I love this man. Former Labor Secretary and UCB Professor Robert Reich lays out what is really going on in the health care reform fight --- which is about to become a pitched battle:
The real political race for health care has just begun. The significance of the President's speech to Washington insiders was its signal about where the White House is placing its bets and its support... Think of the speech as the starting gate of a two-month sprint between two competitors -- and they're not Democrats and Republicans.
More after the jump:
I've selectively quoted Robert Reich's blog, per site rules. But it is totally worth reading the original in full, and IMHO totally worth Reading Reich Regularly.
Recap: This fight is not between Republicans and Democrats.
It is really between big private insurance companies and big pharmaceutical companies on the one hand --
They're drooling over the prospect of tens of millions more Americans buying insurance and drugs because the pending legislation will require them to... The pending expansion of Medicaid will also be a bonanza...
And the Democratic base on the other --
... Organized labor, grassroots progressives, leading activists whose main goal is to make health care more affordable for a hundred million American families now paying through the nose... and affordable to the tens of millions who can't get it now.
OK get that? We at this site, Kossacks, ARE. THE. BASE. Obviously, not only us. But, by virtue of giving a damn and organizing, it matters what we do here, how much we know, how much we give, how hard we fight.
(I am addressing those who have expressed ambivalence about how much difference Kossacks, Front Pagers, slinkerwink, nyceve, Jane Hamsher and others can make on 'business as usual' in Washington. We don't always agree, but be very clear -- the very point of this blog is that we are here to try.)
This healthcare fight is one for the ages. And we are just getting started.
OK, onward:
The Dem base wants a public option and wants Medicare and Medicaid to have negotiating power. That's because every dollar that's squeezed out of the private insurers and Big Pharma is a dollar saved by average Americans on their health care -- or a dollar saved by taxpayers who otherwise end up footing the bills for Medicare and Medicaid. There's simply no more direct way to control costs.
FULL STOP. AND I REPEAT: There is no more direct way to control costs. The public option isn't about socialism. It is about cost control.
So, who represents who in this mother-of-all pie fights?
In their corner:
Private insurers and Big Pharma are being represented in this race by Max Baucus and his Senate Finance Committee.[Their] bill requires that just about every American have health insurance and just about every business provide it (or else pay a fee). But the bill will not include a public option.
In fact, the only cost containment measure of the Baucus bill is a tax on the most expensive insurance policies (i.e. those with the best coverage!) which will mean employers will want to provide CHEAPER policies with WORSE coverage. Furthermore, the cost will simply be passed through to the insured.
In our corner:
The Democratic base is being represented by Nancy Pelosi and House Dems, who have reported out a bill that includes a public option, want Medicare and Medicaid to have negotiating power, and will pay for universal coverage with a surcharge on the rich.
Note that Teddy Kennedy also had a strong bill come through his committee in the Senate. I don't know what the prospects are for it now that he is gone. :-(
OK, the 2.5 Trillion Dollar Question: WHERE IS THE OBAMA WHITE HOUSE IN ALL OF THIS?
For months now, it's been straddling the fence -- reassuring the Dem base that the President is with them (he did it as recently as Monday with a rousing speech to organized labor), while at the same time nodding and winking in the direction of the private insurers and Big Pharma.
If you are confused, it is because you have been paying attention.
Obama's Wednesday night speech reassured the Democratic base that the President is deeply committed to getting universal coverage. But the speech also made clear that the White House has decided to side with the Senate Finance Committee and against the Democratic base on the details. The President was careful to note that a public option is only a means to an end and he remained open to other ideas (read: Conrad's cooperatives or Snowe's trigger).
And so, as of yesterday, Democratic leadership are taking their cues and changing tack:
Yesterday, Senate majority leader Harry Reid said that while he favored a strong public option, he could be satisfied with nonprofit cooperatives. And Nancy Pelosi, who as recently as two weeks ago said the House would not support a bill that didn't include a public option, passed up a chance to say it was a nonnegotiable demand.
Yep, our fates hang in the balance. Should we pack it up and go home? I mean why bother? Slinkerwink! NYCeve! Go home guys! This thing is done already, right? I mean, my individual actions couldn't possibly make a whit difference as to what happens next, right?
But! Says Bob: The race has just begun.
Your input is still important -- in fact, more important now than before.
Wuh? How?
The Senate Finance's bill will be reported out next week and voted on by the entire committee in the following week, then go to the floor of the Senate for a vote in mid October. The House bill will go to the floor at about the same time. Each side is now counting noses. Pelosi knows she won't have any Republicans with her, so will need to keep 40 Dems from bolting. If Reid can't get 60 votes by October 15, he'll add health care to a reconciliation bill, which will need only 51.
WHICH MEANS that the work being done by activists on this site to count votes, to pressure progressives closest to us, and to lock them in tight is one of the most important tactical moves we can make right now. HOLD THE LINE. SUPPORT FIREDOGLAKE. CALL YOUR HOUSE AND SENATE REPS, CONTACT THE OFA AND TELL THEM YOU WANT THE PUBLIC OPTION. NO TRIGGERS. NO CO-OPS.
The more you can make your voices heard, the more likely it is that the race will be won by the public rather than the private interests.
And that folks, is what we got to work with.
Much as I want a pony, this is it.
UPDATE: For those not satisfied by my attempts to explain why the Snowe Trigger is a terrible political trap, read Robert Reich's explanation here.
UPDATE: Thanks for the Recs! This is just a framing diary, not an action diary, like Slinkerwink's latest. Remember it matters to stay on message, and to KICK UP A FUSS.
UPDATE: See pronin2s diary on the House Progressives gearing up for the showdown next week! If you don't like what Baucus is doing with healthcare, watch out for his role on coming climate and energy bills.
UPDATE: Also, let me note that I still love President Obama. Our activism helps make it possible for him to do the right thing. But we must demand it. Corporations have way too much influence, and their perspective is distorted by their need for profit. They carry weight in this battle, long before Obama came into office. And they are AMORAL. They will find a way to make money from any kind of reform situation, SO DON'T FEEL BAD ABOUT DEMANDING OUR DUE. They're like an invasive weed - we'll trim them back if we cannot kill the root.
UPDATE: For those who missed this a few days ago, Robert Reich explaining the Public Option in simple terms.