Healthcare reform: all is not lost, but could be
Sunday, August 2, 2009 at 20:42 It was depressing to see Congress wander off for summer vacation and not have a healthcare bill to show for it. They should have all been forced by the taxpayers to stay after school and do the work. I agree, for the most part, with Robert Reich in his assesment:
“Every day that goes by without a vote in the House or Senate on universal health care makes it less likely that major reform will occur, because (1) opponents have more time to stir up public anxieties about it; (2) Democrats up for reelection next year come ever closer to the gravitational pull of the midterms, and grow increasingly worried about voting for a bill that could be a political liability in a year when unemployment may well reach double digits and the electorate is restless and unhappy; and (3), as a result of the first two, proponents increasingly have to rely for support and cover on industries like Big Pharma and insurance, as well as physician specialists and equipment suppliers, none of whom have any interest in fundamental reform but all of whom see possibilities for making more money out of whatever bill emerges.”
If you’re a regular reader of the maven and meddler, you’ve heard me say it here, too. Give those obstructionist horses’ behinds an inch …
A recent article in The New York Times, however, does point out some areas of consensus that do give one a glimmer of hope. A very, very small glimmer of hope. The salient points are as follows:
