Schuster and others: "How did the Public Option become the Holy Grail of Health Reform"?

[grantcart]

Well that's easy - when you took off Single Payer you left only one other rational choice, Public Option (which allows the public to choose single payer by proxy).

Don't ask us to compromise anymore - Public Option is the compromise.


The reason that it is the Holy Grail is because it represents a structural change.


That it is a modest change in the structure of providers is irrelevent - we can make a modest change more significant later.


All of the other elements of the health care bill represent changes to the current structure but I would exchange all of them for a public option.


Once in hand the people will have a chance to vote with their feet and the pressure on the insurance companies will be unceasing and unrelenting. It will, in time lead us to single payer.


If the final bill doesn't include a strong public option then let it be defeated and we can go to 2010 with a battle cry and the people will respond. People may like their doctor but no one likes their health insurance company.

[DrToast]

1. When mandates became part of the story.

If something is so important that everyone must have it, then it should be something that the government should offer and not a private for-profit entity.

[Honeycombe8]

20. Give that guy a hand!

:applause:

You nailed it!

[Better BeLIEve Bull]

2. How did Schuster come to be viewed as a Moderate?

No wonder everything is a struggle when douches like him are seen as allies.
He's like the journalistic equivalent of Joe Lieberman.

[grantcart]

3. You need to look at Schuster again

He is stating a fact and asking a question?


He has consistently taken the hardest reporter's line against the crazies.


In fact Schuster answered the question himself saying - the Public Option became important when single payer was not included.


At this point we want all of the reporters and all of the politicians to ask and wonder why we will not budge.


I thank Schuster for raising the question.




welcome to DU

[stray cat]

17. You need to take a closer look at what you call a moderate - green party is not centrist

[Craftsman]

4. It's toast

Put the public option in a Red shirt and beam it down to the planet surface with the away team consisting of Spock, Kirk, Bones, and Sulu... it's dead Jim.

[Better BeLIEve Bull]

5. care for a friendly wager?

[grantcart]

9. You don't get to heaven by taking advantage of children

[Craftsman]

18. It has begun already.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4044272

[CrownPrinceBandar]

6. Jonathan Alter was just on MSNBC saying to Schuster..........

that Dems may have to hold their noses and accept a corporate-run HCR as it better than nothing. I think he used the term "going down with the ship" when talking about some pundits notion of rejecting a HCR plan w/out a public option.

It seems that the public option is dying the death of a thousand cuts.

I agree with what you say except for the lack of a PO being a call to action in 2010. I think its make-or-break time for HCR right now.

[grantcart]

7. this is like the period called "the phony war"

After Germany had occupied France and before the real war started.


The war over the public option hasn't even begun yet.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

8. grantcart, I hope you're right............

our country needs this in the worst way.

[grantcart]

10. The numbers are actually looking good.

it all swings on a simple premise - that Democratic Senators who may vote against the bill will not cross the line and support a filibuster.


If that happens we only need 51 votes in the Senate without using reconciliation.

[CTyankee]

12. I suspect you are right. If there is any fight left in this White House I have to believe that

a strategy has been developed along the lines of "If they do this, we do that..." in a bunch of different scenarios. So I am going to wait and see how this comes down...

[TheWraith]

13. The Phoney War was before Germany occupied France, not after.

It was the time between the beginning of the war in September of 1939 and the resumption of the Blitzkrieg in May 1940.

[grantcart]

14. after I looked at it again I wondered who would be the first to catch it

nice job

[TheWraith]

15. History nut. What can I say. :) nt

[grantcart]

16. wouldn't you agree that this period 'feels' like the phoney war period

Lots of false moves but the real battle is still ahead.


I think people will be surprised how intense the final engagement is before a vote.

[TheWraith]

19. I'm thinking the opposite direction, that we're going to be surprised by how fast they fold.

In this case, the analogy might better be the Quasi-War. Lots of posturing, lots of anticipating a brutal fight, but in the end we've got the votes to do this without them.

[Clio the Leo]

11. All I know is, I'm glad I wont be home for Ed's show tonight...

.... I like to leave it on, even it it's on mute, I'm loyal to my station and all. Thankfully, I wont have to watch all the gaskets he's gonna blow.

(I hope someone finds them all so they can stick them back on him when he calms down next week lol)