Obama should not have pursued healthcare reform.

[mmonk]

This is going to be a lose lose in my opinion. The Democratic Party is way too weak for something in line with real reform that will not be costly. The reason is it requires both being bold and having the courage to sell and do it. They want instead to fit in the insurance giants so their money will be in Democratic coffers rather than Republican for future elections, just like the party was too weak to stop abuses by the Bush White House due to the excuse some Democrats come from "conservative" districts. The over calculation of perspective on trying to win a majority by accepting sharply conflicting views and methods to acquire it by trying to please everyone which isn't possible rather than accepting the fact people voted the sweeping majorities looking for change and taking that mandate by the horns holds the possibilty of being more costly to their Democratic majority dreams. And when they say bi-partisan, bi-partisan with who? The birthers? The people holding up pictures of Obama as Hitler? Glenn Beck? Rush Limbaugh? There will be no Republican votes no matter how much you kiss their ass while they kick yours.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. ...

:popcorn:

[madmax]

2. Move over...

:popcorn:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. Beer?

:beer:

[madmax]

8. lol sure

:toast:

[Javaman]

30. Quit hogging...

:popcorn:

[Arkana]

3. Waka waka waka!

[Parker CA]

4. Obama should have pursued healthcare reform. This is going to be a WIN WIN in my opinion. nt.

[regnaD kciN]

18. A WIN WIN = no public option and an individual mandate enforced by $3,800 fines???

I'd hate to see what your conception of a "loss" is... :eyes:

[Parker CA]

19. If that's what you think we'll end up with, then we have drastically different expectations. nt.

[DJ13]

6. No, he should never have started it if he was unprepared to fight for it

The "I'll let Congress hash out the details" was stupid and a serious rookie mistake from the start.

[GreenArrow]

7. Obama hasn't pursued healthcare reform

he's pursued -- sort of -- health insurance reform. So far, it's been a jack-leg performance all around.

[dflprincess]

15. Actually they all appear to be pursuing insurance company

and campaign "donation" protection.

[GreenArrow]

21. They don't want to fix health care,

but they do want to create an illusion of having done so, while allowing the parasitic health industry to maintain full profitability. For the most part, this whole process has been a meretricious charade.

[SammyWinstonJack]

32. Exactly. nt

[G_j]

9. without election reform

genuine progressive policies have little, to no chance.

[Mojambo]

10. The problem has been in the execution.

The decision to leave the details to a fractured and, frankly, bought off Congress was a MASSIVE mistake.

Hopefully tomorrow he begins to rectify. We'll see.

[Motown_Johnny]

11. do you think he should do nothing at all? Or is there something the RWers won't attack him over?

It doesn't matter what issue he takes a stand on, he will be attacked. Better Health Care than most other issues.

I think you are dead wrong on this one. sorry

[mmonk]

13. He should not have pursued it if he were not going to take on

the fight. We will see what happens. I'm for reform. The Party is too weak for real change.

[BlueDemKev]

12. Inaccurate Description

This is health insurance reform, not health care reform.

[mmonk]

28. Healh insurance is the way we access healthcare.

[Pirate Smile]

14. Obama shouldn't have run for President. He can't win the nomination & he can't win the General.

We're dooommmmmed!

[BlooInBloo]

25. lolol

[HughMoran]

16. HAH!

When you get so cynical as to shock people, it's time for a break.

[Democrats_win]

17. The way he pursued HC reform is the problem. We do need reform.

With the crazy right wing media having a disproportionally loud voice, it's clear that we can't make laws through public debate. The Democrats should have had one bill and then worked to optimize that bill. There's really no excuse for this failure because it's happened before when Clinton was president.

Currently we have four bills which has further harmed our side in the public "debate." The end result may very well be that Obama shouldn't have pursued health care (HC) reform because he wasn't up to the task. What they deliver could very well be worse than what we have. That is not acceptable.

So far the jury is out.

[customerserviceguy]

20. You have a good point

I've come to the conclusion that it really might have been way too early to pursue this. Even though we may have solid numerical majorities in the House and the Senate, those numbers are deceptive. We didn't turn any hard-right districts into firmly progressive ones with the last few elections. All we did was see the election of middle of the roaders who have a D after their name instead of an R.

It takes time to make a genuine political realignment, the mood of the mushy middle on Election Day is so very fickle. If the economic measures that have been put into place work, then we will have another shot at even better reform in 2013. We might even have enough people seriously hurting to be able to get single payer.

But that won't happen if we get a leaky Band-Aid that masquerades as reform. It will just let the system dog-paddle its way to the day when the other side gains power again.

[mmonk]

24. We have to make it a movement, I think.

[customerserviceguy]

26. We had a movement last year

to replace Republican thuggery with a progressive President. We got someone who was able to enact budget and spending legislation that brought our economy back from the brink of absolute disaster.

We can work on the movement for health care reform at his re-election campaign.

[mmonk]

27. I doubt health care reform will be revisited after

our taxes go to our health insurance companies.

[customerserviceguy]

33. That's why I favor doing nothing

if we don't get at least a robust public option that does not depend on the private health insurers to trigger it.

[dflprincess]

31. The current "recovery" is one without jobs

people are continuing to get laid off and the only good thing anyone in the administration can say about it is that fewer people lost jobs (along with their healthcre) this month than last month. I'm sure that's a great comfort to anyone who has been laid off.

What's not being addressed is that the current employer based health insurance system does a lot of damage to every other sector of the economy and the only way to change that is to go to a single payer, Medicare for all system.

[customerserviceguy]

34. Agreed

Single-payer does cut most of the waste, and I'd like to see the tort system replaced with open public boards, as well. The current system of waiting years for lawyers to drag things through the courts, where the settlement is eaten up by costs and fees, ending in a sealed agreement that hides bad medical practice is part of the problem, as well.

I work for a utilty, and I have had people who have been behind on their bills tell me that they (or their spouses) have gotten back to work. May it spread throughout the economy!

[Jennicut]

22. When exactly should Obama have pursued it? 2 years...4 years...never?

I seriously think some DUers need a break. The over cynical posts are a bit too over the top.

[rhett o rick]

23. I think it is time we get it out in the open. This issue will make it crystal clear who runs the

country. Either people will do something about it or we can just kiss our asses goodbye

[BzaDem]

29. Yeah, screw the uninsured. n/t

[prolesunited]

35. I'll just do you a favor and die silently in the corner

with no insurance. Don't mind me.

[ourbluenation]

36. This is not about politics per se. It is a human rights issue and NOW is a great time. n/t