Health Care Reform (continued)

Looks like the Republicans might get there wish. No public option and maybe no reform at all of health care.

It’s great to see the Republicans take a small kernel of truth and then wrap lie upon lie upon lie around it. Have Governor Quitter and that blow hard of a former Speaker of the House make all sorts of outrageous claims. Use it to terrify people. Use it to pack town hall meetings and smile and say the people are against this.

It shows they will stop at nothing to get their way. As always, their party comes first before the country. If there were any sort of Republican plan, I might not think this but there is no Republican plan. They see the health care issue as a way back into power. They don’t care at all about solving the problems with health care. After all if they did so, they would have to take on one of their biggest supporters the health insurance industry.

There's a very interesting article in the Post In Defense of Britain's Health System.

Here's the final paragraph of the piece. It makes some great points:

Fear is the weapon of choice for opponents of reform who have no substantive alternative to offer. America spends five times the share of its national wealth on health as Singapore, and yet life expectancy in each country is roughly the same. Even allowing for other factors, it is undeniable that the way a health system is organized and operated makes a difference. Americans fear that countries such as Britain and Canada ration care -- and that such rationing could and should never be tolerated in the United States. Yet 47 million uninsured is quite an extreme form of rationing. So at this moment, the burden of proof falls upon those who oppose change -- for they stand in defense of fear.

But, I have to say the Republicans can’t get all the credit. The Democrats needed to push back much sooner and in a much more sophisticated way. They characterized the people attending these town hall meetings as being undemocratic which was a mistake. They needed to characterize the behavior they exhibited in the meeting as being undemocratic. I think they could have scored points on that one. Also Obama should have come out much sooner on this then he did. He should have help his town hall meetings a week earlier.

But the town hall meetings, while blowing a great deal of very hot air, are not going to be the make or break on this issue. It’s when Congress comes back from their August recess after Labor Day (as a quick aside wish I had a job where I could get that much time off). Then will get a real sense of where we are with health care "reform".

I hope Obama will be good and rested from his vacation because he’s going to have to devote all of his energy to get this bill done and passed.