Amazing when Democratic Party sacrifices its base...

Every progressive Democrat in the land knew that the plan for health care reform from Blue Dog Democrat Max Baucus would be a joke. And, thus, when Baucus finally delivered it, waiting so long that, in the meantime, town hall screamers from the right got publicity and health care advocate Ted Kennedy died, it was just that--a joke. It included no public option, a mandate placed upon the poor and lower middle class, and all kinds of gains for the insurance industry. It wasn't just a joke. It was also embarrassing, because it suggested that an "actual" Democrat and the Democratic Party was behind the awful Baucus bill. No, that was the Baucus idea as Baucus is a would-be Republican, like the rest of the Blue Dogs. Unfortunately, the plan is still tied to the Democratic Party.

This morning, President Obama was on ABC's This Week and he not only spoke in favor of the Baucus bill, but also made the analogy that people should have mandatory health care just like they have mandatory car insurance. He also said that it would not be a tax increase because people without insurance would be able to find "affordable" rates and people paying insurance right now would see their insurance rates go down when all the other mandated people are "forced" (my word for it) into the system. Huh?! Huh, to all of it!

Obama's logic is perplexing to me. I know he is an intelligent man, so this can only be either "rich man arrogance" or "rich man ignorance." He needs to go back, take a long look, talk to real people at the lower economic levels, and reconsider. Otherwise, the poor and lower middle classes, which have been the constant base of the Democratic Party, will find themselves economically-stretched, taxed, fined, and grappling for the cheapest insurance costs possible while probably not getting anything much better in insurance coverage. It will be a time when the Democratic Party sacrifices the poor for the sake of the rich. Talk about an impending disaster for the Democratic Party if that constituency is angered and driven away.

(And my complaints are not about the issue of taxes, either. I would be willing to pay more than my fair share of taxes for a single-payer system, knowing that my nation develops what's best in health care and that all American citizens finally get covered for health care. But I truly resent having mandated taxes or fees going to nothing more than the wealth of an insurance industry and the health care system then still lags behind systems in other industrial nations. The sad part is that most Americans want a single-payer system, but the politicians refuse to deliver it. Who do they serve?!)

There also is this myth--which I think is a rich person's fantasy--that if a person has health insurance, then everything is fine and dandy. No, some people, like myself, cut back the insurance coverage to the bare minimum to also find the bare minimum of costs. How does that make health care better in America?

And finally, to the "affordable" part, if there is no public option plan, there is no way to keep the prices from the insurance companies down.

So, I guess, at this point, I can say that I am now against the health care reform legislation. Geez, I never thought I'd say that, considering that America has a Democratic president and a Democratic majority in Congress. Wow, truly amazing that this president, with his incredible oratorical skills, has lost me to the health care plan.

The result also is that I have already decided never to vote for anyone like Missouri Senator McCaskill who joins a "gang of..." in Congress, because that means they are Blue Dogs, trying to appease Republicans. I can't see how the Republicans don't win big out of this health care sell-out and that's unfortunate. But what are we to do? Vote for rich fools because they are better than the other rich fools? I have often said that the limitations of the two-party system just mean that we have no good choices. We have fewer options there than with insurance plans, for that matter. I thought we had good choices during the campaign. Wow, actions and attitudes sure can change. But there's no sense for progressives voting for people, in either party, who don't really represent them, their needs, or what's best for the country. Now may be the time for building a good third party option--one that supports single-payer health care.