Griper Blade: The Healthcare Debate Refocused

Over at The Altantic's business blog, writer Derek Thompson asks, "Is Today the Public Option's Last Chance?" See, members of the Senate Finance Committee are expected to force an up or down vote on a government-run health insurance option -- and that vote may not turn out well for backers.

But is it "do or die" time for a public option? Probably not. There are several bills in both chambers of congress and only one doesn't include a public option. Max Baucus' Finance Committee bill is the black sheep here. There are four other bills -- three in the House and one in the Senate -- meaning that 80% of all healthcare legislation includes the option. If the Finance Committee votes down a public option, it will most definitely not be dead. A lot of people will try to pretend that it is, but you won't be able to accuse those people of being too forthright.

It strikes me that it's too easy to get bogged down in whip counts and horse-trading. Coverage of the healthcare debate is becoming like the coverage of an election; it's about the horserace, not the issues. I suppose it's easier to do things this way, since you have hard numbers -- i.e., inarguable facts -- to deal with. You can count those who've come out in support of the public option, those who've said they'd vote against it, you can poll the public and have them rate the president, congress, the two parties on a scale of one to ten, but the numbers aren't the story, because they aren't the issue. We're missing the forest for the trees. Yes, the process is important, but don't we need to understand the issue to appreciate the debate?... [CLICK TO READ FULL POST]