crossposted from unbossed
Yesterday Rush Limbaugh was all over Obama’s health care plan. He played a clip of Obama praising companies that have wellness plans that promote more exercise, weight loss, stopping smoking, and the like. Rush was somewhere between apoplectic and outraged that actions like these were useful and claimed that he saw a study somewhere - he couldn’t recall where - that said these programs actually do no good for health and lowering health costs.
According to Rush, Obama was spending two days on health care, so now it’s "problem solved". Just like, Rush said, Obama spent two days with the car companies and was calling it problem solved.
Dennis Kucinich gave a reprise of his Wake Up! America! speech, this time attacking the process of health care reform so far.
So, is Kucinich right that "This is a hoax! It’s a swindle!"?
This is my take on things, gleaned from a few observations on Obama’s modus operandi.
First, remember that he has a lot of experience as a community organizer. That hard job teaches us that you have to take advantage of events and existing resources, and you have to have a short, medium, and long term strategy ready to take advantage of those resources and potential events.
For a great recent example, take a look at the Republic Windows and Doors sitdown strike. That strike did not just happen. It was the result of events, planning, strategy, and deep understanding by the United Electrical Workers union and the members.
Second, think back to Obama’s obsessive reaching across the aisle to the Republicans, inviting them to come on board to solve the economic crisis in which we are mired. Obama was strongly criticized for pandering to the Republicans, but he continued on and on . . . until the Republicans demonstrated - for all to see - that they had no interest in bipartisanship, in the state of the country, in the fate of real people. Their numbers dropped in the polls. Obama’s rose.
And then Obama quit inviting them on board.
He proceeded on without them, leaving them to continue to play amidst a train wreck of their own creating.
Third, remember that Obama told the Left, if you want things to happen, you have to "Make me do them."
So here is my view of the game plan here.
He recalls the disaster under the Clinton’s caused by going it alone and the huge attacks by the health care industry that brought down their plan . .. and health care reform for over a decade.
He knows that the public does not like squabbles and wants people in power to act like adults and work for the good of the country.
He knows how urgently the public wants reform of health care in this country.
So he invites the industry and employers in and asks them to be part of the solution. We now have step one where he has demonstrated his willingness to invite the players in. Rush is partially Right . . . I mean right. Wellness plans are not enough to fix the problems in how we provide health care.
Rush’s solution to the health care problem is to leave it to the market. You got money? You got no money? Well, it’s up to you how much health care you buy. That’s the way the free market works. He and his ilk will pound away on this position. He claims the free market will bring lower costs.
But most people will see that this system is fundamentally unfair. They want care for themselves and loved ones and want health care determined by fairness and not the untender mercies of the market.
So if we want a rational and fair health system - and one that costs less - we must be prepared to make Obama deliver it. We all know that the bulk of the costs are in administration of the plans - the huge costs of people whose job it is to say no to claims, the huge costs of advertising, the huge administrative costs employers bear and doctors’ office bear to submit and fight claims. The huge costs of worry individuals bear over whether they will get health care and whether, if they get it, they will be bankrupted.
And don’t forget, Obama knows these worries first hand. He said over and over again we need a system that is not the one we have, the one that left his dying mother fighting with insurance companies.
The public is getting there, but there is still work to be done to demonstrate that single payer is the only rational solution to the problems of providing fair and quality health care in this country. There will be claims that it is socialism - and in the past that has been enough to kill health care or other policies. But we may be getting to the point where calling single payer socialism will make socialism look good rather than making single payer look evil.
So Kucinich must attack harder and harder any other plan. And so must we all. We must all call on Obama and our representatives to support single payer. And we must remember the importance of ensuring that, before we take these steps and as we take them, we have made it crystal clear that the plans offered by the insurers doom us to poor quality and expensive health care, with quality unavailable only to the rich. It’s the Gold "Rush" Limbaugh health care plan.