To paraphrase an old historic adage, "When the going gets too tough declare victory and move on." All of the town hall meetings across the country that have been disrupted and shut down by the lunatic right-wingers isn't the real threat to achieving universal healthcare. Get ready folks because the very people in Washington, DC, including the president, who are calling for universal care will be the ones who will scuttle real reform by passing and signing a bill into law that is pretty much all window dressing and very little window. The White House is now calling it "health insurance reform." It has recently come to light that a behind the scenes deal has already been struck by Obama and the Democrats with the big pharmaceutical companies that will not allow for government negotiating to lower prescription drug prices.
Now the president is out in Montana with Senator Max "I sold my vote and soul a long time ago to big insurance" Baucus telling the American people that the bill Baucus is writing and steering through the Senate Finance Committee will be the bill he supports. Meanwhile, Baucus does not support any type of substantive public option. Baucus' next door neighbor, North Dakota Senator Kent Conrad, has also come out against a public option. Preferring a vague wait-and-see "co-op" approach to healthcare which will not accomplish real reform. It's no wonder big insurance supports this idea too because they don't want to give up any of their profits. They've given millions of dollars to the campaigns of many Democrats like Baucus and Conrad among others and expect something in return. Our president has been bending over backward favoring compromise to the point of looking like a game of political "Twister."
Plain and simple, the issue of real healthcare reform is slowly turning into how it can be prevented without it looking like it has been prevented. It is very seldom that I ever agree with a conservative, but I heard one on television recently say that Obama is going to sell the left wing of his party out over healthcare reform. Unfortunately, with his recent balking at his own campaign promise of removing the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, he isn't leaving much room to believe otherwise about his commitment to reforming our ailing healthcare system. Bill Maher got it right when he said the time for the audacity of hope is past. He's hoping for a little more audacity. Don't hold your breath Bill.
