Beyond Debate: A Call to Action on Healthcare

I've been studying the ins and outs of the health care debate for weeks now, and all I can say is thank God I have coverage, because this stuff is making me sick. It's become so bad for me, that I've stared at the computer and wondered how to approach writing about it for days now, and haven't yet figured out where to begin. This situation is rotten on so many levels, I can't think about one without webbing out to many the others.

Why is the United States the only wealthy economy in the world that doesn't offer access to healthcare for all of its people? I've puzzled over many different answers, but it really seems to boil down to two:

1.) The health care industry, like oil, is too powerful to be countered. It now represents about 17% of the GDP and continues to rise.
2. ) The Senate is living up to it's founders' idea - protecting the moneyed elite from the masses by enabling them to control the "democratic" process.

We  can't allow this to stand. We have a situation here in which the masses have spoken clearly, but have fallen victim to a campaign of obfuscation.  Over seventy percent favored a public option as recently as June; about two thirds right now confess to being confused by the issue. A campaign to convince the public that what they want is not good for them is succeeding.  A fine blend of likely truths (the insurance industry will shrink in the face of a strong cost-controlling public option) and lies (an uncaring and incompetent government, wanting to solidify its hold as a greedy socialist, fascist state will form death panels, put your health care in the hands of big brother, not let you talk to your doctor) has been sprinkled over the public consciousness and set to simmer by industry lobbyists and their allies in Congress and the media. Toss in a shakey economy and general uncertainty among consumers, and you get what we have - an erosion of support for something the nation wants.

A clear, unified, mobilized majority can overcome Congressional obfuscation. A confused, nervous public cannot.

Did President Obama's administration count on the republican strategy working so well? I doubt it, though I think they should have seen it coming. I think this administration genuinely wants a public option, but set their course seeking to avoid the crippling damage that might have been caused by taking the rudder out of Congress' hands, as the Clinton administration did  in its first term. Should they have seen this? In my humble opinion, yes.

My guess is this: the administration has said from the start that health care is a first-term, long term agenda. It campaigned on completing reform by the end of the first term. But they seemed to have the momentum: a broad public majority wanting reform, a strong House majority, and filibuster-proof senate.  Still, they should have seen see how weak the momentum was: you get sixty votes in the senate if every senator lives until a vote is cast and both the conservative and the convenient Democrats all line up with the more liberal ones. Neither has happened.

Now, with President Obama grabbing a bat out of the bat rack and inserting himself into the lineup, the crowd is shifting forward in its seats.  The reform movement has fallen behind in the late innings, and a big hit is needed to get the offense going. The big question in my mind is will this be enough? The goal is to turn the minds of voters in the states held by senators who are holding up reform, to mobilize them sufficiently to overcome the obstacle the Senate was designed in part to create.  A tall order, and while the President is likely to drive the ball to the deepest part of the park, it's going to take a lot more than a speech to regain the momentum.

The speech will likely bring some media attention to the points Obama is likely to make: That in the wealthiest of all nations, we are morally obliged to have a health care system that does not discriminate against the poor and the sick.  That the health care industry is growing far to fast, draining money from other sectors. That it's causing doctors to at in protective interests, rather than the best interests of practice. That it's causing employers to lay more workers off sooner, exacerbating economic problems in difficult times.

Hopefully, some of this attention will also land on a point President Obama is not likely to make, but should: That the popular sentiment that government is inept at managing large things is flat wrong, and easily contradicted by the evidence.

The federal government works administrative miracles, period. And while deficit spending may not seem like a viable business model, the government is not a business.  It uses credit to support finance in difficult times, as it should. Sometimes it offers direct "bailouts", but usually it simply borrows more and dedicates more of its budget to paying interest.  This keeps the banks lending. It may not feel right to consumers, but it is right for the economy.  .

Hopefully, too, President Obama will exhibit the moral courage and leadership he's become known for.  My biggest fear is that he will compromise away the momentum for good, and we will never get it back. If what is accomplished is incomplete, it must at least be a momentum builder - something which buys time and creates opportunity real reform. If we settle for non-profit co-op which make some forms of health care available to some more people but are content to more or less tinker around the edges and not interfere with profiteering, we lose.

We need a government program that is true to our highest ideals - that America can be a prosperous land while being a model of participatory democracy; that in order for such a democracy to flourish, public investment in its own physical and mental health and well being is vitally necessary; and that democratic government can be effectively used by the people to support and minister to their shared interests.

When President Obama speaks to Congress tomorrow, he will send a strong signal as to where he intends to take this debate. Assuming the message he sends is the one I want to hear, I know my role will be to act to support the counter-education of a worried, puzzled public which has been bamboozled in recent months by an effective campaign to sustain an insurance industry which reaps obscene profits and routinely discriminates against tens of millions of Americans under the guise of being in compassionate support of our health and well being.  If the message is weak, the fight will again be lost.

If you haven't already, please take a moment today to email the White House and support the President. Then grab a bat out of the rack. Chances are he'll drive the ball deep, but when he's finished, we're next at bat.