They hope for social disaster, so that society will turn to them to rescue them. That would explain why Nader is willing to sabotage Democrats, why Republicans are freezing the Senate, and why Kucinich is against the health care bill. I think we need to pass the health care bill. Here is why.
I favor single payer, and was hoping that the Medicare buy in would be a part of the bill. I think a lot of Democrats in Congress and in the White House are way too timid. But I think our country would be better off with the health care bill passed, hopefully with some fixes using reconciliation. When someone like Paul Krugman, who is both progressive and knowledgeable, says we are better off passing it, I pay attention. The status quo cannot be sustained.
I have some questions for those who think that no bill is better than the current bill.
1. Do you really think that there is a chance to pass single payer, or even a greatly improved bill in this session?
Maybe if the President had taken a stronger, more consistent stand, or maybe if the Senate election in Massachusetts hadn't been messed up, things would be a little bit better. But the fact of the matter is there are not enough members of Congress who are committed to a better, more progressive bill.
2. Do you really think that the American people as a whole are in favor of single payer?
I think the people would be better off if we did have it, but most Americans are scared of it. It is true that a lot of false information has been put out by conservatives. But most Americans have health insurance, and they are hanging on desperately out of fear that any change will make things worse. We need to keep trying to educate everybody about progressive ideas for health care, but we can't wait if we can do something useful now.
3. Do you really think that stopping the denials for pre-existing conditions, or the recisions, or the subsidies for buying health insurance are not important?
DKos has had many dairies with examples of what happens to people because of pre-existing conditions and the other denials from insurance companies. This bill tries to end these practices. Some would say that the insurance companies will try to game the system and get around the regulations, and they might be right. If that happens, there are two possible responses. One is improvements in regulations or additions such as a Medicare buy in or a public option. Or nothing would happen and the system might deteriorate into something approaching the current system. If political system would allow the latter possibility to happen, then you can bet that it would not be able to pass a better system if there was no health care bill passed now.
4. If nothing is passed now, do you really think that a better system can be passed later?
With the bad economy right now, there is no chance that the Democrats will get stronger in Congress in the near future. Incumbents will have problems and the majority of incumbents right now are Democrats. I do think that we should primary Democrats who do not support Democratic positions (go Bill Halter!), but it will take a long time for that process to move the Democratic party in that direction. If the progressive position in Congress does improve eventually, then we will have the opportunity to improve the health care system again. If the bill is passed, I think that will help Democrats at the polls. The public has been fear-mongered about the bill, but polls show they favor most of the individual policies in the bill. The label of timidity will be a liability if the bill is not passed.
If you want radical change, then social disaster is the best way to get it. I don't think we are so far gone that we should hope for social disaster, with the large scale human suffering that will accompany it. Radical change after social disaster is unpredictable. After the Great Depression started, we were lucky to get FDR, Germany ended up with Hitler.
We are better off if the health care bill is passed. It is far from perfect. But it helps with the preexisting conditions and subsidies, and might bend the cost curve. It will help small business and the self employed, who have a much harder time getting insurance now. It will reduce corporate job lock and make it easier to start a new business or be self-employed. It is better than the current system, and if it is place it will be easier to improve than if we have to start from scratch later. We will not get a better bill with the current political situation, and the political situation is not likely to improve in the near future. Incremental change is better than no change in the current situation. Let's give the system a chance to evolve in the right direction.