There was a diary the other day reporting that someone called Senator Wyden's office and was told the reason we need Republican support for the healthcare insurance reform was that -- of all things -- Kennedy and Byrd's votes were not guaranteed. I think we now know why the Republicans are running the clock.
Everyone knows both of these men would make such a vote with their dying gasp if that is what it took. My fear is that is what the opposition is now counting on. How ironic.
I know this is cynical and harsh, but look around you. We have unindicted war criminals walking around free and piling up speaking fees. We have rabid idealogues intentionally fomenting dissent and stoking the worst paranoid fears imaginable without any risk to their careers. We have thieves and con artists pillaging the treasury in the most audacious ways. And you think that running the clock is a reach?
Given the dismal prognosis for Kennedy and the uncertain situation facing Byrd, it occurs to me that their health may be one of the factors driving the schedule on both sides.
If that is true, it makes sense that Obama would like a bill before the recess. Who knows how many more weeks or months these men have left to live. Conversely, and perversely, this is a tremendous incentive for the Republicans to delay the process. As soon as one or the other senator dies, the prospect of passing this legislation dies with them. I can think of half a dozen reasons people will argue for delaying the process then, each one more cynical than the last.
We know that single-payer works for Medicare, Medicaid, and military medicine. We know the costs for running military medicine have been going down while private insurers have been posting double-digit cost increases year after year for the last decade. We know Medicare's administrative costs are a fraction of the private insurer's and that cost savings alone covers most of the costs for universal healthcare insurance. We know that most Americans want this.
I could go on and on with the reasons we need this, but facts are not going to win this debate. The opponents of healthcare insurance reform are not interested in what is best for Americans or America. They are interested in what's most profitable for them and their supporters. Screw everyone else.
It is ironic, but fitting, this is the same dynamic that comes to the fore in a family when someone is terribly sick or at the end of their life. Obama himself relates the story of his mother fighting death and the insurance companies at the same time. It's a story too many of us are familiar with. Now that is playing out on the national stage before our eyes and the same interests that hide the facts and downplay the benefits of reform are trying to ignore the elephant in the room. Expect a lot of crocodile tears from Republicans when these two men die.
The bottom line: We need to advocate for passage before these men die. I can't say it any more plainly. That is why I feel an urgency here. That is why this needs to be done now. If we fail to do this, we will pay for our inaction. The only thing we will get to choose is which orifice they extract the money from. No matter how you cut it, it will be painful. Don't expect them to pay for any pain relief.