We all know that, in politics, fear trumps everything. Right now, the Republicans are running on fear... fear that government will "take over" your health care, kill your grandma, give your hard-earned tax dollars to the swarthy illegal alien down the street...
On the other side, the Democrats are not effectively tapping into the real fears of what will happen WITHOUT reform. That is why we are, at the moment, losing this argument.
There is an article on the Huffington Post, Without Reform, Health Insurance Premiums Could Double By 2020, that says:
Without health care reform, health insurance premiums could almost double by 2020, according to a report by the Commonwealth Fund, a 90-year-old non-profit health care charity.
The author of the study, Cathy Shoen, senior vice president of the Commonwealth Fund, said in a news release:
"With health spending projected to double if we stay on our current path, middle- and lower-income families are at high risk of losing their coverage or facing long-term stagnant incomes. Employers and employees share premium costs, but we know that take-home pay and retirement savings are being sacrificed to maintain health benefits.
These are the real fears of what will happen WITHOUT reform that the Democrats and Obama need to be emphasizing. Right now, the Republicans are framing the debate as basically "stay with the devil you know". The Democrats have to point out clearly how "the devil you know" will bankrupt you.
Listen to some of the Senators on the talk shows today:
Lieberman
"I'm afraid we’ve got to think about putting a lot of that off until the economy’s out of recession.”
Lugar
"Let’s clear the deck and try it again next year or in subsequent times."
Obama (when he comes back from a well-deserved vacation) needs to clearly point out the dangers of putting off reform. This is not a situation where the status quo can stand. Kicking the can further down the road and saying, as Lugar does, that we can try it again "next year or in subsequent times" is NOT acceptable. We've already tried this many times and blanched and backed away at the last minute.
Obama needs to again be the outsider fighting against the entrenched interests in DC. He needs to point out that putting this off for our children to face down the road, when the situation has become even more dire, is cowardly.