Historic health care bill? Please, sir, I'd like some more reform.

A Rush to Legislative Mediocrity

After months and months of right-wing lies, Tea Party shenanigans and GOP obstructionism, the House of Representatives has passed what's being called an "historic" health care reform bill containing a mild public option that guts women's reproductive rights and gives short shrift to low-income Americans who can barely afford to buy food for their families.  Huffington Post provides a detailed rundown of the contentious shebang.  I'm disappointed that this is the best House Democrats could come up with to repair a broken machine fueled by the greed of health industry titans.  (How many other corporations post bigger profits when their product is used less by consumers?)

Some of the party faithful may be comforted by Nancy Pelosi's frozen smile and glib "That was easy" remark.  I see too much compromise and backroom deal-cutting to work up any real enthusiasm for this bill.  I dunno, maybe those steroid injections are kicking in and it's affecting my normally rose-tinted view of life on Planet Earth.  (I'm not dancing yet, Dianne.  Heh heh.) 

A nudge by Matt Drudge now has conservative pundits falsely claiming that people who fail to obtain health insurance will be thrown in jail, a stupid-ass assertion prime-timed for Fox bobbleheads that will no doubt  be regurgitated by mainstream news outlets.  Media Matters applies the sutures - but don't expect this particular patient, already weakened by wingnut hysteria, to survive.  A second medical opinion will eventually be delivered by the United States Senate and Joe I-Want-To-Be-Relevant-Again Lieberman vows to filibuster while the dying man bleeds out.  Calling Code Blue.  I'm off to bed now, to partake in sweet dreams of Universal Health Care for all.  Wake me when it's over.

UPDATE - December 8, 2009:  In the U.S. Senate, the once robust Pubic Option is now officially dead.  Republican lawmakers kept pulling the plug.  Democrats finally decided to let the sickly patient expire.  (Rest In Peace, Progress.)  They're insisting he's gone to a "better place." 

But hey, here's some good news for greedy health insurance companies: Their stocks are rising again!  (Now aren't y'all glad we voted for "change we can believe in?"  Snort.)

Comments

[Carol]

America is the 4th wealthiest country in the world [based on GNP] and we can't provide health care for all of our citizens. That stinks.

[Aggie, Fair Haven, Vermont]

Lieberman needs to be told, "You're now head or a party of one", and stripped of all his chairmanships,
which should have been done in the first place. He's one theocrat that is simply not to be trusted, and the sooner the Dems learn to do without him, the better.

[Bill Cartwright]

"A nudge by Matt Drudge now has conservative pundits falsely claiming that people who fail to obtain health insurance will be thrown in jail, a stupid-ass assertion prime-timed for Fox bobbleheads that will no doubt be regurgitated by mainstream news outlets."

Here it is in the speakers own words

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUkzV8h3Wp0&feature=player_embedded