As the debate heats up between advocates of Healthcare Reform (not just Health Insurance Reform) and those who want to kill progress at any cost it is important to evaluate where we are and who the players are and which direction we are headed. Most realize that the Republicans and unfortunately some Democrats want to weaken any bill before it comes to the floor for a final vote. We saw this play out in the name of fiscal conservatism during the conference for the stimulus package earlier this year.
Some of the most obvious effective items in the stimulus that were weakened are the tax-cuts for the middle class and lower income people in exchange for more tax cuts for businesses. The "cash for clunkers" program was cut by almost 75% of it's original funding.
Now after several versions of a Healthcare Reform bill have gone through both the House and the Senate, the Senate Finance Committee is determined to release a their version of the bill without a Public Option.
The Public Option SAVES 150 Billion bucks. Any true fiscal conservative should demand that the Public Option remains in any bill.
So where are we?
Obama has said he likes a Public Option. A couple of months ago Obama stated that the bill would include an exchange that "must include a public option" along side a menu of private plans. When asked by reporters Obama and his Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebilius, and numerous other advisors have refused countless times to commit to a Public Option. As the debate has extended and opponents have turned up the heat and rhetoric we saw several key players downplay the importance of a Public Option including Obama himself.
There are a few diaries right now that have the noble intention uniting us and putting our full weight of support behind The President, stop bickering, and get a Healthcare Bill passed. I agree with that-- but I refuse to ignore what I see happening and I believe it is our responsibility to keep our elected officials accountable.
There are many here who think Obama is playing some kind of 400 level chess out maneuvering his opponents always 10 steps ahead of the game and the Progressives should just shut-up and trust Obama because we don't know what is going on behind the scenes.
It's true... we only know what we see and what is leaked sometimes by anonymous sources. Many of us can cherry-pick and see only see what we want to believe in both negative and positive ways. It's impossible not to do that to some extent.
Barack Obama is one of the most politically savvy human beings we''ve seen in most of our lifetimes. The Problem with the "jedi master" theory by a lot of his supporters here (including myself)... is that some believe Obama is capable of playing and manipulating the opponents of Healthcare reform, but refuse to believe that he is also capable of playing and manipulating Democrats/Progressives to get what he may think is politically viable.
The President is also capable of miscalculations and making mistakes.
Now many pundits, journalists, bloggers and Kossacks have stated that this past weekend Obama, The White House, Sebelius, and even Conrad were throwing out a "trail balloon" on dumping the Public Option. Some have even said it was a "brilliant" strategy to rile up his base. Some have said the the White House was caught off guard by the response from the "Left of the Left." This is all open to interpretation due to the lack of clarity coming from Obama himself and his staff.
Lately Obama has said that he likes the public option and he thinks it's the best way to keep the insurance companies honest and that it's just a sliver of reform. When a few months ago it was a "must" and one of the pillars of his Healthcare Plan during the campaign. What he has not said is that it's the only plan that SAVES $150,000,000,000.00. What he has not said is it is the only plan that guarantees coverage for the uninsured. What he has not said is that it is the Public Option is the only plan put forward that greatly reduces costs. What Obama has not said lately is that the Public Option "MUST" be in the final bill.
What he has said is that
"This is sort of like the belt-and-suspenders concept to keep up your pants," he said. "You know, the insurance reforms are the belt. The public option can be the suspenders."
Initially when I first heard Obama say that... it struck me as odd. You take a the suspenders and you stll have the belt to keep up your drawers. He repeated the analogy... it didn't sound anymore comforting the second time and actually made it seem like something he had tested on his advisors and wanted to emphasize.
Rather than some brilliant strategy this has been more of an erosion of the Public Option as key to real healthcare reform.
Enter the Advisors:
Now all of us know about Rahm Emmanuel's baby "The Blue Dog Coalition" of which some members have been speaking out publicly against the Public Option. Rahm recently has chastised the critics of the Blue Dogs and told people to stop funding progressive organizations who are running ads criticizing Democratic opponents of a public plan calling them "fucking stupid." The language doesn't offend me... it offends me that at the same time he is refusing to take calls from Progressives as Anthony Weiner said on Hardball earlier this week.
Tom Daschle was one of the first Dems to publicly dump the Public Option in June:
"While I feel very strongly that consumers should have the choice of a national, Medicare-like plan, my colleagues do not. . . But we were concerned that the ongoing health reform debate is beginning to show signs of fracture on the public plan issue, so in order to advance the process of developing bipartisan legislation and to move it forward, it's time to find consensus here," Daschle said.
Who has Obama spent more time both listening to in reported private consultations and meetings and been praising more publicly than anyone else Baccus and Grassley?
I certainly don't claim to know what is said privately... I can only base my opinion on what I see publicly.
If we do not continue to fight for the Public Option it won't happen. There are too many people that are close to Obama who are fighting a public option.
Although most here realize that vast majority of Americans want a Public Option... most pundits, journalists, and political analysts are reading the drop of support for Obama and his Healthcare Plan as drop in support for real reform and the Public Option itself.
That's not how I read it. The drop seems to come from Obama's wishy-washiness on delivering what most considered the centerpiece of his Healthcare Plan. The drop has come as Conrad, and Grassley's voices grew louder and the more Obama praises the actors who are working diligently to kill or weaken the bill such as Chuck Grassley.
If Obama wants to see public support for him as President and the Democratic Party drop dramatically he will try and pass a "Health Insurance Reform" bill without a public option that primarily benefits the Insurance industry at taxpayer expense. As opposed to the "Healthcare Reform" bill he campaigned on.
I can only speak for myself regarding the actions I've seen-- My interpretation of the words and maneuvers by Obama, his staff, administration, and some of his closet advisors.
ActBlue: Standing Up For The Public Option
Although I disagree with the analysis of the analysis -- ShadowSD wrote a diary with some excellent points on moving forward