Private deals. Public promises.
This blog spends much time pointing out Obama's half ass commitment to many of his promises and the media's queasiness in talking him to task over much of anything. The public option is a fine example of Obama's bizarre lack of commitment to his much heralded promises. It also gets to the heart of the Obama's fundamental ambivalence and inability to lead: The opposing views of those who most vocally supported him and those who paid for his ascendancy. Keeping his base happy while dancing with off those who brought him is Obama's consistent political problem. It's the reason behind all the big showy speeches and the quiet deal making. The public option, one of Obama's many promises, pits his liberal base against the deals he made quietly with the health insurers.
To my surprise the public option is still alive and favored by most Americans. The reasons for this are twofold.
1. House Democrats have not rolled for Obama. Which says as much about their stamina as it does about Obama's inability to control his own party.
2. An insurance mandate, now a sure thing in any final bill, without a public option is infuriating and strikes many as blatantly unfair. It's akin to saying you must use U.P.S. for all postal needs. It's also a tax payer gift to the insurance companies. Or, more precisely, a form of enslavement to a segment of private sector. I know of no other federally forced purchase of a service. (Feel free to correct me.) Car insurance is mandated on the state level. The car insurance argument, recently put forth stupidly by Olbermann, is false. Forcing the purchase of health insurance on all Americans is unfair without a public option.
FDL gets to the real point: Obama does not really want a public option which is why his support for one has been increasingly tepid. I suspect that like Afghanistan and Don't ask Don't tell Obama hopes the public option issue quietly goes away. With this President, more than most, the deals he makes in private take precedence of the promises he proclaims in public.
To my surprise the public option is still alive and favored by most Americans. The reasons for this are twofold.
1. House Democrats have not rolled for Obama. Which says as much about their stamina as it does about Obama's inability to control his own party.
2. An insurance mandate, now a sure thing in any final bill, without a public option is infuriating and strikes many as blatantly unfair. It's akin to saying you must use U.P.S. for all postal needs. It's also a tax payer gift to the insurance companies. Or, more precisely, a form of enslavement to a segment of private sector. I know of no other federally forced purchase of a service. (Feel free to correct me.) Car insurance is mandated on the state level. The car insurance argument, recently put forth stupidly by Olbermann, is false. Forcing the purchase of health insurance on all Americans is unfair without a public option.
FDL gets to the real point: Obama does not really want a public option which is why his support for one has been increasingly tepid. I suspect that like Afghanistan and Don't ask Don't tell Obama hopes the public option issue quietly goes away. With this President, more than most, the deals he makes in private take precedence of the promises he proclaims in public.
Labels: public option
posted by John Smart at
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
PERMALINK
<< Home