Health Care Reform This Week (?)

Supposedly we are going to have the health care reform bill done by the end of next week. Good, great, get it done.

The Republicans are out, in full throat, stirring up their usual amount of discord and vandalism. But it is my hope that we (our slow moving beloved leaders) won't be swayed by them. This after all was one of the promises of an Obama presidency when we voted in 2008. And there's no reason whatsoever that we shouldn't have it. In fact there's more of a reason, because the problem with health care has only gotten worse in the meantime.

To leave it to the private insurers to do the right thing, which is the Republicans' plan, would be a disaster. The same as leaving wolves in charge of the hen house. If you really like your morning egg, don't be surprised if your layers come up missing.

Now the Republicans are looking for this to be the killer platform for them, to repeal health care reform. To take us back to those glory days of endless, unregulated insurance increases, etc. Of course I don't think we're going to have it so much better afterward, because the insurance companies were part of the buy off process in Congress. But anything has to be better than nothing. And to think I would leave myself to the tender mercies of the Republicans? Yeah, that would be smart.

How's this for a quote:

Karl Rove warned on Fox News: "If they pass this thing, I think they lose the House of Representatives this fall".

The "concern" is duly noted. Karl is always looking our for our electoral best interests!

To which I would say, "If that's what it takes." There's no good reason to have power if you're never going to use it for the public good. If we get involved in a campaign that has in it a key promise to get health care reform, then if we can never get health care reform because someone might lose a future election, what was the point of the first campaign? To win elections just to win more elections is pointless.

And as for Karl seeing a one-to-one action and consequence here, look at his boss's administration. They misgoverned this country (like skunks) for years in my opinion, and they got reelected.