In today's email from my Congresscritter Nancy Pelosi, I was glad to see this:
The contours of how to move on are totally obvious: compromise and fix as much as of the accumulated dreck in the existing Senate bill as possible through an amending reconciliation measure requiring only 50 votes. Then the House passes the existing Senate bill with the reconciliation amendments. No obstructing Republicans need be involved.[In the last session of Congress,] the House and Senate both passed landmark health insurance reform legislation that will lower costs to consumers, preserve and provide choice of doctors and health plans, ensure peace of mind that coverage can't be delayed or denied, and expand access to affordable health coverage for millions of Americans. I look forward to sending a final bill that meets these core principles of health insurance reform to the President's desk as soon as possible.
Democrats look like champions, not chumps.
How complicated is that? Everyone needs to call their Democratic reps and demand action.
And let's stop blaming the screaming Left for the difficulties getting this done. When the Left screams, it is because people are dying for lack of health care and fear (or fact) of bankruptcy. Progressives have compromised away single payer, and medicare for all, and the public option for next to nothing. If this crashes, it is not their fault. And it need not crash.
I don't know the original source of the graphic on this post. It came to me passed around in email, possibly in union circles.
3 comments:
"Democrats look like champions, not chumps." ...except for very excessive truncation of earned senior benefits, planned for during a long career. None of the excellence in cancer care, which means survival with excellent quality of life, will be available under any of the proposed revisions. Our stats are consistently MUCH better than Canada and England for that reason. And all proposed plans cost WAY too much, this will bankrupt us totally, it would mean the end of America's greatness. And REQUIRE American small business entrepreneurs to buy health insurance?? This cannot fly, it would mean no new jobs. Sorry, this is some kind of dreamstate, it must be back to the drawing boards, this will take long years and involve much more prevention. Both the Democrats and the Republicans ARE chumps, actually the Republicans somewhat less so in this new time, as Bush's mistakes become a fading memory. TexasIndependent
I suspect that much of what Jim says is simply untrue, though I am sure he believes it.
I believe that the thing they passed errs in the opposite direction, too much of a giveaway to insurance companies, doctors and hospitals, meaning that we will all continue to pay for too much doctor-enriching pseudo-care.
Maybe we are both wrong. But establishing the principle that a wealthy society should organize itself so that no one is unable to go to the doctor is a no-brainer.
Without deteriorating into a back and forth, there is nothing untrue about anything that I have stated, rather it is all explicitly true. I am a cancer activist, I study this continually. This is the problem, Jan, that idealists, who are not well studied, have their feet planted firmly in midair. Come back to earth. We are on the verge of losing, forever, our status as a wealthy society and our greatness in the world because of it. Whatever our problems, whoever would replace us in that role is a far worse choice for the world. Only jobs will save our economy. Only freedom from this kind of burden will create jobs. Surely the insurance industry only cares about power and profits, as does the pharmaceutical industry and the medical lobby and hospital sector. But doctors themselves are suffering. They will no longer be able to take medicare. None of the highpriced drugs currently available will be in the formularies under the proposed plans. This is not untrue, this is where the rubber meets the road. We have to get real. This has been a compassionate dream. It will take years for much of this to be realized in a workable form, sad to say. This is just the blank unvarnished truth.
I appreciate your compassion. I wish it were achievable. In trying to help the unhelpable, we are throwing away those who have earned the right to security, survival, and well being in retirement, along with the chance for a return to a vibrant economy.
All the best,
Jim, in Texas, an Independent
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