Worse than nothing (why Max Baucus's proposal will not, and must not, pass)
I have not yet laid hands on a transcript of Obama's College Park speech today, but there are a few things that I want to address.
The bill proposed by insurance industry shill, ersatz Democrat, and all-around giant whore Max Baucus pleases neither Republicans nor real Democrats. The only people who are happy about Baucus 's massive boondoggle are the insurance companies*.
The Baucus plan combines the worst elements of liberalism and conservatism: it is intrusive, does nothing to control costs, and still does nothing to help working Americans avoid financial ruin. Baucus achieved this remarkable feat by avoiding giving the insurance company if any real competition but forcing all Americans to buy their product anyway (all of us except for illegal immigrants, that is; they would be forbidden to buy health insurance at all, which means that the rest of us would be forced to show proof of citizenship in order to obtain health care). This would be especially bad news for existing customers (I am no economist but I always thought that forcing everybody to buy the product of a company that has no competitor made customer service worse, not better). It also, in another vain attempt to appease right-wing religious extremists, restricts Americans' access to reproductive health services (no coverage for abortions) and ability to control what happens to us when we near the ends of our lives (no coverage for consultation on advance directives). Such "reform" is worse than nothing; it aggravates every problem that true reform would address. Is, in fact, the exact opposite of reform.
Fortunately, Baucus's indecent proposal is unlikely to survive even his (notoriously conservative) committee. The Republican support that Baucus pretends to be seeking (he is actually, like other "conservadems," using the myth of bipartisanship as political cover for an agenda that is entirely dictated by his corporate donors) never materialized, as it never does, and his proposal is so extremely far right that a number of Democrats on the committee have said that they cannot vote for such a bill.
Obama would do well to distance himself from Baucus and his epic failure as soon as possible. In fact I believe that it is important that he do so. For far too long, he has taken his supporters for granted, and neglected his obligation to represent the American people. It is high time that he took our side for once. Republicans have demanded that Obama denounce a number of remarks and people and he has done so with alacrity, whether or not the people so denounced were actually wrong, and despite the fact that the Republicans have yet to be satisfied with his attempts at appeasement. It is our ( his supporters') turn now. I say that Obama has a positive moral obligation to denounce the massive subsidy for health insurance companies at the expense of the middle-class Americans that Max Baucus is trying to pass off as reform. It is better to pass nothing, no matter how politically inconvenient it would be for him.
Obama, it is time to choose which is more important to you: trying to make yourself look good in the hopes of staying in the White House or doing what we the people put you in there to do.
*I would, however, differ with Wendell Potter's assessment in one important regard. The Baucus bill is not a "gift to the insurance companies," it is exactly what they paid for. At a mere $3 million, a bill that makes them hundreds of billions is a bargain for the insurance companies, but it is not a gift to them. Baucus was paid handsomely for his services.
The bill proposed by insurance industry shill, ersatz Democrat, and all-around giant whore Max Baucus pleases neither Republicans nor real Democrats. The only people who are happy about Baucus 's massive boondoggle are the insurance companies*.
The Baucus plan combines the worst elements of liberalism and conservatism: it is intrusive, does nothing to control costs, and still does nothing to help working Americans avoid financial ruin. Baucus achieved this remarkable feat by avoiding giving the insurance company if any real competition but forcing all Americans to buy their product anyway (all of us except for illegal immigrants, that is; they would be forbidden to buy health insurance at all, which means that the rest of us would be forced to show proof of citizenship in order to obtain health care). This would be especially bad news for existing customers (I am no economist but I always thought that forcing everybody to buy the product of a company that has no competitor made customer service worse, not better). It also, in another vain attempt to appease right-wing religious extremists, restricts Americans' access to reproductive health services (no coverage for abortions) and ability to control what happens to us when we near the ends of our lives (no coverage for consultation on advance directives). Such "reform" is worse than nothing; it aggravates every problem that true reform would address. Is, in fact, the exact opposite of reform.
Fortunately, Baucus's indecent proposal is unlikely to survive even his (notoriously conservative) committee. The Republican support that Baucus pretends to be seeking (he is actually, like other "conservadems," using the myth of bipartisanship as political cover for an agenda that is entirely dictated by his corporate donors) never materialized, as it never does, and his proposal is so extremely far right that a number of Democrats on the committee have said that they cannot vote for such a bill.
Obama would do well to distance himself from Baucus and his epic failure as soon as possible. In fact I believe that it is important that he do so. For far too long, he has taken his supporters for granted, and neglected his obligation to represent the American people. It is high time that he took our side for once. Republicans have demanded that Obama denounce a number of remarks and people and he has done so with alacrity, whether or not the people so denounced were actually wrong, and despite the fact that the Republicans have yet to be satisfied with his attempts at appeasement. It is our ( his supporters') turn now. I say that Obama has a positive moral obligation to denounce the massive subsidy for health insurance companies at the expense of the middle-class Americans that Max Baucus is trying to pass off as reform. It is better to pass nothing, no matter how politically inconvenient it would be for him.
Obama, it is time to choose which is more important to you: trying to make yourself look good in the hopes of staying in the White House or doing what we the people put you in there to do.
*I would, however, differ with Wendell Potter's assessment in one important regard. The Baucus bill is not a "gift to the insurance companies," it is exactly what they paid for. At a mere $3 million, a bill that makes them hundreds of billions is a bargain for the insurance companies, but it is not a gift to them. Baucus was paid handsomely for his services.