The Final Countdown For Healthcare

My apologies the the tens of readers that enjoy my rants. I have not been moved enough to take keyboard in hand, but have some thoughts on the current health care debate I think worthy of noting. At the beginning of this week President Obama said the health care debate is over, everything that needed to be said, has been said, and now it's time for an up or down vote on health care. He is correct. He is also about a year too late for that announcement. I will not rehash the arguments on why, you can refresh yourself by looking at my previous blogs. A couple weeks ago President Obama had a health care summit. I'm sure many of you got to see the various soundbites selected my the media for their high drama content. If you were like me, and I doubt you were, and watched to the entire 7 hour debate, you would have realized in the first 15 minutes this was political theater at its finest. However, I give President Obama points for forcing Republicans to debate the issue in a civil forum, and with the exceptions of House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who made complete asses out of themselves, the President faired pretty well. It was a noble attempt to undermine some of the mis-information that consistently flows from the right, but in the end, I doubt it changed anybodies mind.

So now we have a new bill with some additional Republican ideas, (not that the 157 amendments they already had in the bill were enough), the removal of the sweetheart deals to purchase the votes for passage. The Republicans have come up with names for all of these: The Cornhusker Kickback, Gator Aid, and the Louisiana Purchase, and while these are now gone, this morning Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell continued to insist they are in fact still part of the current bill, all part of the classic right wing fear factor they continue to present, truth be damned.
Then he had the balls to accuse the Obama administration of adding to the deficit at a time when we can least afford it. At least Obama's plan pays for itself. When George W. Bush passed Medicare D Prescription coverage in 2005, not only was it not paid for, it was one of the biggest entitlement programs since Medicare itself. Where were all these fiscally responsible Republicans then? They controlled congress,adding to Medicare when Medicare is broke? Leaving this massive entitlement for our children, and our children's children? Argument sound familiar? Once again those right wing selective memories prevail.

However, we finally have a deadline approaching, and despite the incredible amount of mis-information, lies and hypocrisy, that have come to define the right in this country, the success or failure of health care does not lie with them. They may have hijacked the discussion, but ultimately this boils down to a test on whether the Democratic majority can govern? ... and from what I have seen thus far, I am not encouraged. In the first year and a half of Obama's term he has put all his chips on this one issue, and if he can't deliver, Democrats will pay dearly in November. Can the President put together a coalition of his own party and get this done for all those Americans who so desperately need it. I look at it this way, if they had the votes tomorrow they would vote on it tomorrow. They don't have the votes, and the medical insurance special interests have just enough leverage with those undecideds to
stop this in its tracks, I also think Speaker Nancy Pelosi is not up to the task of rallying the Democrats together. I hope I'm wrong, but I give health care reform 1 in 3 odds at passage, but we shall see.