Krugman: "Progressives should congratulate themselves on a big win for them and for America"

[impik]

...Unlike the tea partiers and the humbuggers, disappointed progressives have valid complaints. But those complaints don’t add up to a reason to reject the bill. Yes, it’s a hackneyed phrase, but politics is the art of the possible.

The truth is that there isn’t a Congressional majority in favor of anything like single-payer. There is a narrow majority in favor of a plan with a moderately strong public option. The House has passed such a plan. But given the way the Senate rules work, it takes 60 votes to do almost anything. And that fact, combined with total Republican opposition, has placed sharp limits on what can be enacted.

If progressives want more, they’ll have to make changing those Senate rules a priority. They’ll also have to work long term on electing a more progressive Congress. But, meanwhile, the bill the Senate has just passed, with a few tweaks — I’d especially like to move the start date up from 2014, if that’s at all possible — is more or less what the Democratic leadership can get.

And for all its flaws and limitations, it’s a great achievement. It will provide real, concrete help to tens of millions of Americans and greater security to everyone. And it establishes the principle — even if it falls somewhat short in practice — that all Americans are entitled to essential health care...


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/25/opinion/25krugman.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

[pnorman]

1. K & R!

n/t

[impik]

2. You see, Krugman actually read the bill

And he knows history.

[depakid]

6. Neither of which you seem to have the first clue about

1994 here we come!

[jefferson_dem]

11. You mean 1994 - when the Dems lost control of the House after health reform failed?

The worst possible conclusion this time would to head into next year's mid-terms empty handed on healthcare. "Yeah, Mr. Voter, we had both chambers but couldn't do shit. Please send us back so we can continue to not do shit."

[depakid]

21. You think that was bad- wait until the public gets a load of this!

Democrats are now clearly aligned with one of the most "popular" industries in America- one that actually does have "death panels" -called claims analysts, claims examiners and utilization review nurses. All of them are there (along with other types of administrators) to deny people needed care. Every single dollar out of the public's and the treasury's pocket that goes to pay their salaries is one less dollar that could have been used to "produce health" as opposed to the contrary.

Now of course, Democrats OWN every single abuse that'll be coming down the pipeline. Every premium, deductible and copay increase is on their shoulders. Every bill in the mail will have a donkey stamped on it.

This bill alone will mobilize legions of people to go to the polls and vote for whichever party didn't do it, and I'm pretty sure the Republicans won't be shy about reminding Americans who that is.

Worse- instead of using a legal and effective way to pass more responsible legislation- or even putting up a fight, the administration and Senate "leaders" chose instead to appease the most corrupt and craven elements of the party- looking weak, worn down and wanton in the process.

Worse still, the stage is now set for repeat performances throughout 2010.

Waterloo(s) indeed.

[impik]

13. You wish for it so much, aren't you?

I pity you.

[Hello_Kitty]

18. I'm decidedly unimpressed and underwhelmed by Krugman on HCR

A couple days ago he did a blog post claiming that the HCR bill achieved the same result as single payer. It was so blatantly wrong I couldn't even believe he thought he'd get away with it.

[depakid]

22. "ominously dysfunctional" rather sums it up

He likely reckons this is the only things we're likely to see (though curiously, he hasn't mentioned the spilled milk re: reconciliation).

Perhaps in the long run, that's the biggest tragedy here. Missed opportunity and empowerment of the worst elements of system.

[Dudley_DUright]

3. I love this sentence referring to the wingnuts

"No, Virginia, at this point there is no sanity clause." :rofl:

[Land Shark]

4. Why doesn't Krugman ask WHY (if he's correct) our Congress is SO UN-Representative of the people?

Krugman can of course go in whatever direction he ultimately wishes to conclude, (or cite facts to deny there's substantial public support for public option to any greater degree than in Congress) but ...

there's no excuse for simply stepping aside and ignoring this Grand Canyon of disconnect between the people and Congress AS IF it's legitimate and SOMETHING THAT WE OUGHT TO GET USED TO, RATHER THAN REPRESENTATIVES BECOMING MORE ACCOUNTABLE AND RESPONSIVE TO THE GOVERNED. (specifically regarding the Senate, here, more so than the House of Representatives)

on edit: I want to stress that my point above applies regardless of one's position on HCR, provided that one sees the discrepancy between very substantial public support for single payer/public option possibilities vs. the (as Krugman asserts) little or no support in Congress for the same.

[depakid]

5. Just goes to show that Krugman's not always correct

as the cheerleaders for this abomination will see for themselves in due course (along with the rest of the nation).

Sad, really- as Democrats had a chance to do this right- and be the majority party for a generation, relegating the Republicans to the fringe. Instead, they've chosen to be the align themselves with abusive health insurers.

This bill alone could mobilize legions of people to go to the polls and vote for whichever party didn't do it, and I'm pretty sure the GOP won't be shy about reminding Americans who that is.

[mcablue]

8. The concensus was that he was very, very wrong to support John Edwards and then Hillary

The concensus in some progressive message boards, if you know what I mean.

[impik]

14. So he's correct only when YOU agree with him, ah?

How obnoxious.

[mcablue]

7. That Paul Krugman supports the bill is old news

He's repeating the points he's made in yet another column. Let's not treat this as breaking.

[Vattel]

9. I hope Krugman is right.

I respect his opinion, and I am glad that this bill will mean that more people will have access to health insurance. On the other hand, I also respect the opinion of my physician, who is an activist in favor of single-payer. He is highly skeptical about the wisdom of the bill. My biggest worry is that corporate america is just too good at subverting the democratic process to ensure that legislation has the results it wants. It's hard to predict the future, and so I'll just adopt a wait-and-see attitude.

[Skittles]

24. Krugman equates health insurance with health care

a common mistake

[jefferson_dem]

10. Spot on column by Krugman.

:kick:

[BeyondGeography]

12. He has been very consistent on this point

Consistently right. This was the best we could do right now. The naysayers on the left, if they really care about a better result first and foremost rather than acting out petty revenge fantasies, need to get back to work "long-term", instead of crying "how long do we have to wait?" and threatening to take their marbles and go/stay home.

[Zech Marquis The 2nd]

15. I'm sure this is not the perfect legislation bill...

And there some items which should be revised, but look at the big overall picture: in just 11 months, we've had a President who has overseen the passing of some major bills--the Economic Recovery Act and now the Healthcare Reform. Compare this to what * and Darth Cheney did in their first year--huge tax cuts for the rich, underhanded deals for the oil companies, and SEC on vacation, and of course 9/11. I do hope a public option is passed in the near future, but for right now this is alot more meaningful work done than what took place in the past 8 years.

[mzmolly]

16. KnR

:kick:

[DisgustedInMN]

17. "If progressives want more, they’ll have to make changing those Senate rules a priority. "

Sounds good to me.

HOWEVER...

...considering the wonderful display we've had of spineless concession after spineless concession, while holding HUGE majorities in BOTH Houses AND the Presidency, with HUGE mandate from We the People...

The corporate suckups, CHOOSE instead to kiss the rings of their owners...

I'm not holding my breath waiting for them to do the right thing.

Thanks Barack, you're a real peach.

[burning rain]

19. Democrats can accept the bill as worth passing...

but if we have anything like core Democratic values--and certainly those who self-identify as "progressives" must--we can't possibly congratulate ourselves. The fact is that this Senate bill spurns core Democratic values of thrifty, citizen-oriented public programs and institutions (like Social Security and Medicare) in favor of Bushy crony capitalism of the Medicare Part D sort. The Senate health care bill may be worth passing on balance, but it is certainly not worthy of the legacy of FDR and LBJ.

[Odin2005]

20. Stick with Macroeconomics and International Trade Economics, Paul.

In his area of expertise he's brilliant, in other areas he's just another pundit.

[ShortnFiery]

23. Arrogant Ruling Intelligentsia: Eat ME Krugman!