Allen L Roland

Single Pay became the Public Option and is now apparently dead and buried by Big Pharma and its Insurance Lobbyists ~ killed by Greed, Fear and Public Apathy. Obama has failed to effectively lead, has sold out his progressive base and has, in the process, set the stage for a one term Presidency:

The three stumbling blocks to all political reform Greed, Fear and Apathy, have finally seemingly buried the Public Option ( along with the progressive movement ) and the Insurance Industry is rejoicing ~ but it may be premature.

The death of Progressive lion Ted Kennedy just might rally the Democrats ( by renaming the Public Option The Kennedy Health Plan ) and some form of meaningful reform may yet be accomplished ~ but Greed, Fear and voter Apathy still remain formidable barriers.

One year before he died, Ted Kennedy gave this very powerful speech on the need for universal health care ~ which is even more apt now that he is no longer with us. Video 4 minutes ~ http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article23372.htm

Here are the barriers ~

As for Greed, Tom Hamburger and Kim Geiger ( LA Times ) report that " The half-dozen leading overhaul proposals circulating in Congress would require all citizens to have health insurance, which would guarantee insurers tens of millions of new customers ~ many of whom would get government subsidies to help pay the companies' premiums.... "It's a bonanza," said Robert Laszewski, a health insurance executive for 20 years who now tracks reform legislation as president of the consulting firm Health Policy and Strategy Associates Inc."

As for Fear, Hamburger and Geiger also point out that ~ " Opposition increased this month when boisterous critics mobilized at town hall meetings held by members of Congress home for the August recess...The attacks, supplemented by conservative critics on talk radio and other forums, drew national attention...Leading insurers, including UnitedHealth, urged their employees around the country to speak out. Company "advocacy hot line" operations and sample letters and statements were made available to an army of insurance industry employees in nearly every congressional district... Undermining support for the public option wasn't the only gain scored by insurance lobbyists ~ In May, the Senate Finance Committee discussed requiring that insurers reimburse at least 76% of policyholders' medical costs under their most affordable plans. Now the committee is considering setting that rate as low as 65%, meaning insurers would be required to cover just about two-thirds of patients' healthcare bills." http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/healthcare/la-na-healthcare-insurers24-2009aug24,0,6925890.story

According to data from the Center for Responsive Politics ~ In the first half of 2009, the health service and HMO sector spent nearly $35 million lobbying Congress, the White House and federal healthcare offices and most of their message was fear based innuendoes against the Public Option.

As for Apathy, it starts in the White House with President Obama comparing the Public option to a pair of suspenders along with a belt holding up your pants ~ in other words, " It never was really essential anyway."

Obama is a centrist pragmatist, beholden to the economic royalists, and gives no evidence that he will fight for a progressive Public Option ~ unless he is forced to and realizes his re-election could well be effected .

David Sirota calls it Obama's double standard towards progressives and centrist Democrats. In a recent column in the Huffington Post, Sirota points out that Valerie Jarrett, the president's senior adviser, said that President Barack Obama will not punish Blue Dog Democrats for their role in slowing the health-care debate but Sirota also commented that " this is what you get from a White House that is run by Rahm Emanuel and former Baucus staffer (and famous corporate bum-licker) Jim Messina: A White House that plays hardball, but only with progressives. It is a White House that ignores its president's own progressive campaign rhetoric, treats congressional progressives as second-class citizens, and treats corporate shills as the most important players of all." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-sirota/the-obama-double-standard_b_264072.html

Public Apathy must now become civil disobedience and protest or any true reform, such as health care, will be ignored by the Obama administration. Howard Zinn said it best in Failure To Quit ~ " Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while the grand thieves are running and robbing the country.That's our problem."

Here's a hard look at a handful of the 47 million Americans living and dying without insurance ~ http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_5056.shtml

If you're not outraged, you're on life support ~ it's time to take to the streets or shut down the government for a few days.

Allen L Roland
http://blogs.salon.com/0002255/2009/08/27.html

Freelance Online columnist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews and speaking engagements ( allen@allenroland.com )

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

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Allen Roland’s weblog: http://blogs.salon.com/0002255/
Website: www.allenroland.com
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