Results Are Better Than Bipartisanship

A while back I posted a conversation that I had with a friend about political compromise. Today my girlfriend and I were having a conversation about how the Obama Administration has been disappointing us lately. On the topic of health care in particular, the best position of single-payer health care (not health insurance) was taken off the table by the Democrats before the negotiations even began. Therefore the conversation has been between a weaker position (a public option) and the far-right crazy idea (do nothing).

In 2010 and in 2012 the public will not judge the Democrats based upon how many GOP or Blue Dog votes they managed to secure during the debate on health care. In 2010 and 2012 the voters will judge the Democrats based on whether or not we got change for the better. Obama was elected on a platform of change and change is what we expect.

Last night on Countdown Keith Olbermann outlined the issue: the American people overwhelmingly support health care reform while the health industry overwhelmingly supports the election finances of our members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans. I share his outrage. The GOP and the conservative wing of the Democratic party are the wholly-owned subsidiaries of the health industry. No reasonable compromise is possible with the folks who are making money hand-over-fist under the current system.

There is only one path to reelection for the Democrats. Follow through on your campaign promises. Start showing real leadership and a real spine and get things done. If you show up to the 2010 election as the party that lost the health care debate twice then the progressive base that got you elected will not turn out for you again. In particular we will not show up to vote for obstructionist Democrats whose interests are transparently driven by corporate lobbying dollars. You weren't elected in order to build a Democratic majority, you were elected to get things done that help ordinary Americans. Gaining the White House and majorities in the House and Senate aren't the real victory, they're just the entry ticket to start working on it.

Wrapping things up, I'd like to mention a couple of the outright lies and distortions that have been thrown into this debate by the corporate interests and the do-nothings:

The government wants to take over medicare/medicaid. False. The government already runs these programs.
The government is going to kill senior citizens and ration medical care. False. The proposed public option extends coverage similair to medicare and medicaid to more Americans. Substantial changes to existing programs are not being seriously discussed right now. The government will no more ration care under the proposed plan than medicare does now (it doesn't now).
The government cannot run a safe and efficient medical system. False. Medicare, Medicaid and the VA are all currently government run. They have lower costs and better outcomes than private insurance plans. Veterans are overwhelmingly happy with their VA plans and want to extend the benefits to their families. The proposed public plan extends this type of system to more Americans.