The Health Care Post

Update: For a great account similar to what I’m saying, check out Cenk Uygur, who compares the passage of health care to ‘Mission Accomplished’ in Iraq.

And in the interest of transparency, here are a number of people who take a rosier view of the bill while still being honest about the nature of the process: Robert Reich, Robert Kuttner, Lawrence Lessig, Matthew Yglesias, and Kevin Drum.  They don’t go as far as I do.  I see this bill as a pretty big indication that Obama frankly either lied about his intentions (most explicitly on the public option and drug re-importation, what I’d argue would have been the two most effective strategies for making insurance and drugs more affordable for people and the government.  See Greenwald- he killed them both) or more charitably, failed to initiate anything resembling ‘change’ in Washington.  But be that as it may, at least they have the journalistic integrity (I won’t impugn Kuttner’s integrity, but I do think he’s just wrong about Obama on this one- turn to any other issue and it’s impossible to claim he’s learned any kind of lesson here) not to swallow the claim that anyone ‘beat’ the special interests.  That may be good politics, but it’s also, to all of our detriment’s, a complete lie.  I’d like to get beat like the special interests do if that’s the case.

————————————————-

When looking at what the health care reform bill achieves, I’m confident that we needed to pass it.  Shit, Chomsky felt like we needed to pass it.

But when I look at how we got here, I’m horrified by the precedent that has been set.

Because what it says is that those most responsible for a social problem must be bought off and begged for that problem to be addressed.  This is a fundamentally unsustainable (in every way) proposition.  Chris Hayes had a piece out in January that was probably the single best explanation I’ve yet found of the nature of our current predicament:

So what, exactly, is it that ails us?

In pondering the answer, it’s useful to distinguish between two separate categories of problems we face. The first are the human, economic and ecological disasters that demand immediate action: a grossly inefficient healthcare sector, millions un- or underinsured, 10 percent unemployment, a planet that’s warming, soaring personal bankruptcies, 12 million immigrants working in legal limbo, the list goes on. But the deeper problem, the ultimate cause of many of the first-order problems, is the perverse maldistribution of power in the country: too much in too few hands. It didn’t happen overnight, of course, and the devolution has been analyzed and decried by a host of writers and thinkers in these very pages.

It’s also not the first time. Indeed, the story of the American Republic is the never-ending task of redistributing power that always seems to collect and pool and re-form, a cycle in which we break up the power trusts, only to find them reassembling, Terminator 2-like, and requiring yet another dose of the founders’ revolutionary fervor to be broken up again.

The central and unique paradox of our politics at this moment, however, is that our institutions are so broken, the government so sclerotic and dysfunctional, that in almost all cases, from financial bailouts to health insurance mandates, the easiest means of addressing the first set of problems is to take steps that exacerbate the second.

And that leaves us in a position of gross insecurity, depending on the benevolence of concentrated, and greatly advanced power, whom we must hope will deign to consider our needs.

This is not, to be fair, entirely unprecedented.  But it has now been definitively confirmed to be not just an anomaly, but a trend.  This is how things are done now.  The Senate climate(?)/energy/jobs bill further confirms that trend.  Instead of starting with what’s necessary and then diminishing it from there, we now start with what we think we can get this group of people to agree to (also, this group of people).  Get ready folks, we are entering a period of extended capitulation.

It’s as though the government has been reduced to the level of a corrupt police force, forced to pay off not only Mr. Potter, the petty drug dealers and assassins, but also the local ‘convenience’ store and evil gas station, to get any services to the local residents.  No one in their right mind would respect that kind of authority.  But that is what every indication seems to point to about where we’re going, in no small part because while our community is having trouble with the current authorities, it has every reason to be existentially terrified about the gang trying to move in on their turf.  At least our guys can sweet-talk the above mentioned criminals into doling out any services at all.

Not only did this bill set a destructive precedent in terms of necessitating that we can only solve problems by empowering the causers of them (which should give you a hint as to whether the problem is truly solved), it also set the precedent that ‘reform’ only happens when some of our most undervalued members of society, like Latinos (to be fair, National Council de La Raza ended up supporting what passed) or Women (NOW alone in its furious response to Obama’s executive order) get unambiguously fucked over and told that their concerns are marginal to the ‘greater good’, so could you quit whining and get back in the kitchen/field while the White guys figure out how to solve your problem?

Finally, let’s not forget that at the end of the day this was an essentially Republican bill (Robert Reich also good) that they didn’t even have to vote on to get it passed- they basically got Democrats so freaked out they couldn’t pass their own.

All in all, you’ll have to forgive me for feeling somewhat less than jubilant when I look at the landscape of other issues in store for us (climate/energy, education, jobs/finance, military/civil liberties).  I say this all not to be a downer, but because it is imperative that we be honest about where we’re at, and the steps that need to be taken for addressing not just the symptoms of our dysfunctional system but its core- concentrated corporate power.  Anything less than a recognition that we have not truly advanced toward fundamental change, and need to figure out how we do that as soon as possible, strikes me as lacking.

On the other hand, as I hope to get to soon, I do think the immigration rally that I attended on Sunday really does point toward an awakening that may have some hope for setting a different kind of precedent- a people’s precedent.

But it’s late, and I’m dumb for being up now already, so hopefully I’ll get to that by like, I dunno, Saturday?

Peace,
Joel

This Is Gonna Get Interesting

If Dennis Kucinich got the concession that Jane Hamsher and Chris Bowers think he may have gotten, he will have just gone from a like to a love in my book.  And I’ll need to sign up for Markos’ twitter feed again to see how he handles it.

If on the other hand he got a promise from the folks that brought you the Lieberman compromise, well, as Jane Hamsher says, there’s gonna be hell to pay.  Not so much by me, because I didn’t contribute and am too emotionally bombed out to get more frustrated right now, but you know, by the folks who contributed $16,000 to him for taking his stand.

Just for my own amusement, here’s the Lando Deal again.  If only we had a Darth Progressivus, man, we’d be unstoppable:

Peace,
Joel

At The Risk of Irritating Theda Skocpol

Equating reproductive rights activists and forced childbirth activists’ objections as ‘extremist posturing’ is simply lazy logic, it’s disrespectful, and it’s exactly the kind of thinking that is devastating the Democratic Party and our opportunity to make real change here.  While we’re in the trade of questioning each others’ motives, as Ms. Skocpol does, it looks like she is suffering from a case of overexposure to talking-points, and ought to consider listening closer to the people she criticizes.

I happen to agree with her, I think we ought to pass health insurance ‘reform’.  As a matter of fact, so does a leading progressive, who she ignores in her attack on Adam Green, who has been pushing for Grayson’s proposal to push for a public option in addition to the easier to pass, but utterly insufficient bill under consideration.

But her disdain for progressives who believe that private insurance and corporate authoritarianism are the nature of the problem, and for those who believe that reproductive choice is a human rights and economic issue central to self-determination and welfare for all (not just women) shows that she has no respect for these things as core values, and advocates for those who hold them to abandon them because frankly, she and Obama know better.  It also shows that she has no interest in listening to the things ‘our side’ has actually been saying and fighting for for months, with little upper level support.  What a leader.

Peace,
Joel

ps. it is here that I am particularly wary of the Coffee Party, despite it’s very real potential for good.  Some on ‘our side’ have already taken to calling others among us obstructionists despite being the ones pushing for the best version of the bill.  This inability to distinguish between principles and posturing will be a strong signal that as above, the individual or movement in question is uninterested in doing more than serving as yet another uncritical stenographer of the official story.  I hope that doesn’t turn out to be the case, but it bears keeping vigilant for.

Health Care Update, or, For the Love of God, When Will This Ordeal Be Over?

Chris Bowers and Jon Walker have what are, to me, among the simplest explanations of where health care is at/going.

1. Given the Republicans’ simply, shocking and unpredictable-given-their-conciliatory-spirit-of-the-last-decade refusal to cooperate at the health care summit, Obama will be pushing for a version of health care that can be passed via reconciliation.
2. Chris, linked above, indicates that some pretty key people have signaled no on the public option.  That being said, Jon Walker makes it clear that it would be relatively easy for a Senator to at the very least put forward the amendment for it, which would force Senate Democrats to come out definitively once and for all, for or against.  If nothing else, this would allow those of us that are public option advocates to identify who we would like to primary to get better health care legislation in future.  And if none of the Senators (now 30 of them) who have signaled their support for the public option don’t offer it as an amendment… that would be lame of them.
3. That being said, the House is still in a difficult place.  They passed their version by the narrowest of margins, and it will take a lot to get them to pass the further watered down and neutered bill that the Senate is likely to pass.
4. Jon Walker makes the point that right now, the critical thing is for the Democrats to really buckle down on popular parts of the bill and pass and message them.  Right now they are bogged down in Senate procedure, which no one outside of the political world gives a shit about (Chris Hayes has a great diagram that shows the conundrum Senate Dems are in- and ultimately illuminates the necessity of changing Senate procedure).  All people will remember is whether the Dems managed to pass it, and if it contained good stuff.  It behooves us to make it as full of good stuff (public option, medicare buy-in, banning of exclusion based on pre-existing conditions) and lacking in bad stuff (mandates for private/unregulated insurance, excise tax, giveaways to drug companies) as possible.

That’s all for tonight.  This week will likely be a bit slow on blogging as was last week, I’ve been kinda busy/enjoying not thinking too hard about politics.  What can I say, sometimes I relish a Cavs game (even when they slaughter my pre-Ohio hometown by a thirty point margin, approaching a fifty point margin for much of the second half).  But anyway.

Peace,
Joel

The News Of Its Death, And His Leadership, Were Greatly Exaggerated

It of course refers to the public option, which has at this point 24 official supporters with about 8 that, with stronger leadership, I bet would be more forthcoming.

His, of course, refers to Obama.  Who despite claiming that he supported it released his health care proposal today (in keeping with his promise to Republicans), sans public option.

To a discerning fellow, it would appear that, not having utilized this moment to, you know, do anything to make it realized in policy, Obama does not in fact support a public option:

You can’t claim to support an idea if you are unwilling to make it part of your own proposal. Since the package is designed to pass using reconciliation, the fact that Joe Lieberman, Blanche Lincoln, and Ben Nelson are against the public option is irrelevant. The public option already passed the House, and Sen. Tom Harkin said a public option had the support of a majority of senators, so there is no reason it cannot be passed through budget reconciliation. Joe Lieberman may have played the part of the anti-public option boogeyman before, but now Obama is stepping up to prevent the PO from coming to fruition.

Just to be clear, you can’t “support” something if you make no effort to see that it passes. If you do things that directly harm its chances of becoming law, like not include it in your health care proposal, then you are against it. But don’t worry, even as Obama takes steps to make sure that people don’t have an alternative to the private insurance companies that helped ruin our health care system, he did take steps to make sure you face an even bigger IRS penalty if you refuse to buy the poorly regulated product from the private insurance companies.

Precisely.  At this point, one might think that President Obama’s relatively recent declaration of, albeit tepid, support for the public option was disingenuous- or a lie.  The White House now maintains that it’s up to Harry Reid (who has come out in support of using reconciliation and the public option, while not signing the letter), but this amounts at this point to little more than “do I really still have to deal with this?”

This doesn’t mean the end for the public option necessarily, Chris Bowers suggests a medicare buy-in as an easily reconcilable form of public option, but it is an obstacle.  Think about that.  Barack Obama is setting himself as an obstacle to the more dramatic, more necessary restructuring of our health care system.  How far we’ve come.

Peace,
Joel

Update: Apparently John Rockefeller is not supporting the public option via reconciliation- a major disappointment to be sure, but hopefully not a truly crippling one.

It Just Keeps Getting Better and Better

Oh.

Shit!

Readers will recall that as of last year Arlen Specter was, you know, a Republican.  That he has signed the letter calling for the passage of a public option through reconciliation is likely in no small part due to the fact that he is being primaried from the left by Joe Sestak, whose campaign has consistently pushed Specter into more Demmy territory.  So thanks Joe!  Bringing Specter on board lends this even more credibility.

This thing has got a real shot yall.  Keep those calls coming- there are a number of Senators who still haven’t even signed (I’d be surprised if John Rockefeller doesn’t eventually sign, he was a big proponent of the better version of the public option- tied to medicare rates rather than independently negotiated- a while back) who are likelies.

And Reid’s support, given the indications we’ve seen from team Obama (though their independent proposal is less encouraging), suggests we could be on the verge of a real turning point (again.)  Let’s hope this one sticks.

Peace,
Joel

ps. oh yeah, KEEP CALLING!

Well, Damn

This shit’s getting exciting.

Let’s see where it goes.

Call!

Peace,
Joel

Do Democracy, Episode VI: Momentum Building for Return of the Public Option Using Reconciliation! Keep Calling!

Since my last episode of Do Democracy, 34 Senators have piled on to support the use of reconciliation to pass health care (Reid says he’s open to it), with 20 of them (including Chuck Schumer, a particularly influential Dem on health care- also check this link for relatively consistent updates) definitively supporting inclusion of the public option.  Meanwhile the White House has said nothing, it seems likely that they will hedge their bets until the February 25th ‘bipartisan’ health care summit.

It is absolutely essential that we have as much support for health care passage using reconciliation (aka without the Republicans) and with a public option.  I’ve felt for a while that the signs are clear that Obama simply has a different vision for what he wants to accomplish than I do, and thought he did when we elected him.  And while I had hoped that the Coakley defeat would wake him up to the need to define himself more against Republicans, I don’t think that’s happened yet.  He seems still tied to a corporatist, over-conciliatory posture that I fear will only more deeply embed the problems we face.  As I see it, the progressive moement’s goal ought to be to do whatever it can to knock him off this course and on to a better one.  This is one opportunity to do that.

We’re already showing that while other factions are stumped and doing nothing but whine and waste time, we are the ones dragging this agenda along.  Maybe (I pray), this will finally convince the leadership where their most dedicated supporters are, where they ought to hitch their efforts.

But anyway, the point of this post is, if your Senator/Representative isn’t on this list, keep calling.  Every day.  And tell your friends. If they are on the list, thank them, and maybe call someone else from your area.  But keep pushing, not to get all mushy and shit, but this is what democracy looks like.

Peace,
Joel

Do Democracy, Episode V: Thank Senators Brown, Merkley, Bennet, Leahy, Kerry, Franken, Whitehouse and Gillibrand for Continuing the Fight for the Public Option in the Senate!

Man I love Sherrod Brown right now.  And I’m gonna call him to tell him so tomorrow.

Consistent readers of my blog will remember my last episode of Do Democracy, in which I suggested that you call your representative (especially in Ohio, which then had not contributed any signers) and tell them to sign on to the letter demanding that a public option version of health care be passed through the Senate using the reconciliation option.  I’m gonna let wikipedia explain this better than I can, but the long and short of it is that it bypasses the filibuster (the target of future Do Democracy episodes, you better believe it- partisanship by liberals the reason the Senate sucks, god I dislike toady Evan Bayh…)

Fast forward to now, when the letter has 119 House signers and 8 Senate signers!  Despite Reid and Pelosi pooh-poohing the idea, it is gaining momentum and support.  We need to show Democrats that we dig momentum and leadership, not abandonment, cluelessness and not-leadership.  At a time when some of these clowns are actually considering adopting failed Republican ideas, running away from all the promises they made in 2008, there are some members of congress trying to live up to our expectations of them.  Thank them, and let them know you’ve got their back in November if they continue to fight like true progressives (god damn it!)

If you wanna read and sign this letter yourself as a citizen, check it out here.  One thing I love about this letter, that I’ll talk about in depth in a future post, is that it not only defends the public option, but it combats the bullshit meme that fiscal responsibility = conservative principles of social service cutting.  Fiscal responsibility can (and I’d argue usually does) equate simply to better designed social services (shocking, I know).  It also chips away at the filibuster, as I see it a hugely anti-democratic impediment to governance, by showing how only with its removal (in this instance, via reconciliation) can real policy momentum take place.

If your Senator is not a signer yet, check out OpenLeft where they’re enlisting citizen-journalist help to help whip to find out how many Senators are definitively in play either way.  You wanna talk about doing democracy?  How about doing the Senate Majority Leader’s job because he’s wussing out?

As David Dayen puts it, “Democrats are choking in a desert looking for results right now, Bennet and these other Senators are at least offering that path out of the desert.” Seriously.  While wimps like Evan Bayh are peacing, progressives are doing the actual work of, you know, governing. I like it when we govern.

Peace,
Joel

VICTORY! And Thanks

There’s of course no way of knowing (short of asking their staff directly) whether calls in made any kind of difference, but as of this writing, three Ohio Representatives have signed the letter calling for passage of a public option using the reconciliation procedure, which would bypass a Senate filibuster!  This brings us to 107!

Thus, I thank the three badass lady Representatives (figures) for their leadership: Marcy Kaptur, Betty Sutton and Mary Jo Kilroy.

But just as importantly I officially thank everyone who, whether at Citizen Obie’s behest or not, called in to voice their concerns and advocate for themselves.  Democracy has gotta happen outside of the voting booth, and this small side-path of health care reform will hopefully bring results.  It remains to be seen.  But every action is important, if only in changing citizens’ perceptions of their own power and importance, as well as the politicians’ perception of same.  If you called, be proud of yourself (god damn it!), and if you didn’t- there are plenty of other opportunities to do your thing.

Peace,
Joel

ps. now on to Kucinich, Fudge and Ryan.  Cleveland stand up!