This is why many are so sad and angry about this bill [View All]

[Armstead]

(Said before, ad nauseum, but it bears repeating as Democrats do the "victory dance" over this bill.)


People's emotions, myself included, have been in overdrive because we cared about this passionately and we feel betrayed and undone by a combination of corruption and ineptitude.

And before you mention the "perfect and the good" and ponies, let me state this as dispassionately as I can.

For people who really cared about reform for years, this started out with a huge concession from the "perfect" when solutions like expansion of Medicare and a single payer alternative system were taken off the table immediately. Proponents were not even allowed to make their case in the early hearings.

So we agreed to a tame "public option" as a major compromise from the very start.

But then, we did get very disappointed and angry as almost everything we cared about got whittled away -- and the bill became the Privatization Support Act through things like misplaced mandates for private insurance. We felt betrayed. Especially as truly anti-reform forces like Ben Nelson were given EVERYTHING THEY WANTED.

The result was a bill that includes some positive things,but in its very philosophy and strategy FURTHER EMBEDS the very forces that created this problem in the first place. And it rejects actual straightforward regulation. This is based on the same premise that drove the Reagan Revolution. "Allow insurers to be more competitive, and they will do well for everyone." (I just heard Ron Wyden parrot this crap, and had to restrain myself from tossing my shoe at the TV).

And then, as we tried to at least get the worst things taken out so that the hard parts would not be rushed through haphazardly, we were labeled as "kill the bill teabaggers" or "naive ideologues" by the very people who ought to be allies in the fight for a better healthcare system.

You think that feels good? You think there is any pleasure and comfort in that? Don't you think we would much prefer to be able be celebrating a shared victory -- even a small starter victory -- together?