As I watch the DISASTER on a Health Care debate move on, I can only wonder what the average voter thinks. Varying degrees of anger, frustration and disgust, certainly on both sides of the aisle. Does anyone really know what this thing means anymore?
As of right now, their representatives are either FOR or AGAINST legislation. This massive bill that no one trusts anymore. For or against "government coming between you and your doctor". For or against reform. But at the end of the day, other than the most geeky followers of the daily slog of "reform" (I use that word loosely) I dont think anyone gets it. It's like a cliffs notes version or War and Peace.
In order for them to understand how their representatives feel and to also hold them accountable for their votes, I think its time to break this entire Health Care reform bill into smaller more controlled and digestible forms to grasp. It is time to break this bill apart and re-negotiate each component of the bill for what it is. I call it the a la carte approach to Health Care Reform.
JUMP
The a la carte approach, using the components of the current bill, would have several advantages. For one, the parts of the bill that nearly everyone agrees on, such as reform of discriminatory pre-existing condition applicants, would pass immediately. This would create momentum. And give the Dems and Obama a MUCH NEEDED win. Also, I would love to develop a list of Senators and Congressman who SPECIFICALLY vote against the reform needed to stop the insurance companies from not giving coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. Talk about a great thing to use in a 30 second ad. Something tells me, anyone opppsed would be GOP or centrist Dem. Win-Win. Flush them out for their true colors.
Following these easy victories, you would be able to put each congressman on record, personally for their votes on the more disputed conditions. Such as: abortion funding, creation of a public plan to compete with the industry for price competition, "tort reform", medicare funding issues, and the list goes on.......
The risk? We may lose some of these battles. But the ones that we DO win, will be quality wins. And either way, we take control of the debate again. We have lost control of this debate. Its time to admit that.
The problem with the current bill even in the House is that it is a watered down piece of shit, that robs Peter to pay Paul. It gives far too much power to small state Senators that represent a FRACTION of the population of this country. To get a vote from a "centrist", the liberals give in far too often on the most significant pieces of reform, ultimately DOOMING the entire process, and it makes it much more likely that this will fail. Its far too easy to say "well, I would have voted for it if Harry Reid had just removed (or added)..........". In other words, they can get off without any blood on their hands. It all falls on leadership.
With this measure by measure approach, it flips the model on its head, and puts the blood back on the hands of the congressmen (and congresswomen). As we approach 2010 and 2012, this specific distinction in elections will be important. If a progressive is running against a conservative in a poor district, and the rep opposes a public option, even if it would be the best thing for the people in his or her district, you then have a case, and you have congressmen then having to answer to the people that directly vote for them. At this point, its NOT about Harry Reid. Its about MY CONGRESSMAN.
The Democrats are losing this because they have allowed the GOP to nationalize this debate, just as they did in the 1990's. Its Washington vs main street. Its an argument that DC leadership, no matter which party, will always lose.
Its time to kill this health reform bill. It is not going to pass. Even if it does, I'm not convinced that it will improve things at all, and if anything holds potential to make things worse.
It is time to take the key components of the health reform package, break it down into 3-5 smaller bills that deal with specific areas: insurance reform, medicaid funding issues, public option, abortion (for whatever reason it has crept into this debate), etc...... so that each Senator and Rep is held accountable for his specific support or denial of this legislation, and it could be used as a positive or negative in elections in 2010 and 2012. Americans WANT health care reform. They just dont want THIS health care reform. If you present it in a form that they can understand, the progressives WIN.