Time for Obama to take the lead on health care

Thanks to Mickey and Richard for their comments on the previous post. Here's my response: It's time for Obama to take the lead.

They're putting out trial balloons now to gauge the reaction to Obama's making a forceful push by coming out swinging and abandoning the pretense of bipartisanship. I hope that's what he does. It's not just the Repubs but the conservative Dems that also are getting in the way of meaningful reform.

I'd like to see him give one of his major addresses: frame this as a moral question -- call it a "right" to health care or not, but at least make it a moral question of the right thing to do and we must do it.

Then outline his plan for the best workable solution we can implement at this time, given all the forces against change. But it would have to include at least universal coverage and portability, no pre-existing conditions, no recission, and a public plan that would demonstrate how much can be saved without the profit motive and administrative costs to deny care and to advertise your plan.

And then insist on an up and down vote on his plan in both houses. I think the lesson in this is that you can't be a community organizer when you're the leader of the nation and major controversial issues are at stake. Sure, those skills are useful in many ways, especially when you are negotiating with people who have different agendas but are acting in good faith.

That's not the situation we're in now. Republicans are not acting in good faith; they're playing politics. When you have one party negotiating in good faith and the other playing gotcha, the good guys lose. And on top of that, add in the effect of money from the health care industry on both Repubs and Dems.

Now is the time for Obama to stand up and say: this is the way we're going, here's the plan; now follow me or get out of the way. And he needs to say that to the Democratic politicians as much as to the Republicans. Frame it so there are political consequences with the voters for those who oppose meaningful reform.

And don't be afraid of the label "socialism." The proper answer is "so what?" We have lots of government services paid for by tax money (schools, police, fire department, roads). Afraid we'll put insurance companies out of business? They'll adapt. Just ask the typewriter companies. We didn't try to forestall computer development because it would put them out of business.

Ralph