The long, national HCR nightmare is over

Sod's law, eh? The laptop goes kaputz just when things get interesting. Health care? Baby killers?? Perez Hilton?! I'll never be able to catch up here without quitting my day job, so I'll just rapid-fire some responses here:

The HCR bill stinks up the joint
At the risk of agreeing with the mouth-breathers on this one, the bill does too [1] little, rolls in at an anaemic pace, and suffers from the poor branding [2] of laissez-faire leadership. Worse, an individual mandate without a public option is like ... well, it precludes a clever analogy. I doubt there is precedent for effectively forcing someone to give money to a private enterprise without offering a non-profit alternative. That said, this is an intellectual difference rather than a literal one - our money already gets funnelled to such agencies through our tax revenue. Whether you're unwilling or unable to pay for your health care matters little when the money still has come come from somewhere.  I, for one, would rather not have to share the expense of amputating your leg after you spent months not getting that mole checked out.

The American people don't want HCR
This is an utterly surreal debate. Obama campaigned on health care (including, despite his latter-year politicking to the contrary [3], a public option) and the voters overwhelmingly approved. Poll after poll showed a population united in a desire for reform that should have sailed through were it not for GOP drones spending the better part of a year dangling the false promise of bipartisanship while slowly whittling away at the most beneficial elements.  After a long campaign to break the bill, I would expect nothing less than the audacity to complain that the bill is broken, but to pull out polling showing how the American people [4] disapprove is disingenuous at best [5]. Despite a barrage of scare tactics and outright lies, we want what we've always wanted - a bill with teeth, a bill with meaningful protections, and, in an unprecedented display of unity [6], Americans want a bill with a public option. If, like me, you're unhappy with the bill we got, the polls indicate that most of you wish it were more, not less, liberal.

HCR will do nothing until 2014
While it is true that some of the major reforms will take time, there are actually quite a few elements that will benefit all of us. Today. The Huffington Post has a nice run-down of some of the immediate benefits [7] including: an end to pre-existing conditions, better prescription coverage for seniors, no life-time caps, no rescission (i.e. you can't be dropped for becoming ill), and a more regulated appeals process. To paraphrase Joe [8] Biden, "this is a big Cheney deal" and will help America at least start to catch up with the rest of the world. Someday, we may even hope to have a healthcare system as enviable as Rush Limbaugh's new home [9].

Republicans will campaign on HCR Repeal
Two words: Puh leaze. No matter how much the passive masses spew GOP talking points about waking up in a 'socialist cesspool', the fact is that a vast majority of Americans will benefit from this bill and it's only going to get better. As Dave Johnson [10] points out, over a sufficiently long timeline, facts have a way of catching up with lies:

Like the Iraq War there are facts and there are Republican lies. Over time facts catch up with lies. In spite of what the Republicans had most of the country believing, over time the public came to understand that Iraq did not attack us on 9/11. Over time the public came to understand that Iraq was not preparing to attack us with nukes ... And just as with Iraq, over time the public will come to understand that Republicans have lied to them about health care. There are no "death panels." There is no "government takeover." Etc. Over time the public will become comfortable with the reform that has [11] passed and it will become unthinkable to go back.

Within 24 hours of this bill being signed, the public is already trending towards approval [12] and even thoughtful conservatives [13] are under no illusions that this bill will ever be repealed. Let the Republicans campaign on taking away grandma's meds.  At this point, the best chance they have, outside of petulant little temper tantrums [14], may lie with their corrupt buddies in the Supreme Court. [15]

Comments

Jay DaverthThu, 2010-03-25 09:42

Precedent for individual mandates

Ironic - I couldn't think of a single example yesterday of forcing Americans to purchase coverage and then ">this [17] came through today. It's a good point and would make a legal challenge to the HCR all the more interesting ...