Good point from John
Point from John Avarosis in his post here.
I'd go one step further. I don't care if Obama is a progressive, a communist, or a Martian. And I suspect most of the left is already convinced that the man is no progressive - or if he is in his heart, his heart clearly does not dictate his actions. Rather than worrying about labels, I want him, and expect him, to keep his promises and advance the interests and values (both, not just one) of our party. What's repeatedly upsetting me, and others, I think, is that Obama appears to spend a lot of time worrying about being liked, and not nearly as much on substance. And if he doesn't care about substance, if he doesn't really care either way as to how every policy debate ends, so long as he can claim victory regardless, then his promises on this, and every other bit of policy making, are meaningless.
I couldn't agree with him more. There seems to be a strange fascination with bipartisanship. This is completely confusing to me. If people from different parties can hash out a deal that addresses all of their concerns than that is great. But that doesn't mean it is the best bill possible. Bipartisanship is playing politics. I want the best health insurance bill to come out of the government and I don't care if it is the bill put forward by the liberals, the conservatives, or the girls scouts of america that does it.
Lets look at what parts need to be addressed. What parts of the system need to be reformed and start from there. All people then can throw out their ideas about how such and such a problem can be fixed. The problem with this mold is that it requires everyone to want what is best for the country - the best legislation to past. Assuming we could get over that hump, we would then have a 'bipartisan' bill that would address many of the problems being brought up.
The fiasco before us, well, we don't' have that. We have a handful of media-hogs who care little about the substance of the bill. The presidents team doesn't seem to mind what is actually in the health care bill, maybe a public option, maybe single payer, maybe insurance company tax breaks, heck, maybe even extra money to fight off Godzilla if he attacks. Regardless of what is in there, Obamacons will claim it as a victory. Sadly, they are not our allies on this, their bar for success is so low.
This whole debate is all show. It is all the splendor of politics. But hey guys, politics aside, this bill has to do something in order to make it a better solution instead of being just A solution.
I'd go one step further. I don't care if Obama is a progressive, a communist, or a Martian. And I suspect most of the left is already convinced that the man is no progressive - or if he is in his heart, his heart clearly does not dictate his actions. Rather than worrying about labels, I want him, and expect him, to keep his promises and advance the interests and values (both, not just one) of our party. What's repeatedly upsetting me, and others, I think, is that Obama appears to spend a lot of time worrying about being liked, and not nearly as much on substance. And if he doesn't care about substance, if he doesn't really care either way as to how every policy debate ends, so long as he can claim victory regardless, then his promises on this, and every other bit of policy making, are meaningless.
I couldn't agree with him more. There seems to be a strange fascination with bipartisanship. This is completely confusing to me. If people from different parties can hash out a deal that addresses all of their concerns than that is great. But that doesn't mean it is the best bill possible. Bipartisanship is playing politics. I want the best health insurance bill to come out of the government and I don't care if it is the bill put forward by the liberals, the conservatives, or the girls scouts of america that does it.
Lets look at what parts need to be addressed. What parts of the system need to be reformed and start from there. All people then can throw out their ideas about how such and such a problem can be fixed. The problem with this mold is that it requires everyone to want what is best for the country - the best legislation to past. Assuming we could get over that hump, we would then have a 'bipartisan' bill that would address many of the problems being brought up.
The fiasco before us, well, we don't' have that. We have a handful of media-hogs who care little about the substance of the bill. The presidents team doesn't seem to mind what is actually in the health care bill, maybe a public option, maybe single payer, maybe insurance company tax breaks, heck, maybe even extra money to fight off Godzilla if he attacks. Regardless of what is in there, Obamacons will claim it as a victory. Sadly, they are not our allies on this, their bar for success is so low.
This whole debate is all show. It is all the splendor of politics. But hey guys, politics aside, this bill has to do something in order to make it a better solution instead of being just A solution.