Well, I have been increasingly despondent over the way this administration is going and the direction the country appears to be headed. (Which, IMHO, is a direction anyone with even vague living memory of 1930s Germany would recognise in the actions of Republicans and their thugs right now.)
So, I figure I am going to think about the deal with the drug companies, and see why this is a good thing. Why Obama's right on this one? Just to cheer myself up. It may be right may be bogus. But at least it's a line of thought that's positive when everything else is so negative...
...if this deal really brings big Pharma dollars to the table in conflict with insurance company dollars... if that's the deal being done (certainly appears to be the interpretation of many in the reportage) then what could that mean? Could mean great news.
If it is clearly in the interests (at least in the short-medium term) of Big Pharma to have a bill passed that maximizes coverage - because that'll increase sales, and if profit levels are guaranteed for several years, then that's going to be an enormous amount of new money into the pockets of Big Pharma shaerholders - then there's a good chance they will be active. By which I mean they won't just stop efforts to undermine any bill passage, but they could actively start lobbying and marketing towards the passage of a bill. Indeed there could be significant advantages of a bill that has a strong public option, as the private sector would still be able to negotiate whereas the government would be guaranteed not to for some period.
What's the worry? It's the same as our hope. The worry to the drug companies is that eventually after a period of years had passed, we may find outselves in a world where congress sees negotiating hard for drug prices is a great way to balance a budget bill. Which would suddenly make things a lot more appropriate for many on our side of the fence.
If you're having to divide the task of getting to a strong public option in the future, because it's a hard fight to win all at once (in your political judgment) then don't you HAVE to split the opposition, and isn't the most important first fight to win taming insurance, as you can always tame Big Pharma later - that's the easier fight to win if they're separated.
But with investors and people who run these mega corporations there's only so far alliances go when interests start to diverge significantly (see recent turmoil in the Apple/Google relationship!). They also have a system (the market) which dramatically overvalues short term results and discounts long term results and in parallel, risks. (If you plot this sort of thing on a graph you see two trends lines which intersect. At that point even potentially massive long term risks are outweighed by short-medium term profits.)
So there's a number of years that can be dangled in this that makes it a compelling decision for Big Pharma to go for a bill that is broadly what the Democrats want.
And that's a major change. It will take years for this stuff to filter through the system, and this is a long term game anyway. So one has to think even if Big Pharma makes a bit more than they should for a while, it's a major blow for progressivism and everything we should stand for, and a fundamental shift in this country. If they're on side...
So maybe, just maybe, Obama is absolutely right on this one?
Just a happy thought...
[And to be honest we're fighting each other more than we're fighting Republicans. Don't know what to do about it, I am disappointed and I am genuinely fearful of this nation's apparent willingness to descend into fascism.]
EDIT: To clarify my reference to 1930s Germany is that I think these gangs of Republican thugs going round this country are trying to destroy our democratic system and steal our freedoms through violence that resets the political playing field... it worries me and I think too many people underestimate how dangerous the alternatives to the Obama administration are right now. I want them to do better. They've done things I don't like. But most of all I want them to succeed and not risk the country handing itself over to the Republican party in it's current incarnation. I think that way lies a very very dark path.