A wake up call from this side of the Atlantic.
I’ve noticed after last night’s results that many of you are feeling despairing about your country, and even contemplating giving up political blogging because of the distress of it. I’ve one word of advice…
Hold on. Buckle up, and keep going. It was always going to be a bumpy ride.
Some of the Obama’s more incoherent detractors have labeled his health care plan as “socialized medicine.” It is assumed, naturally, that socialism is Bad (with a big B).
While socialism may be less effective in many industries and fields (just look at the Soviet Union’s fate, after all), the insurance industry as a whole is rather different. Think for a moment – how is capitalism supposed to work? The company that makes the most profit wins. Companies make profit by selling goods and services to consumers; the better the product, the more consumers buy it, the more money said company makes, and the more effort said company puts into making an even better product. Society as a whole benefits from this invisible hand.
With insurance, on the other hand, companies don’t make profit by selling consumers the best product. Instead, they make money by denying insurance claims from consumers. The incentive is perverted; the insurance company that does the best denies the most claims. And because one has to begin with a lot of preexisting money to start an insurance company, it is very difficult for competition to emerge. Meanwhile, the customer is trying to make insurance companies pay for something (a medical crisis, for instance) he or she could not afford on his or her own. It is as if both sides are continually trying to rob the other.
Obviously, this is Bad (with a big B) for society.
Obama is a Corporatist Sell Out! seems to have become one of the battle cries on the liberal blogosphere at the moment, and partly inspired by Al Giordano’s excellent article We Have Met the Corporation and It is Us (hat tip to Happy in VT for the link) this seems worthy of a wider moose moot. I was hoping to write something more linked and substantial and elegantly argued, but given the holiday season, thought it best to get this modified comment out there, sooner rather than later.
You may disagree but, from this transatlantic perch, it seems that there is some justice on focusing on the role of commercial and corporate interest in the US legislative life. As the Health Reform process has made quite clear, the US system of campaign finance, legislative checks and balances, is quite prone to effective lobbyists, paid handsomely by their corporate clients, surely because they get results.
But to go from this recognition of corporate influence, to a conspiratorial Chomskyite hegemony and argue that ‘everything is about corporate power’ seems to be – as Al Giordano says – to both state the obvious and miss the point.
Not a great week for this vagabond Brit to return to the progressive online community. After three months living out of suitcases, I return to find that everything has fallen apart since I’ve been away.
1. War escalates in Afghanistan.
2. The Senate pass a heavily watered down health care reform bill.
3. Obama has to confront the reality that the Copenhagen talks on climate change and man made emissions are heading nowhere.
Jeesh. I’ll be careful next time I move. There’s lots to be said about all these things, and having experienced this meme in the British media, I’m sure you’re all getting in the neck too. The line goes like this (I’ve seen it in the Guardian Blog today)…
The House is holding court leading up to the likely vote on healthcare this weekend – perhaps even today. Will healthcare reform pass into law in the foreseeable future? Will it look like something that most people can be happy with?
Consider this an open thread for following and discussing the pertinent happenings.
WTF! Do these idiots realize what they’ll get if their wish is granted? For Obama to fail means the economy must stay bad, or the wars go badly in Afghanistan or Iraq, or Iran gets the bomb, or another terrorist attack takes place in the U.S., or…
Why do they hate America?
Sorry. Had to rant. Teh crazy gets harder and harder to take every day.
The dog days of August have long been known as “the silly season” in the media. Most people are busy enjoying the summer and the media has to stretch to find stories of interest. This is the time for “man bites dog” stories. It has been this way in this country for a long time.
Tonight, the silly season officially came to an end.
Anyone who is not blinded by hatred or ideology will admit that Barack Obama is one of the most skilled political orators to ever hold the office of President of the United States. He reaffirmed that status in a speech tonight to the joint houses of Congress.
The timing of the speech couldn’t have been better. During August, the health care debate seemed to be reaching an impasse. Opponents were twisting reasonable proposals into “death panels” and “government takeovers”. Supporters were complaining about lack of leadership, focus, and messaging. It was time to get the reform effort back on track.
President Obama addressed both sides tonight, as well as the huge number of people who were on neither side so far.
Once again, American politics continues to dominate UK politics, especially over the misrepresentations of our National Health Service. Today’s news is dominated by far right wing Tory, Daniel Hannan, who keeps appearing on Fox decrying the NHS, much to the chagrin of most the population of the UK, and his Party leader.
Meanwhile, I thought Obama’s defence of his plan was urgent, angry and completely on the money. I hope that lots of Americans saw this:
It’s 3:30 in the morning and I should be asleep. Instead, I’m reading about health insurance reform on the web. My late night reading may have been worth it. These are some of the best words I’ve read about health insurance reform. The whole speech is worth reading or watching, but I found the ending to be especially good.
From Barack Obama’s Weekly Radio Address:
…That’s why, under these reforms, insurance companies will no longer be able to deny coverage because of a previous illness or injury. And insurance companies will no longer be allowed to drop or water down coverage for someone who has become seriously ill. Your health insurance ought to be there for you when it counts – and reform will make sure it is.
With reform, insurance companies will also have to limit how much you can be charged for out-of-pocket expenses. And we will stop insurance companies from placing arbitrary caps on the amount of coverage you can receive in a given year or a lifetime because no one in America should go broke because of illness.
In the end, the debate about health insurance reform boils down to a choice between two approaches. The first is almost guaranteed to double health costs over the next decade, make millions more Americans uninsured, leave those with insurance vulnerable to arbitrary denials of coverage, and bankrupt state and federal governments. That’s the status quo. That’s the health care system we have right now.
So, we can either continue this approach, or we can choose another one – one that will protect people against unfair insurance practices; provide quality, affordable insurance to every American; and bring down rising costs that are swamping families, businesses, and our budgets. That’s the health care system we can bring about with reform.
Thank you.
‘
Read, listen, discuss.
When you wake up in the morning and rub the sleep out of your eyes are you surprised to find a great shadowy figure in the room? We are past the Fourth and the “let’s celebrate America” holiday feeling only to find that the lobbyists continued to move forward while we were distracted by fireworks and speeches.
The Wapo points out this morning that a large number of former inner-office employees of Max Baucus and Charles Grassley and other active Congressional committee members are being snatched up by lobbying organizations: