Like many progressive Americans, I listened intently to Pres. Obama make the case cogently and persuasively for a change in our health care system at his press conference last night. I think he did OK. I also listened to the incessant prattle that followed from pundits from Tweety to O'Reilly, and they were all unimpressed, probably because "facts", simply stated, don't interest them. Now we find out that both Pelosi and Reid are willing to throw in the towel on getting something done before the recess. It is all very frustrating. The question is, did "W" inadvertently give Obama another option to get this done ?
We all knew this would be hard, but when the Congressional Dem.s, out of power for so long, demonstrate that they are impotent against the big business lobbies that killed health care reform in 1993-4, it is hard not to get depressed. Max Baucus, a "Dino" if there ever was one, is a problem, but only one of them. There are many more....maybe too many.
What to do ? We all railed against the last administration's believe in the "Strong Unitary Executive Theory" and their practice of expanded Presidential power. Bush, however, was never legally challenged, and there is strong evidence that he placed in the Supreme Court, justices that believe the President has unchallegable powers over the Executive Branch, including the administration of nearly all functions of government that don't require appropriations.
Bush exercised his new powers in the form of signing statements, which he was never successfully challenged on. Could Obama do the same thing for the one thing Congress can't give him, and who would would have the cajones stop him ? Specifically, in the FY10 bill appropriating funds for the Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS), why couldn't Obama add a signing statement to expand Medicare coverage to everyone who would pay a voluntary fee, or "premium" to cover their share of the additional liability they would bring to the plan ? The premium could be determined by the GAO or similar auditor based on the current cost for each participant for Medicare in FY09.
This would NOT require an additional Congressional appropriation, and a voluntary premium is not a tax. In effect it results in a Public Option, but without having to set-up a complete new infrastructure to implement it.
If I were Obama, and Baucus and the Repubs were successful in blocking my objectives, I'd do it and dare them to stop me. If he kept it going for the eight years of his term, it would be impossible for the next administration to "turn it off".
Just a small revolutionary thought......