Monday, August 17, 2009

Uh oh. Did the "Public Option" Leave a Living Will?

'Cause I think it just met Obama's Death Panel:
As President Obama finishes a western swing intended to bolster support for his signature policy initiative, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius opened the door to a compromise on a public option, saying it is "not the essential element" of comprehensive reform. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said on CBS's "Face the Nation" that Obama "will be satisfied" if the private insurance market has "choice and competition.

I don't want to write about this story. I want Barack Obama to live up to his campaign promises so that I can spend my time writing about the German lady's TaTas, instead (Oh, go ahead and click -- it's safe for work.) But no, I have to write about how President Obama is doing some backroom maneuvering and wheeling and dealing and the end result is going to be a watered down bill that the Republicans and big pharma companies approve of -- and therefore health care will remain ... status quo.

Far from lighting up my world with hope and promise of change, Barack Obama reinforces every cynical view I have of national polititicians. He's no FDR, he's no Kennedy, he's no Abraham Lincoln, heck, I'll say it: He's no Bill Clinton. He's not showing leadership on this issue, but is letting the mainstream media run the direction of the "debates" on health care. Anyone with a brain knows at this point that these "Town Hall Health Care Debates" are not about health care -- they are about people who are fed up with government, with big banks, with unemployment, even with having a person of color in the White House. There's a lot of change in America right now, and big part of the population is not happy with it.

Leadership does not mean being led around Sen. Kent Conrad's North Dakota hometown, as Obama has done this past weekend. Can someone please tell me the point of Obama's big tour out west? Montana? Really?


The only thing I find at all heartening about the current status of the health care debate is there is still a handful of elected officials in the House of Representatives who are willing to fight the good fight and will not vore for a bill that does not include a public option. Senator Barack Obama didn't exactly light up the Senate floor with his leadership, so I guess we shouldn't be too surprised at the way he's handling the health care reform effort.

What are your thoughts?