The voters will decide, I guess. But they need help in understanding healthcare’s big questions, and what’s really behind the candidates’ words and apparently changing positions. That calls for a robust and honest discussion of the issues, which has been lacking.
Political forces are boxing candidates into a corner, causing them—as in the case of Warren and Romney—to run away from positions they once took. That narrows the debate, and it would be better if the press was not part of the narrowing process.
I've said a couple of times that the Warren race will be ground zero for all the lizard brain tactics the conservatives can come up with. It's really sad that outside of Vermont, you cannot be forthright and outspoken on a liberal left position without some Megan McArthyite jumping down your throat.
As for Warren's support of single payer, it was the most obvious solution at the time. As Alan Grayson explained of the Medicare system:
http://m.democracynow.org/stories/10836
"the Medicare provider network is an enormously valuable, expensive thing that we’ve created with federal tax dollars that ought to be open to everyone, not just seniors."
and so America should have Medicare or VA for all, at the very least let people buy into it. It should also be considered that a) these were chapters with co-authors which were supporting the single payer theme b) single payer support made sense from a negociating stand point when it came to wrestling concessions from the insurance cartels.
If one small paragraph in a co-authored book is the only piece of literature where Warren claims "it's the most obvious solution" (which is a different from, "this is the solution I endorse and support. We need a single payer system" - language she does not avoid when she talks about consumer financial protection) then it's a pretty weak claim. What she supports is whatever system takes the sting out of hospital bills which people can't afford because they got laid off, they had preconditions, they were under insured, had high deductibles, or got a product with layers of small print, etc. Single payer does that, as do regulated industries who trade product limitations used to limit loss for a expanded mandatory risk pool.
If that is the solution that made it into law, which took the control of two houses, reconciliation, the hurdling over a near revolution, to get and has had to survive 3 rounds of Scott Brown voting to repeal it while he uses the law to insure his daughter, then she doesn't support going back and trying to start a war over Medicare for all. That is a state matter for the good folks of Vermont to play with. The nation has to work with the framework most acceptable to all parties and that happens to be the conservative package put together in Massachucetes under republicans.
It's amazing to me how much the media ioverdoing against the qualified and throwing themselves behind the model, the guy who was paid off by the banks to nix the wallstreet funded bailout fund that normal banks pay for the services of the FDIC.
The person who got the consumer financial protection agency vs the guy who's owned by banks and knows the pitcher for the red sox.
Why is this even close? Because he drives a pickup? Really? There is something deeply wrong in America's political culture when the positions which determine the rules and regulations which govern American life are decided by a process that resembles more American idol than the Republic.
#1 Posted by Thimbles, CJR on Tue 24 Jul 2012 at 03:56 AM
This was a pretty good fact check on the single payer subject:
http://mobile.masslive.com/advmasslive/pm_60569/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=KpDP8Uis
And one on the subject of Scott Brown's desire to repeal the ACA:
http://mobile.masslive.com/advmasslive/pm_60569/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=HsyA5ZUR
Question, what do the republicans expect to replace it with? What are they going to do with the under 26 year old kids, the unemployed, the preconditioned, etc..
And, as mentioned before, what are their plans for Medicare? Because the Ryan plan is ACA style policy for seniors. At least Scott Brown is consistent (according to his piece in politico) , he doesn't support either the Obama plan for the uninsured or the Ryan plan for the elderly. In which case, does he support socialist Medicare? What does he support? And Romney, does he support Paul Ryan 'no industry concessions are necessary' reform for regular health care, since he wants to rip the ACA from the roots?
Need the info.
#2 Posted by Thimbles, CJR on Tue 24 Jul 2012 at 04:20 AM
And now we learn from a Deloitte survey that nearly 20% of businesses surveyed are considering dropping employee health coverage because of Obamacare...
Who could have PREDICTED it, when our Obamessiah promised us that we could keep the insurance we have?
#3 Posted by padikiller, CJR on Tue 24 Jul 2012 at 07:14 PM