swallow their disgust and the political bile that goes with it.
In the health care debate of 2009, the United States has had to face serious questions regarding its sense of morality and its perception of the role government should play in the life of the nation. We have demonstrated to the world that, beyond plaudits about individual freedom, what is most important to us is maintaining the primacy of private capital over the human needs of our citizens. Merry Christmas.
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