Author's posts
Aug 29 2009
The Public Option or Bust
“It’s ok if you want to have a government option but you’ve got to leave the private sector private.”
— Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), Aug. 17, 2009
Most of us have probably seen the latest poll: 79% of Americans support a public option. The specific question asked I think hits the nail right on the head:
Do you support or oppose starting a new federal health insurance plan that individuals could purchase if they can’t afford private plans offered to them?
Why is it not too obvious to state that the public option should be the one thing that is not negotiable for progressives and Democrats?
Aug 12 2009
Health Care Reform: Is There Another Way?
As the health care reform issue continues it’s way through the legislative process, it’s becoming increasingly clear to me that there will be a moment in time where many progressives will face the difficult choice of whether or not to support a health care reform bill that looks nothing like what we wanted.
At the end of the day, however, the question will inevitably be: given that people are desperate and dying unnecessarily right now, and given the political realities impeding a better solution, how can we not support whatever incremental improvements survive this legislative process, while still pushing for better things down the road?
I’d like to argue that there is a better way, a politically-realistic way of providing health care for all, without getting into bed with the insurance companies and big Pharma . . .
Jul 18 2009
Do the “Birthers” Have a Point?
A couple of days ago, there were a number of diaries on the Rec List at Daily Kos gleefully trumpeting the news that the Pentagon had compelled a private military contracting firm to fire an employee Army Reservist who had challenged his military deployment orders on the grounds that Barack Obama had not yet proven that he is a “natural born citizen”. The comments were unanimous in their approval of the Pentagon’s action and derision of the soldier in question and his attorney.
More broadly, the “birther movement” is seen by progressives as a complete joke at best, and at worst a racist, even treasonous bunch of far-right xenophobes who cannot accept the fact that a black man with an African father could actually be elected President of the United States. There is never any acknowledgment of even the remotest possibility that there is any merit whatsoever to the cases being brought about this issue.
Nowhere in the progressive blogosphere have I seen anyone ask in an honest way the question of whether or not the birthers actually have a point. That kind of lack of intellectual interest and curiosity always raises red flags for me. For those who care to explore the merits of the case without screaming like banshees, please follow . . . but remember, “be excellent to each other . . . or else”.