I have been watching the health care summit this morning, and it is, in a morbid way, fascinating. Obama has trapped the Republicans into trying to look reasonable, and they are laboring mightily to appear willing to compromise. There is, as Obama keeps pointing out, a considerable overlap of issues on which they are in substantial agreement. And yet, we all know that when it comes time again to vote, they will vote unanimously against anything placed before the Congress. The simple truth is that the Republican Party has no interest at all in health care reform of any sort. If they were, there are numerous compromises that could have been worked out. As we fuss over Obama's handling of this or that aspect of the process, we need to keep reminding ourselves that the Republicans, as a Party, have set themselves the goal of making Obama's presidency a failure, regardless of what that does to the needs of the American people.
For a truly heartfelt and wrenching testimony, I strongly recommend Keith Olbermann's lengthy comment last evening about his father's situation. To watch it, go to MSNBC.com.
Heartwrenching,yes, but the death panel feint is merely another ploy to kill reform, which is in actuality a barrel rolling downhill. If not now, then soon. The real block is in the finances of insurance companies and their Washington influence. It is hardly original to say follow the money.
ReplyDeleteRobert---This is your old student George here. I was delighted to discover your blog about 1/2 hours ago. I was more than delighted to read the present post of yours on the Health Care Debacle (sorry). Last year I moved to Sweden and shall never leave. I moved here not only because I enjoy my beloved Uppsala, but because the healthcare system of Holland (where I lived for 37 years) attempte to trick me into accepting a shabby treatment for an illness, whereas I knew that there was one and only one effective treatment. I was 66, I found a secret age limit of 65 for this, and left at once. I now live in what Americans call a Single-Payerc Society: all my sickness expenses come from taxes when needede, period. No insurer, no tricky attempt to...well, let's say it, kill me because I was too old and a burden rather than a wage-slave. I can say much more about this criminality, but let this suffice for now. Glad to have found this blog.
ReplyDeleteYours, George Berger, Uppsala