A Few Perspectives On Health Care

Now that the initial euphoria following the success of health care reform has passed, here are a few perspectives on it's passage:

What Atrios said from "This Modern World" by Tom Tomorrow

Republicans face drawbacks of united stand on health bill New York Times (excellent article!)

How the Senate will tackle healthcare reform Salon.com

More on those "neutralized" special interests by Glenn Greenwald

America, here are ten things you've just won with health care reform Alternet/Mother Jones

And a few from the "loyal opposition":

Gov. Mitch Daniels on healthcare reform from Jim Shella's Political Blog

The ten most outrageous right wing freakouts over the health care bill Alternet

13 (GOP) attorneys general file lawsuit against health reform Raw Story

Last, but not least:

March Madness

Sunday night, the biggest cheers were not for the NCAA basketball tournament, nor were all eyes on "Sportscenter".  They were on C-Span.

The Vote:

The Reaction:

Massachusetts (not the Bee Gees song)

Like a lot of other Democrats, I am still trying to make sense of what happened yesterday in Massachusetts.  Here's my take.

Welcome to the Democratic Party, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.  I cannot believe it was a tidal wave of Republican anger/energy.  After all, Coakley was up thirty points not that long ago.  Then she took that ill timed vacation.  Hey, when you are Barack Obama you can do that.  Coakley is no Barack Obama.

 

Coakley is being thrown under the bus as we speak.  Is it totally deserved?  Maybe not, but Democrats are doing it anyway to avoid the acknowledging that this may truly be a sign of things to come.  This along with the losses in New Jersey, Virginia and the loss of the Olympic bid for Chicago.  Can you believe that we may have reached a point, one year removed from Inauguration Day, that Democrats may say, "No, thanks" to a Presidential visit during their campaign?  Particularly from a President once so popular and magnetic? 

 

There may be another factor at work here: the Obama voter.  2008 was a special election, maybe once in a lifetime.  A perfect storm where Republicans were apathetic while independents and Democrats were electrified.  Fast forward to 2010.  Republicans are energized and smell blood in the water.  Independents are apathetic at best and may be pissed at Obama.  Democrats are disappointed over what has been done (bank bailout, auto bailout, Afghanistan) and what has not (real health care reform, public option, strong leadership from the White House, etc...). 

 

Those voters who came together in 2008, particularly in New Jersey, Virginia and Massachusetts, may be saying, "Before we vote for who you want us to vote for, how about doing what we want: help the economy, not Wall Street.  Rethink Afghanistan.  Fight for the public option, dammit.  We put you in office, and you are going to need us to stay there."

A Minor Rant

Or, to acknowledge the Bill Hicks album, a "Rant in A Minor".

I read a Voice of the People letter in today's South Bend Tribune bashing Rep. Joe Donnelly's vote for health care reform (I guess they're calling it insurance reform now).  The writer called it "a vote for a government takeover of our healthcare system". 

Where is the government takeover?  Progressives wanted single payer, settled for a public option and got neither.  What we are dickering over now is a bill which will help people but amounts to a watered down version of a watered down public option compromise.  The only government role will be some modified regulatory power that they had to begin with. 

Another argument is the money being spent.  People, we stopped counting our money about seven Presidents ago.  It's all theoretical at this point, just paper passing from one hand to another if it's even seen at all.  Do you think that when you hear about a professional athlete's salary, a big business merger or a government's budget that there are people transporting wheelbarrows full of cash from one account to another?  If our debt were "real", it could be called in by Saudi Arabia or China at any time.  There is a fictional movie called "Rollover" which supposes what would happen if Saudi Arabia did call on our marker.  It's not pretty.

I guess what I am trying to say is this: relax.  Too much thinking will just give you a headache.