According to a document apparently leaked to The Huffington Post, it looks like a definite possibility.
So, as I've been saying repeatedly: It's kind of hard to galvanize enthusiasm among those on the Left for health care reform (or "health insurance reform" as the Dems have now decided to characterize it -- not a very good sign...) if in the end we're really just talking about some piece of shit neoliberal industrial re-shifting.
If there turns out to be no public option on the table, that's basically the straw that will break the camel's back as far as I'm concerned. I'll still be quick to point out what a bunch of liars and hacks the Republican so-called response is, but that's about it.
To his credit, Obama is doing exactly what he said he would be doing, which is forging compromises and getting the ball rolling on matters that are way way way overdue. But if this reform plan ends up doing nothing to lower the costs of prescriptions and care and to finally stick it to the 100% parasitic health insurance industry, then I'm basically just going to retreat back into my world of bleeding heart utopian daydreaming and soporific 12-string acoustic guitar arpeggios. That'll be it for giving a shit about politics. At least until the fascists start taking over for real......
Maybe I'm in a bit of a down mood. Gotta go watch some House.
Friday, August 14, 2009
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If the "public option" is removed and if the insurance industry prevents us from prohibiting them from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions, then what "reform" are we even talking about any more. If it comes to that, I'll play flute while you play the 12-string acoustic. Then after our brief musical interlude maybe we can throw up some picket lines around all the major insurance company headquarters and start on some real health care reform.
If the "public option" is removed and if the insurance industry prevents us from prohibiting them from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions, then what "reform" are we even talking about any more.
An exceedingly good point.
Obama is playing his cards close to his chest at the moment, and, as I have remarked, I usually don't begrudge his use of that tactic. He's very good at allowing political tensions to crest in order to get all of the detritus out of the debate -- almost like cleaning one's gutter. The same thing happens every time, and every time the media begin to write him off or declare prematurely the political measure to be a failure, etc....
Then, Obama steps in to take a more active role at precisely the moment in which he is assured maximum political leverage for the cause at hand. What drives me crazy is that, while waiting for that political energy to boil over, simmer down and reassert itself in a more positive direction, it always feels like things are in danger of falling apart completely.
This is one of those moments...
The brilliance of Obama is that he knows how to encourage people to involve themselves in these political clashes intellectually, morally and emotionally: Oftentimes, his method of doing so is to step aside so that ordinary folks like me feel compelled to take a stand. Unfortunately, this process can be quite taxing on one's nervous system...
And while questions persist about deals he may or may not have brokered, it's hard not to have some anxieties about what the bill will look like...
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