I know that I am supposed to have a Pavlovian response whenever I hear Blue Dog democrat (scum!) but are they really the axis of evil?
Obama continually tells us that the escalating costs of health care will wreck the economy, and yet everyone agrees the bills being considered will do nothing to rein in costs; to the contrary they will increase obviously as the 47 million come on board.
Would it really be that awful to incorporate some cost constraints? How many times does the CBO have to point out all the alleged "savings" are smoke and mirrors?
As I have written before, its fascinating to me that we don't do medical tort reform first. There is significant savings to be had, and just as importantly the psychological fear the current system imposes on doctors creates a culture of over treating not seen in any other western society.
Medical tort abuses distort society and impose many costs over and beyond the 5% toll it supposedly inflicts on us. Any anyways, whats so bad with "merely" saving 5%? As far as I can see the states that have passed meaningful medical tort reform have not dissolved into chaos.
Take Medicare for example. The blue dogs correctly point out that absolutely nothing is being done to prevent its growth from destroying our country, despite the fact that the solution is very well known (trim benefits modestly; implement cost controls).
There are no examples of universal health care anywhere in the world that do not contain major cost controls, and thats for a reason. The current democratic bills in various forms are a typical political response to a problem – all of the honey, none of the vinegar. We have been passing these sorts of bills for 30 years because its the only kind we can get the votes on; I understand that. Lets bankrupt our kids instead; at least we will be dead by then hopefully.
I am almost a one issue voter. I want universal health care at almost any price, and I want it this year. But on a little reflection, if the blue dogs and even a few repubs can force some modest cost constraints on our new system, I am OK with waiting another month or two for a bill.
Being able to see all sides of an argument does not make you weak. By painting 100% of Republicans as obstructionists, we loose credibility. If we were serious about cost constraints, we could pick off a few of them as supporters, lasso in the blue dogs, and save our country too.