The evils of monied interests

My recent optimism about health care reform took a hit this morning.

The lead story on page 1 of the New York Times begins with this paragraph:

"As the health care debate moves to the floor of Congress, most of the serious proposals to fulfill President Obama's original vow to curb costs have fallen victim to organized interests and parochial politics."

My first thought was: that's not true. At least, it's going to put an end to "pre-existing conditions" and loss of insurance when you change jobs, and its going to make insurance available to millions who don't have it now.

Then I re-read the paragraph: it's talking specifically about the cost-cutting proposals. Fair enough. That is a problem, because we don't need a bill that conservatives can point to in a few years and say: see, it was a dismal failure because it didn't rein in costs. And then they will blame the Democrats for this "out of control new entitlement."

When in fact it is the business interests of the health care industry and their lobbyists who are gutting this -- because they are more interested in their own fiscal health than in the health of the nation.

Ralph