Last week Washington State's Maria Cantwell was voted the Sexiest Senator. Maybe if you're into Nurse Ratched types. Wow! I wonder how she scored that crown.
How can you find anyone who gets into bed with the insurance companies sexy?
As physically attractive as she may or may not be, I'd take a Bernie Sanders/Kucinich sandwich over her everyday of the week, these days, and twice on Sunday. And I still wouldn't feel as dire a need to shower and slink away afterwards.
Seattle's local weekly The Strangerframes it nicely -
Seattle congressman Jim McDermott supports it. Washington senator Patty Murray wants it. So does President Barack Obama. So does the often conservative Seattle Times editorial page. So do 72 percent of Americans, according to a recent poll. So what's going on with Washington's junior senator, Maria Cantwell? Why doesn't she want Congress to include a public option—a new government-run health-care plan that will be available to everyone and will compete with private insurance companies to bring down costs—in its health-care-reform package?
Her answer -
"I don't think that's something we can get through the United States Senate," Cantwell told KUOW on June 22. It's an odd bit of circular logic: Because Cantwell can't yet count enough votes to pass the public option, she won't add her vote in favor of the public option—which, of course, makes it even harder to find enough votes to pass the public option.
You don't think it will pass, so you don't support it. Not only is that circular, it's like circular saw. She's like the Looney Tunes character that cuts a hole in the floor they're standing on.
Since, when does something have to pass to be supported? I guess there will always be those on the wrong side of history. Independence, Slavery, Civil Rights, Health Care.
I guess some people "Can" well and some people Can't well?
Looking for a good time with Maria - just call 976...oops- 206-220-6400, 202-224-3441 , or if you're paying by credit card 1-888-648-7328. Don't expect much...maybe she will, maybe she won't. She plays hard to get.
UPDATE - Apparently Maria supports some form of public option - she just doesn't know what form - or what we mean by supportFrom Seattle PI
Asked about a public option, Cantwell mentioned several alternatives, ranging from a government-run alternative to private insurance plans, to a nationwide network of Group Health-style co-ops.
What a waffle...
When pressed by Villeneuve, she argued: "I do not want to see us take 46 or 47 million uninsured Americans, and put them down on top of an existing system that isn't working and controlling costs."
Uh ok...but you see these same companies as viable alternatives?
Another point from the article that's being spun pro-insurance is this:
On health care, politicians are confronted with two realities.
Surveys show that more than 70 percent of Americans feel that it is a major national priority to bring coverage to the estimated 46 million fellow citizens who lack health coverage.
The same polls, notably a recent Pew Research survey, show a majority of Americans do not feel they should pay more to underwrite health care reform.
Excuse me, they are not two realities. One solves the other. People are paying more because there are untreated amongst us. Because there are those who can't afford care and must wait until they're an expensive mess before they seek care. They add an additional $1,000 to insurance bills.
On top of that, we spend 15-16% of GDP on healthcare while Canada spends about 11.5%. Of course they only spend about 1/3 per person creating an efficiency factor of 3.