The Senate's healthcare bill has been released, and guess what it doesn't contain? If you said a provision mandating health insurance for all Americans, you're completely wrong! You wish it was that! No, the Senate Finance Committee has, beating absolutely nobody's expectations, refused to include the public option. And now that Obama's made it clear that he's not gonna spend political capital on forcing it through, it looks like the government plan's goose is cooked. SURPRISE.
YAY DEMOCRACY. YAY FREEDOM. YAY AMERICA.
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Like you said, not particularly surprising. Disappointing anyway.
ReplyDeleteI guess there's always hope that a House bill will triumph. Or a more sane version from another Senate committee. But for whatever reason (I actually don't know, maybe you or someone else does) the Finance committee is presented as the most authoritative. I'm sure that has very little to do with the fact that it's also the most conservative.
But hey, at least we'll all be getting private co-ops! It's like REI but for organ transplants!
Great! Private co-ops are a perfect way to solve our problems. Each one will be infinitesimal in size, which will prevent them from distributing risk well enough to keep per-unit costs down. And as their rates remain high, they'll lose popularity, eventually fading to leave behind nothing but the private insurance industry. YAY ORGAN TRANSPLANTS I CAN'T AFFORD.
ReplyDelete(Of course, I know that you know all of this already, Ben. I am not directing this at you.)
As to why the Finance Committee has so much sway, I am not at all knowledgeable, but I guess it has something to do with the word 'finance.' People seem to pay a lot of respect to organizations that claim dominion over money. And since Baucus is jacking off the Democrats while taking it in the behind from the Republicans, he's everybody's go-to guy. Have a problem with overly progressive legislation that might upset your corporate constituents? Fuck Baucus!