After watching the Senate vote at 7:00 AM on December 24 on "Health Care Reform," and after hearing the President say this week that "I never campaigned on the Public Option..." I couldn't help but think about that old lie--"the Check's in the mail..."
Remember the euphoria that we felt when we gained a majority in the House and how optimistic we were when 60 Senators finally had a "D" next to their name and we thought we had a "filibuster proof majority?" Ha! The joke of the century....and it's on us.
And, just a year ago, there was our guy, a different kind of Presidential Candidate, elected by our hard work and above all odds because we listened closely and liked what we heard. Finally, there was someone who talked plainly about what was broken in Washington and what we needed to do to fix it. And boy oh boy, were We going to fix it! Yes We Can...
What a difference a year makes. Principles have been traded for principal.
Our Candidate, who indeed said repeatedly during the Campaign that he would not sign a health care bill without a government-run insurance exchange that all Americans could buy into, has been bought by the special interests that he once said that he deplored.
Monty Hall would not have made as many deals as this guy. Apparently, Monty Hall is a piker compared to Rahm Emanuel...
Let's see who the President (and his brain trust--Axelrod, Emanuel, et. al.) thought were worthy of his attention (largesse) and who should be the beneficiaries of his horse trading.
First, there was a huge giveaway to Big Pharma (followed up 2 weeks ago by support for killing a bill that would allow us--remember us??-- to import drugs from Canada--another campaign promise thrown in the trash). Then there was a mighty handout to the for-profit Hospitals. Next, he outsourced the entire health insurance plan bill to Max Baucus who promptly outsourced the writing of the bill to the highest bidders, the Health Insurance Companies, who wrote the language while crying about how bad it was. "Please don't throw me in that briar patch...."
And how about the ill-fated dating of Olympia Snowe, for the entire summer and most of the Fall? He must have been mesmerized by her widow's peak and couldn't (like the rest of us) hear the words coming out of her mouth... But, We all knew that at the end of the day, Olympia was never going to go to the prom with Barack. And indeed, on Dec. 24, as we knew would happen all along, I heard the Clerk of the Senate record Mrs. Snowe's vote on this watered-down insurance company written bill: "Nay."
Don't even get me started on Dick Liberman. I don't call him Joe anymore--and never will again. He's earned the "Dick" title, forever.
And, Ben Nelson? If he weren't in the Senate, he'd be arrested for extortion. So let me get this straight-- Ben Nelson holds up the entire process, supposedly because he's against the Public Option, but then he let's his vote be bought in order to get free Medicaid for Nebraska? I guess he's just against the rest of us getting cheaper health coverage, huh? Yet, everyone acts as if that's ok--the "normal" negotiation process in the Senate, they called it.
Did you see the Senators all patting themselves on the back after the big vote? Even the 39 who voted "Nay" were acting like buddies with the "D's." "Comity of the Senate," is what the commentators on TV called it. I think they misspelled it-- it should be "comedy" of the Senate--and a tragic comedy at that.
So, in the end, despite all the outsourcing and all the compromising and all the abandonment of anything that will save any money, I was left with one overriding thought at the "end" of this ordeal--these elite 100 people--our so-called "representatives"-- have absolutely nothing in common with us. As a group, they don't give a damn about anyone but themselves and their next election.
So, that leaves it up to us. Do your homework. Make a list of the Senators who don't get it. Support their opponents. Also remind them that we have our own Public Option. The Option to vote for someone else.
As for Barack, until his--"I didn't campaign on the Public Option" lie--I was willing chalk this health care debacle up to his naivety and his inexperience and the inability to find his testicles.
But now, to believe that Barack has not also been bought, would make me naive and blind.
So, when Organizing For America comes calling for my help in the next election, I'll just tell them.... the check's in the mail....
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