The U.S. House of Representatives passes the Affordable Health Care for Americans Act early last month (with "Joe" Cao of Louisiana as the only Repug voting yes - kudos to him), and then it gets handed off to the U.S. Senate (Update 12/15/09: I forgot to note that it contained the pro-sepsis coathanger abortion Stupak-Pitts atrocity, but it was fine otherwise).
Which promptly makes an utter hash of the bill every way imaginable (and some ways I couldn't imagine).
First there was the horrible Baucus bill from the Senate Finance Committee without the public option (but not to worry, we were told, by Tom Harkin among others - the HELP Committee bill had the P.O. thanks to Ted Kennedy, the only Dem senator who really understood what was going on here), then the two Senate bills and the House bill started getting meshed together, and all of the elite punditry worried whether or not it would be supported by President Snowe (of course it wasn't).
So then the talk turned to what kind of a public option. With or without triggers? Would the triggers be "automatic"? Then there was the supposed "opt out" of the public option, or whether or not there would be a Carper-sponsored "co-op" with or without a "trigger" in place of the public option (and would the exchanges be federal or by state).
Then, recently, it all got shitcanned to expand Medicare eligibility to anyone 55 or older, though younger voters would still supposedly be allowed to enroll in an exchange which provided coverage (that is, unless the for-profit carriers didn't do that, in which case the government would provide coverage instead...somehow).
I've actually tried to make sense of this ridiculous kabuki exercise up until now. And then along comes The Last Honest Man with his version of "52 Pick Up" over "Medicare For All" which he supported because he was forced to in 2006 when he ran against Ned Lamont (and, of course, which he no longer does now, as noted below).
And if this bill dies (or worse, is signed into law with neither a public option nor an expanded Medicare provision), thousands of Americans without health coverage will die (oh, but as noted here, Ezra Klein is nothing but a dirty, stinking, liberal pinko blogger for pointing out that plainly obvious fact - h/t Atrios, who is another one, of course...and more Lieberman deceit is here).
Every time I think I cannot possibly be more disgusted with the Democratic Party, they prove me wrong.
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Update 1 12/15/09: Uh, yep.
Update 2 12/15/09: And despite their protestations, I’m sure this constituency is completely satisfied with Majority Leader Reid’s performance.
...and speaking of disgust, I thought this little montage by K.O. of the right-wing noise machine's smears against its enemies and their culpability for violence was pretty well done...
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...and today's marks the 30th anniversary of the LP (Remember them? Hey, I saw a couple of turntables on sale at "Best Buys" - seriously) "London Calling" by The Clash - here is a lesser-known track...
...and as I watch health care reform crash and burn, I feel like I need a holiday pick-me-up, and short of alcohol, I guess this will do for now.
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