Think Progress:
[T]he reaction of prominent Republicans, conservatives, and the insurance industry to the idea of “a nonprofit health care cooperative as an alternative to a new government insurance plan” indicates that such a concession would not lead to the “overwhelming vote in the United States Senate” that Grassley says he wants. For instance, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) told the New York Times, “You can call it a co-op, which is another way of saying a government plan.”
On Fox News yesterday, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) agreed with Fox News’ Neil Cavuto’s claim that a co-op is really a “trojan horse”:DEMINT: Whatever they call it Neil, this is a government takeover. They may try to call it a co-op. They can call it a public option, but you know they’re all on record saying they want a single payer government system, so any Republican now that helps them pass a bill is helping them pass a government takeover of health care. My hope is we can stop this and start over with some real reform. A number of us have been talking about ideas that we know would work, but unfortunately this administration and the Democrat majority, they really don’t want insurance reform at this point. What they want is more government control of our health care system.
“Any Republican senator who helps them pass something with a government stamp on it, the way they’re talking about, is, I think, just betraying the American people,” added DeMint.
If Republicans are going to refuse to consider any kind of reform at all, then it really is time to say "screw 'em." Most of them are going with their reactionary instincts and they're going to vote against any bill, just because Democrats are for it. Why this doesn't render them irrelevant is beyond me. You can't deal with someone who refuses to concede anything at all and this "I'm against anything you're for" crap really ought to get the GOP dealt out of the game.
2 comments:
What I'm observing in the past 48 hours is the 'public option' push-back offensive. At present, what's being gauged in congress and the media is the public's temperature for a public option now that they've given Republicans the chance to be heard.
The GOP has thrown their best at the issue and it's just not enough. It's an intellectually weak-assed compilation of non-sensical obstructionism built on the cliche ramblings of a fringe within a fringe minority of corporate shills, birthers, and extremist libertarians.
That's the best they've got and it's becoming all too obvious that when they had the national floor at townhalls across America, they failed to make a serious and reasonable case.
They wasted our precious time on the expectation that they'd have something important to say other than, "I'm afraid of, or hate, Barack Obama."
In one collective voice, like surround sound at a movie theater, they shouted, "we're scared and ignorant."
Poor souls.
It's media-driven Jerry Springer politics, and the media might be a little concerned that Glenn Beck, a leading opposition voice in this one-sided intellectual massacre, is being treated like he just farted out swine flu in an elevator.
That's important to note. It says something about the direction this debate is headed, and it's heading away from the Glenn Beck fringies faster than you can say, "Obama is a Racist Hitler."
They're now on the ropes and losing this fight and it's time to go for the TKO.
A "public option push-back offensive" is great news, but why was it ever necessary?
The Democrats have got to stop washing their dirty linen in public. Fight and argue all you want, but do it in private. When you're ready - and not before - then come out and present the public, and the Republicans, with one proposal, one bill, to vote for or against. If the political temperature is still too hot, put it to a freakin' national referendum, why not. But get your message straight first.
Otherwise - you are going down.
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