http://www.nytimes.com/...
In today's NY Times, Paul Krugman reviews the health care reforms of Obama and Edwards and reinforces why Edwards need to be the next President.
With Obama as the reconciler of partisan politics on one end and Edwards as the man who takes on corporate interests for Americans,
Krugman says
"Over the last few days Mr. Obama and Mr. Edwards have been conducting a long-range argument over health care that gets right to this issue. And I have to say that Mr. Obama comes off looking, well, naïve."
Responding to claims of Obama that Edwards is unrealistic when he says he wants to take on big interests, Krugman responds
O.K., more seriously, it’s actually Mr. Obama who’s being unrealistic here, believing that the insurance and drug industries — which are, in large part, the cause of our health care problems — will be willing to play a constructive role in health reform. The fact is that there’s no way to reduce the gross wastefulness of our health system without also reducing the profits of the industries that generate the waste.
As a result, drug and insurance companies — backed by the conservative movement as a whole — will be implacably opposed to any significant reforms. And what would Mr. Obama do then? "I’ll get on television and say Harry and Louise are lying," he says. I’m sure the lobbyists are terrified.
He concludes saying
So what happens if Mr. Obama is the nominee?
He will probably win — but not as big as a candidate who ran on a more populist platform. Let’s be blunt: pundits who say that what voters really want is a candidate who makes them feel good, that they want an end to harsh partisanship, are projecting their own desires onto the public.
And nothing Mr. Obama has said suggests that he appreciates the bitterness of the battles he will have to fight if he does become president, and tries to get anything done.
This underlines what I have felt is the important need to look carefully at the candidate reforms and history.
Health insurance reform can be a great achievement for regular Americans or if done badly, it can be yet another big windfall for insurance companies with little if any gain for you and I. Remember Harry and Louise, the characters on the commercial funded by the insurance industry the last time reform was tried and think whether those interests are going to be any more accomodating this time around.