Here's the link to his blog post on the possible backlash if the public option is not included in the bill and the usefulness (or uselessness) of the trigger.
...and this is where I am getting a very bad feeling about the idea of throwing in the towel on the public option — is the politics. Remember, to make reform work we have to have an individual mandate. And everything I see says that there will be a major backlash against the idea of forcing people to buy insurance from the existing companies. That backlash was part of what got Obama the nomination! Having the public option offers a defense against that backlash.
What worries me is not so much that the backlash would stop reform from passing, as that it would store up trouble for the not-too-distant future. Imagine that reform passes, but that premiums shoot up (or even keep rising at the rates of the past decade.) Then you could all too easily have many people blaming Obama et al for forcing them into this increasingly unaffordable system. A trigger might fix this — but the funny thing about such triggers is that they almost never get pulled.
And a great big YES to Krugman's final words:
And sooner or later Democrats have to take a stand against Reaganism — against the presumption that if the government does it, it’s bad. (My emphasis)
And when, pray tell, will Democrats take that stand?
Ten years too late when they have become utterly irrelevant. And I hope I'm wrong.
ReplyDeleteI cannot see this adminestration doing it. The idea that the government can do somethings well is hard to sell while the veterans are dealing with substandard hospitals and the wars are a mess. I know neither really lie at the foot of this adminestration but they wont move while they are out there.
ReplyDeleteI think the ongoing war efforts are really going to cut into the base.
FWIW
jimB
End the wars. Simple as that. Otherwise you haven't got a chance.
ReplyDeleteI knew Obama would be like this, but I went into a kind of denial during his campaign, thus I am disappointed. That is why I always saw the absurdity and stupidity on the part of those who call him a socialist.
ReplyDeleteGöran, I read in the morning paper that 4 US soldiers were killed in each country, Iraq and Afghanistan, and of the civilians killed in the recent US attack on the Taliban. I agree. We must end the wars.
I think Digby is right.
ReplyDeleteObama is a conservative, and Democrats are now a conservative center-right party.
Nixon was more of a liberal (at least domestically) than anyone in the current leadership of the Democratic party, including the President. I think the leadership's habit of punching the hippies in their base to win over "moderates" and independents is a very bad idea. The hippies just go over and vote for Nader or the Greens and hand the whole election over to the Republicans by another very narrow margin. When the defeated leadership yells at their bloodied hippies about handing victory to the Republicans, the hippies just turn around and tell them to piss off. The party feels no loyalty to its base, so it shouldn't be a surprise when the base so frequently deserts them for some futile third party protest vote.
The Republicans are now a far-right national front party like the ones in Britain and France; a party of jingoist nationalism, racism, and xenophobia. Their religious base has more in common with the old Spanish Falange than with any center-right Christian Democratic party.
What's a liberal/ progressive to do?
What's a liberal/ progressive to do?
ReplyDeleteCounterlight, at this point, I really don't know. You have characterized the two political parties exactly right.
And I just had an email from Harry Reid asking for his help. Help for what?
He is speaking now. A lot of invective, but what will really happen?
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime, I am pretty sure that I am about to lose one real life friend over this via Facebook.
Fran, that is the question. What next?
ReplyDeletePS, Fran, sorry you're about to lose a friend.
ReplyDeleteAs a VA employee and a Veteran, I take offence to the 'substandard hospitals' comment, Jim. The VA in Fayetteville, AR where I work is one of the top 10 in the country. The VA are the folks pioneering electronic health records (I haven't seen a paper chart in 4+ years), and it was THE reason that Veterans from New Orleans care was not interrupted by Katrina. If anything, the VA system should be touted as the example of what a National Healthcare System should look like. While the benefits side is backlogged, we on the medical side are required to get any and all new patients in to see doctors within 30 days of their registration with the VA or send them out to outside doctors if we can not do it, on our dime. (stepping off soap box now).
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I was impressed with the President's speech, but am afraid the the public option may yet be thrown under the train.