Seattle Times: President Obama, Congress should set health-care reform aside

[andym]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorials/2010544086_edit20healthcare.html

"THE health-care dance in Washington, D.C., has gone on long enough. Congress needs to focus on the economy and set health care aside. This is a change of position for us. This page supported Barack Obama for president, enthusiastically. We have supported the health-care effort until now. We still support universal coverage as a social goal.

But the longer the fight goes on, the more it feels that the timing is all wrong. The economy is wounded. Employers are hurting. The time to think about loading employers with new burdens is when they are strong. Not now.

Right now, Congress needs to focus on the economy. It needs to follow the lead of Sen. Maria Cantwell and re-enact Glass-Steagall, the law that separated investment banking from commercial banking and for 50 years helped maintain sanity on Wall Street. It needs to bolster the antitrust laws. It needs to lower the estate tax."
......

The result has been chaos: The public option is in then out; the Medicare buy-in for 55-year-olds is in, then out. When the congressional dance stops, the Senate may have 60 votes, but for what? It will satisfy neither Obama's frugal promise nor progressives' lavish hopes. Already the Democratic Party's former chairman, Howard Dean, says the bill is not worth passing in this form.
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The Seattle Times drops its support for health-care reform and seeks to refocus government on the economy.

[still_one]

1. Before it is set aside here is what needs to be done. Put back a public option or

a Medicare buy-in, then have a vote, and let the chips fall where they may.

If the bill is lost, then note those who voted against it, and use it against them in 2010, and move on to the economy

[Chulanowa]

2. The problem is courting the "undecideds"

Y'know, also known as the Republicans who claim to not be republican because republicans aren't cool.

So our Congress - and yes, President - want to make sure this is a "bipartisan" effort.

That would be great, if there were two parties. Instead we have one party - the democrats - and then we have a bunch of chimps in ties throwing feces and screeching.

Cut the republicans out. They can either get on board, or they can keep floating out in the middle of nowhere. Fuck them. That is the only way anything meaningful - and I literally mean anything, not just HCR, but anything - will ever get passed.

Our part in this is to make sure the Democrats we have know what we want, and work to put more of them in office. Right now these poor deluded yutzes see a congress that's fairly evenly divided for voting purposes, which they translate as the public wanting both parties to have equal air time.

Most of our dems are spineless. They only work in large herds. Give 'em a fucking herd (or better yet, elect people with spines.)