It's On Like Donkey Kong

I want to shed some "lyte" on the healthcare debate.  The opening salvos are starting to be fired over the public option.  Predictably, the Republicans are against it.  This doesn't surprise me, Republicans hate anything that a) benefits real, live people and b) puts a hurt on any big business.  And make no mistake, healthcare is a very big business.

Insurance companies want a trigger for the public option.  The idea is if they don't reform sufficiently, then a government-run public option would become a reality.  Yeah, let's wait and let them reform themselves, with no competition from an existing public option.  Like that is going to happen.  The insurance companies know that if a public option isn't created now, it never will be.  So let's set up a mythical trigger and just wait it out.

Not to be outdone, the Blue Dog Democratic Caucus is starting to backslide.  I love my party, but damn it! Can't we just all move in one direction at the same time?  Just once?  Pretty please?  I swear, Speaker Pelosi must get sick of herding cats.  

What Washington is missing is a sense of reality.  70% of Americans want healthcare reform.  A majority want a single payer option.  The  AARP and most major corporations want serious healthcare reform.  Insurance companies know that if they had to compete with a government-run program, most of us would opt for the government program.  Despite all the fear-mongering on the right, government run healthcare works.  Medicare's administrative costs are significantly lower than any private insurer.  Citizens of countries with single payer healthcare systems live longer and have lower infant mortality rates.

I would like to see the Democrats pull together and deliver, but my party has a history of pulling defeat from the jaws of victory.  I realize that single payer won't happen, but a public option, without a trigger, is achievable.  It would be a huge step to make healthcare not only affordable, but provide an incentive for our healthcare system to actually care about health, not just profits.  So let's get ready to rumble!