Sherrod Brown and Dennis Kucinich: Time to "trigger" a public option

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http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2009/09/sherrod_brown_and_dennis_kucin.html

Sherrod Brown and Dennis Kucinich: Time to "trigger" a public option

by Stephen Koff / Washington Bureau Chief
Wednesday September 16, 2009, 5:29 PM



WASHINGTON, D.C. — Republicans and insurance companies already dislike elements of the health insurance proposal put out this morning by Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat who chairs the Senate Finance Committee.

Ohio Democrats who want a public option -- a government-run insurance plan to compete against private insurers -- are pretty lukewarm about it, too. Though they are reserving judgment for what is bound to be a great deal of haggling, they note that Baucus calls for insurance cooperatives rather than a government competitor.

"We need to pass a bill that gives Americans a choice of affordable, quality health plans and insurance they can count on -- even if they get sick or have a pre-existing medical condition. That means passing a strong public option that keeps insurers honest and lowers costs," said Sherrod Brown, the Democratic senator from Ohio. "And it means support for business to provide health care to their employees.

"I am disappointed that Senator Baucus' efforts to meet his Republican colleagues halfway have been stonewalled by Republicans on the Finance Committee," Brown continued in a prepared statement. "Even though he has shown a willingness to jettison provisions important to many Democrats, Republicans have shown no interest after months of good-faith discussions.

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And then there is Dennis Kucinich, the Cleveland Democrat in the House of Representatives. Kucinich is excoriating insurance companies today and tomorrow in House committee hearings, and he has little patience for the coming compromises that he says will still deprive millions of Americans of health care. He wants universal care because, he says, health care should be a right.

And so in an e-mail message sent today to his political supporters, Kucinich tells the tale of Roy Rogers and Trigger, the golden palomino stallion. But in this version, the Senate compromise horse winds up stuffed and mounted, failing to save the day.

Fans of Western lore will want to read it for themselves, so away we go:

"Dear Friends,

"The Senate cannot pass a health care bill with a public option. The House cannot pass a bill without one. The public wants a public option. The insurance industry wants a private mandate. The White House is in trouble on this and is calling upon the Senate to find a way out of this dark passage.

"So, Boys and Girls, return with us now as the Senators will take a page from out of the old West. They are going to do what cowboy hero Roy Rogers did when he got in a jam: Call for Trigger, the Golden Palomino. Trigger, the trusty steed who rode to glory against those phantom cattle rustlers who sold insurance against physical harm, provided however that the small town marks bought the stolen beef.

"In this scene Trigger will come off his mount of glory at the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum in Branson, Missouri and gallop to the mount of glory on Capitol Hill, rear up a dazzling 24ft, and by his sheer electrifying presence rescue the US Senate and the Administration from today's rustlers.

"It is Washington, DC, so they promptly slap on a confused Trigger a corporate blanket with corporate logos from insurance companies: Pre-Existing Trigger. Lower Cost Trigger. Patient Access Trigger. The Senators will jump on this horse and ride straight for the sunset. Giddy-up Trigger, past that broken down Public Option dray horse. Gallop into the conference committee with full force. Charge!

"I am carried away by prospect of rescue by the one horse I can believe in. Sadly, Trigger will never save us from the rustlers. He'll just stand there, mounted, in all of his spectacular equine power ever poised to spring into action, ever ready to hustle out the rustlers, or something like that."

[shirlden]

1. Lucky Ohio

Two roses in the midst of all those thorns...........right on guys.

:toast: