BSHCRSANDWICH

So now the Veal Pen is down to demanding that liberal/progressives in congress pass this abortion of a HCR, which does not have single payer or any public option at all. It does however require us all to buy health insurance from private companies or be fined through the IRS. It essentially fines people who have been able to negotiate good benefits through their employers by taxing those benefits, and in this way punishes unions for getting these benefits for their members. It also promises (in addition to promising the insurance companies 31 million new customers) the pharmaceutical industry uncontrolled profits unlike they see in any other country in the world.

Now if you are found to be poor enough (although I'm not sure what "enough" means here) the government will pay your insurance or at maybe just a portion of your insurance. Want to bet me that portion will be under 100%? In the end of course the middle class will pay through taxes, or perhaps those subsidizes will be "borrowed" from Social Security to help the undeserving poor. There is no control over the insurance (or pharmaceutical) costs. There is no real regulatory agency and there is no ability for the individual states to try their own version of single payer.

What do we get? We get the promise that sometime later on because we have gotten HCR right now, which isn't anything but a pay off to the various industries who control health care in this country, that later we will be able to come back and to fight again. Now this fight will be easier because we have gotten this bill which provides us with literally nothing, you see.

There is no explanation as to why or how this bill which the entire democratic power structure and their veal pens say is reform, but isn't, will make the next round easier. There is only the old "camel's nose in the tent" argument. There is no explanation as to why Medicare isn't the camel's nose in the tent so that this should be so much easier this time. Just that we've got to do this because now is the best chance we will have. Well if this is the best chance we will have then it will not get better and it will not be improved upon.

Krugman argues that we should not support Dodd's bill to re-regulate the financial industry because that bill is nothing but smoke and mirrors and once it is passed then no real reform will happen. Do you believe his explanation of the difference between that and HCR.

I am also sick and tired of the argument that this bill is "the good," as in the phrase: "The best is the enemy of good enough." If this bill is "good enough" (and I think that I accurately described it up above) then I'd be interested in seeing what would be bad enough to make the veal pen and fake liberals oppose it. Or maybe not.

Finally, all these people in congress signed a pledge not to vote for HCR that didn't include a public option. Now all but a few (thanks Dennis) are backing out on their pledge. But would you like to guess who is getting the flack (that would be you again Dennis) for opposing it. Full court press being put on against Kucinich by the lefty blogs and the WH. Now when Leiberman opposed all sorts of things the lefty blogs threw a fit, but the WH was noticeable for it's reticence as was the leadership of the senate. Lieberman apparently opposed just what the WH and leadership wanted, but he still has his chairmanships and power.

The really crazy thing is that it appears that there are enough votes to pass some kind of public option, but the WH and all the leadership made sure that wouldn't happen. So where does that leave us right now? Looks like we (and by we I mean the people who are the workers and middle class in this country) are going to get to eat another shit sandwich, much like NAFTA. We are going to end up more marginalized and more powerless and the wealthy are going to get to control more and more (not that they don't control most of every thing now).