Former Bill Clinton Aide Urges Liberals to Compromise on P.O.

[BlueDemKev]

A former staffer for President Bill Clinton is warning in a Washington Post column that liberals should FORGET the notion that health care reform MUST include a public option.

"Unless liberals rethink this premise, and fast, Democrats will squander their best chance in a generation to end the scandal of the uninsured, bring health security to every American family and begin the long-term process of getting national health costs under control," writes Matt Miller, former advisor to President Bill Clinton.

My friends, PLEASE HEED THESE WORDS.

I want univeral health coverage as much as any of you do, but if we can't get it, let's take the first step towards getting there, not throw it all down the drain. :dilemma:

[ShortnFiery]

1. Go away Bill, you had your eight years. I'm SICK of centrism and corporate DLC

perspectives that have permeated our beloved party.

[T Wolf]

2. First, we gave away real reform (universal care) because it was not winnable (or even "tryable").

Then we gave away an acceptable public option because the rethugs would not go along. Now, we are supposed to throw away a bad PO because the Blue Dogs and other DINOs don't like it.

What exactly are we supposed to accept now?

Actually, what we are supposed to throw away is the best (and last) chance to reform health care that has come along in 50 years.

I guess we libs should just shut up about wanting this health care pony and be thankful we don't have a rethug in the WH.

[BlueDemKev]

4. IF THE VOTES ARE NOT THERE.....

No, we shouldn't "give up" the public option because the Repubs won't go along....but if we can't get enough votes to pass it in both the House and Senate (thanks to the conservative Dems), WE SIMPLY CANNOT GET IT. It's simple arithmetic. Unless we get 218 people in the House AND 51 in the Senate to vote in favor of something, it will not pass--PERIOD.

Don't throw the baby out with the bath water!!! If we lose this golden opportunity because we couldn't get exactly what we want, the the DEMOCRATS will have defeated health care reform, not the Republicans.

[flamingdem]

6. YES YOU ARE CORRECT - And if the bill fails the REPUBLICANS WIN BIGTIME ! nt

[BlueDemKev]

9. Thank you!

I'm glad to see there's someone else here who can see the light.

[Frances]

3. Another idea

Has anyone suggested that the Congress enact a bill that contains the 80% of reforms that the majority agree on and then instead of a public option, lower the age for Medicare from 65 to 60? The people aged 60-65 would have to pay higher premiums than the people aged 65 and over because they will not have paid into the system as long as those 65 and over.

Lowering the age for Medicare and charging higher premiums for the lowered age would open the door to gradually expanding Medicare.

[BlueDemKev]

5. Sounds like a good thought....

Another piece of an step-by-step approach towards universal health care.

[highprincipleswork]

7. F the Clintons and the Clintonistas

Bill Clinton's legacy is not a successful one. Triangulation is not a successful strategy or policy.

I wish that Clintonian politics were a thing of the past. We will not regain real power till we regain our footing with the Progressive values that have made America great for a long, long time. Standing and talking firmly about that which serves "the general welfare" of the public is what counts. Backing down from this, even an inch, is not an option.

Do not even begin to tell me I must buy health insurance from those I do not trust and you are not going to give me a choice.

Public option or nothing. Could say, "Give me public option or give me death."

Always amuses me that those who make so much noise and have so much influence in American politics today would undoubtedly have been Tories, on the side of the British, during the war that established this nation.

[BlueDemKev]

8. If it weren't for Bill Clinton....

...the Democratic Party would be extinct today and there'd be nothing left to fight for liberal values.

Maybe you should read Obama's book "The Audacity of Hope" and see what he says about Bill Clinton's "Third Way." That successful approach is why the right-wingers hated him so much.