Dennis Kucinich makes it clear he's holding his nose to vote for this bill
The Tea Partying right argues the plan is socialism. My response is, “I wish.”
Isn’t it sad to see Congressman and Perpetual Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich forced cave in and vote for the Democratic health care bill? It may be the best choice, but how sad that we have spent so long to accomplish so little.
As the Firedoglake handout below signifies, the plan does not offer universal coverage, nor does it reduce costs. Health-care is indeed one-sixth of our economy, and if this bill offered any promise of clawing back some of our hard-earned cash from the corporate insurance weasels, don’t you think the Dow would have done more than decline a modest 37 points on Friday?
Friends keep telling me I should learn to love the art of compromise. Michael Moore offered a great response to that argument when he appeared with Wolf Blitzer on CNN today:
Oh, I know. I’ve got a bill: Let’s give 70% of the women the right to vote and leave 30% out. There’s a great idea. Because we’ve got to do it in increments, Wolf. We can’t let all the women vote all at once. We can’t free all the slaves. Let’s keep 30% of them enslaved. That’s how this town is run though, isn’t it? They compromise to the lowest possible denominator.”
Fire Dog Lake - Health Care Bill Myths
As Physicians for a National Health Plan reported, we the people were doomed the minute that Obama took single payer off the table beforehand, in a sweetheart deal with the insurance and health-care lobbies. Like it or not, consumer watchdog Ralph Nader was right that we now have one party with two wings. To keep the insurance-company campaign cash flowing into his party’s coffers - and to keep that money from being used against the Dems in upcoming elections for years to come, the Obama White House turned its back on structural reform long ago. This plan instead offers up an additional 30 million customers to the none-too-tender mercies of those none-too-kindly old insurance execs who are currently trying to kick anyone who is really sick off their rolls.
I applaud Firedoglake for putting together this important document. But I also suspect the new plan includes new gaping loopholes tucked within the bowels of the bill. The corporate gangbangers who masquerade as insurance-company executives will no doubt find ways to continue putting profits ahead of people. You should also expect an explosion in renwed lobbying efforts at the state level, where fewer watchdogs have the resources to keep them honest.
Read it and weep.
