The Question I would ask the Blue Dog ‘Democrats: “Is 30 pieces of silver enough to be stuck on the wrong side of History?”
I can’t ask the question posed in the title, I’m not an American sings God save the Queen and have no business phoning your representatives on a domestic issue. I doubt if I can afford the phone bills! You however can do so if you like, but please read my diary first. :)
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Let’s get a few things straight from the get-go, Obama’s healthcare reforms are going to pass in some form, we don’t know the exact shape and flavour of the final outcome yet. There’s deals to be struck, wrinkles to be ironed out, arms to be twisted, but we do know that Obama has a habit of succeeding when he puts his mind to something, and that when the progressive net-roots have got his back on an issue his chances of getting results are even better.
We can say with confidence right now that it’s increasingly probable that reforms will manifest which include a public option (a possible precursor to single payer), a prohibition on the use of pre-existing conditions as an excuse to deny coverage and an end to much of the discrimination and down right cheating that is endemic in the private health-sector currently.
I’m not calling for complacency here, far from it, if you let up the pressure, if Obama rests on his laurels, then the reform effort might well dwindle and die with a whimper, as so many vested interests are hoping. But I know Kossacks and I know the US President better than that. I know that the campaign for reform WON’T let up, not now, not when the reforms become law, not when the first stumbling blocks to implementing the reforms on the ground arise… not ever.
In his celebrated speech on race ‘A perfect union’ Obama spoke about the drive of Americans to be constantly improving their nation, to recognise failings and to build on successes. It’s this ethos which has inspired the quest for universal health care ever since Teddy Roosevelt’s time to Edward Kennedy and Howard Dean today. It’s this ethos in tandem with the pioneer spirit which will make this ‘dangerous experiment’ a resounding success. The real ‘dangerous experiment’ as we know, was Nixon’s. That experiment has failed; it’s time it was laid to rest. It’s time that those who put health before profits, the public good before corporate interests and pragmatism before ideology were given a chance.
So long as progressives never give up the dream of affordable, good quality, universal health care. From the moment Obama gets these reforms through the dream of a perfect health care system in the US will be inching ever closer to reality.
For all their talk about ‘evil socialism’ in this debate it’s the Republicans and their Blue-Dog allies who are the truly anti-American ones in this narrative. Not just because they’re taking a political stance which benefits their corporate pay masters and knives their constituents in the back. But because they’ve taken to justifying their opposition on the basis that reform is ‘too soon’ ‘too much’ too fast.’ If that can’t do, won’t do, faux defeatist, stuck in the mud attitude had characterised their forefathers as it characterises them the first ‘Americans’** wouldn’t have ventured west of the Rocky Mountains, let alone produced heirs who would go on to reach the Moon.
The Republicans will regain power at some point no doubt, but like the Tories in the UK and the conservatives in Canada and Australia they’ll tinker with the healthcare system, they’ll try their best to undermine it and deny it funds, they’ll brief against it, but they won’t ever dare to dismantle it. Not after the American public has had a taste of evil, evil, socialised medicine and decided that it don’t taste so bad after all, that it tastes a darn sight better than what’s being forced down their throats today. When even those who stick with their private providers see their costs lowered and their access increased.
The Blue Dog so-called Democrats had better recognise some simple truths right now. These reforms are going to be passed. Hopefully this year, perhaps later, but they WILL happen, and when they do Progressives are not going to stop working to produce a more perfect health system, and they won’t forget who stood in their way.
These reforms represent the starting line for comprehensive health care reform, the battle has been enjoined, and this time it’s the Goodies who’ve got the advantage. This might be someone’s Waterloo, but it sure as hell ain’t gonna be Obama’s!
http://www.dailykos.com/...
One day, in the not too distant future American voters will look back in wonder at the health care arguments of today, they’ll realise that the scare tactics of the right were so much codswallop, they’ll realise that universal health care is the BEE’S KNEES!
And they’ll hold a special place in their hearts for the people who made it possible. As Kossacks you’ll be proud to say ‘I helped to make it happen.’
In Canada Tommy Douglas, the first socialist to be elected Premier was voted as ‘The Greatest Canadian of all time’ in a CBS poll.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
The others on that list aren’t slackers. They’re iconic politicians, athletes, inventors, and scientists. But Tommy Douglas got to number one. Why? Because Tommy Douglas is credited in the Canadian psyche with having introduced UHC, the dreaded socialised medicine, to Canada.
Here in the UK a personal hero of mine and of many on the left is the legendary Aneurin (Nye) Bevan http://en.wikipedia.org/... the labour minister of health who penned the National Health Service Act of 1946 which when it came in to force, after a bitter showdown with the Tories and the British Medical association (Bevan famously claimed he’d had to ‘stuff the doctor’s mouths with gold’) in 1948.
Nye Bevan might not be remembered as fondly as Tommy Douglas (Churchill will always come no1 of any poll of great Britons) but his grand project, the National Health Service, is still going strong.
It’s polling satisfaction and approval rates most politicians could only dream of. It’s providing comprehensive cradle to grave care at a price most Americans today can only look at with envy. The same can be said for the health systems in most industrialised countries where ‘socialised medicine’ has been tried. One need only look at the statistics of infant mortality, costs per person, life expectancy, chronic disease etc.
And the most significant indicators that the NHS was a resoundingly successful ‘experiment’; it’s a model that’s been copied and adapted all over the world, and it represents political suicide for any one dumb enough to try to hurt it.
If you’ve not seen it already please take the time to watch this short clip from Sicko in which Michael Moore interviews Tony Benn (a UK socialist politician with an impressive record on progressive politics – he’s to the left of me even! But he talks a lot of sense here. He’s bang on target when he talks about the affection of the British for the NHS and our determination to protect it.)
http://www.youtube.com/...
If, in a generation this is the way Americans feel about their ‘socialised medicine’ would anyone who calls themselves a ‘democrat’ really want to be on the wrong side of history? If Obama fails this year (touch wood he won’t!) change will be postponed but the campaign won’t die, it’ll be renewed stronger and more determined. If Obama succeeds, then those who stood by him will claim the rewards of victory.
Today I want to make it clear to the Blue Dogs and hopefully to a few moderate Republicans who are still capable of making their own decisions:
Oppose these reforms now and you may well think you’re acting in your own interests as you reap the short term gains. As you hear the 30 silver coins ringing in your coffer and you don’t hear the voice of your conscience yelling Expletives at you because you’ve become so expert at ignoring it.
But know that the next time you stand for election your constituents won’t forget how they weren’t your priority. The progressive net-roots who do so much to organise and fund raise won’t be at all eager to prop up your campaigned after you’ve betrayed them and revealed where your true loyalties lie.
For the Republican Party this message won’t mean much, they long ago gave up pretending to represent the people. But the Blue Dogs still claim to be Democrats, still claim to be acting on behalf of the people who voted for them.
Right now they’re claiming that their constituents want them to stall reform (the polling data tells us this is simply not true) they’re claiming that fence sitting is a principled stand.
It’s not, it’s cowardice plain and simple. It’s letting the Bad Guys win by refusing to fight because you WANT them to win.
I don’t believe for one second that the people who voted for the Blue Dogs, the people whose votes they’ll need to court next time round, are as stupid as the Blue Dogs take them for. They won’t fall for this bullsh*t and when Obama’s health care plan DOES succeed the Blue Dogs won’t be able to take one iota of credit.
Those betting on Healthcare reform to fail don’t stand to gain much beyond short term financial gain. They stand to lose a lot. They will reap what they sow.
I’ll end with a quote from the Great Nye Bevan.
“We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road. They get run down.”
The Blue Dogs had better watch out, because change is a-coming and they’re going to be left behind if they don’t join the battle on the side of the Good Guys.
**Obviously am talking about first European settlers and their offspring here, it’s hard to write a politically correct metaphor when you’re talking about a period that included things like ‘manifest destiny.’ For the sake of the metaphorical integrity of this diary please use cognitive dissonance to detach the good things about the first European Americans (pioneer spirit, resourcefulness, bravery) from the bad things (imperialism, racism, lack of loyalty to the British king) Once you have got the hang of cognitive dissonance you may also wish to learn gullibility, narrow mindedness, baseless prejudice and fallacious arguments. You will then be fully qualified to use the freeper sites. Good Luck!