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It’s Important to Keep Being Transformative
What can be transformative to the health care system of the United States that brings its people satisfaction?
While some citizens want a paradigm shift others want the same system but modified. In other words these people would agree with the statement “we understand the health care system needs reform, so fix it Mr. President but don’t rock the boat for us and we don‘t want to pay very much for it.” Some pundits describe the current health care reform debate as simply moving the current state of affairs from the private to the public paradigm. So, the president is pursuing the wrong paradigm because the traditional paradigm is not transformative. What I have learned from my own investigation is that what makes Health Care transformative is three things. After making the process “patient centric” the next steps are:
A. making costs transparent,
B. lowering administrative cost and
C. adding incentives for a healthier life style.
These, of course, are a small fraction of the suggestions floating around the health care reform debate. Folks, the public debate on this issue has only touched upon a fraction of the contentious points yet to make headline news. Funding for this “deficit neutral health care plan” is one aspect of this debate not yet fully flushed out. Still others have added:
D. If the president compromises on the public option insurance choice then no bill!
E. Cooperatives might help.
F. Add the public option as a trigger.
G. Run the health care system like a public utility.
H. Add a trigger that releases a public option only if the insurance companies fail to comply with the wishes of progressives but on a state by state bases..
The President is about to give a speech on Wednesday and according to talking heads, like Keith Olbermann, he will be speaking not so much to the citizens but to his party and a few conservatives. The key message from the presidents corner will be directed to democrats urging his party not to let perfection be the enemy of good. The consensus is that President Obama will ask his party to keep a stiff upper lip and accept half a loaf of bread. On the progressive liberal side they question whether they ever asked for perfection at all from health care reform but for good and fair care.
By accusing the progressive liberal wing of seeking perfection in health care reform the president’s emissaries, the Sunday before his speech to Congress, were diminishing the needs and suffering of the constituents those representatives serve who lack health care, are under insured or are drowning in debt because of health care bills.
Instead of the Democrats situating themselves to reap victory from any reform in the health care system, they have fostered an atmosphere that situates them as “sell outs” which is a phrase used by Keith Olbermann from MSNBC in the last few days.
While candidate Obama promised a great deal of reform to the health care system in the United States President Obama actually did not write any of the proposed health care bills, his party did. Which means the politics of his party are a stronger force than President Obama. Candidate Obama promised not to bring politics as usual to Washington but health care reform was blocked all of August by politics.
Rank and file Democrats like accusing Republicans for the problems they’re having passing a health care bill but not many historians were surprised by the political response to the presidents attempts to get this legislation passed by Christmas. Being surprised by the conservative and health insurance industry response to health care reform is like fighting WWII over again and wondering if the Nazi’s are going to be respectful to Jewish people.
While progressives, such as Keith Olbermann, feel betrayed and contemplate punishing President Obama in the 2010 mid-term elections at least he has the good sense to interview people like Jonathan Cohn, author of the book Sick who believes that health care can still be reformed without the public option. Cohn warned that the reform must “provide the foundation” for proper health care in the future. Cohn was concerned that people who are waiting for health care get relief soon and that the President not compromise too much of what the current bills offer. While the public option is not essential, a health care system can run like a public utility and high standards can be set believes Cohn “This option is for those people that don’t like the public option.”
To be fair to Keith Olbermann he’s crying foul because “the White House [is] preparing to sell out…” all or most of the following “…the public option, the national health care exchange, no discrimination protection against those with preexisting conditions, and credits for small business that help make health care affordable.”
These attributes to health care reform are important and it is sad to see them bargained away but lets give the POTUS the benefit of the doubt and consider that he did everything he could to get the people of the United States something for their suffering. If liberal progressives celebrate something, anything the president gets them, anything, then they’ll take victory from those that wanted nothing in regards to health care reform. Liberal Progressives could celebrate that next year the fight continues for more transformative change.
In the mean time do not execute those sentenced to death using a circular firing squad. Think about it for a second, it's horrible. The only people that suffer are the soldiers in the squad. Their leader and the accused get away with murder! Kidding, I think?
What this means is that the Democrats are going to shoot themselves no matter how much warning anyone tries to given them.
Since hindsight is 20/20 lets stop talking about what the president should have done these last few months to move this issue forward. Lets, instead, look at some of the sentiments percolating to the top of the madness associated with health care reform these last few months.
As far as rage is concerned a man in California recently bit the finger off another man because they disagreed over this issue. Democrats are puzzled when Republicans are disrespectful at health care forums which to many people just indicates how little history people have read on this subject because this behavior is nothing new. If liberal progressives wanted a president that would not compromise on their ideals then they should not have let liberal conservatives and independents decide who was going to occupy the oval office.
The result is that on Wednesday progressive liberals will have a choice to make, punish President Obama because he has compromised too much or accept compromise with a smile and say “thank you sir, may I have some more?”
Progressives, in some circles, are tired of caving into conservative fears of "government take over" and in fact are tired of hearing that a government run organization must always mean a badly run organization.
Health Care is like Civil Rights Reform
Reforming civil rights did not take one bill or one political cycle but was a process that required multiple political battles and there were many political casualties along the way.
Is this analogy correct?
If progressives liberals stick to their guns and punish the president in 2010 for not holding out for the complete health care package candidate Obama promised them, what will a week party deliver for the two years that leading up to the 2012 election?
The Republicans and the Blue Dog Democrats would benefit the most from any punishment the liberal progressives plan to dole out in 2010. Citizen independent will point to the progressive liberals as the key political obstacle to “half a loaf of bread.” In other words, as the pressure of the economy continues to press down on citizens, independents will regret not having a bill signed before Christmas to at least have had some help with lowered premiums. You get it right! A little help with the bills might be better than nothing?
Christmas was just an arbitrary date that means nothing to the health care debate. If health care comes by Valentine's Day or Easter that would be fine...with many people the date matters little.
Reforming health care has been described as an issue with the urgency of civil rights reform. It is not difficult to understand why people make that association considering the millions of citizens that deserve and need health care. What I do not see are the marches on Washington D.C that happened during the civil rights movement. If millions of Americans marched on Washington then maybe this issue would carry the sense of urgency that civil rights did. Yes, my fellow Americans, what I am saying is that were I your Commander in Chief, I would march on Washington to let the Congress and all Americans understand how serious about proper reform I was and what steps I was willing to take. At least I would if I were making this analogy.
But President Obama won the presidency because he courted the conservative liberals and the independents. So, unless the President coddles their fears he faces something worse than a progressive liberal punishment but a punishment by independents. Independents don’t have the commitment to march on Washington D.C. That is also the same group that is slowly abandoning the president according to recent polls. President Obama knows that he can disappoint a progressive liberal and still count on their vote because the progressive liberal has no where to go; what other party? Will the progressive liberal ever vote Green again and risk giving the country over to another Bush-like figure?
The piece of loaf vs. the whole loaf.
The Republicans are “shadow boxing” simply to hurt the president while progressive liberal Democrats are willing to push the health care reform into a new paradigm that has many liberals, conservatives and independents feeling that the devil they know is better than one they don’t. In other words these groups are not comfortable with the possible outcomes that come with transformative, comprehensive reform that progressive liberals have proposed. Also, the progressive liberals are willing to accept having to post-pone passing a health care bill if it means compromising on key issues. This is kind of frightening considering that people are losing their homes these days and want help quickly.
“Competition,”
“Choice,”
“Protection against discrimination for having a preexisting condition”
“We need a strong network to start out… a public option… not a trigger… not a patchwork or a weak group”
“…progressives should walk away ..”
“…The insurance industry should make concessions”
“…the president should talk to the forty seven million and tell them they should continue to compromise...”
“…those that get millions in contributions should compromise?"
These are some of the current narratives creating havoc in the minds of the left these last few days of Summer. Since the left fancies themselves as the reasonable half then they should ponder the following question before the speech on Wednesday by the POTUS.
1. If the president lowers the cost of monthly premiums for all citizens will that be enough to help during a economic down turn to keep some people above water? Or What are the repercussions of fettering an industry during an economic down turn?
Keep feeding from the anger of Keith Olbermann on the one end and Glenn Beck on the extreme other and the result is a weakened presidency. Maybe just getting one concession on health care could help turn the economy around and stabilize it there a few years. A citizenry making tangible economic progress will not vote out of office their commander in chief. Those citizens might vote the president into a second term to get a little more health care reform.
Mr. Olbermann means well and is frustrated because 77% of the public is in favor of a public option insurance plan which means this is the time that liberal progressives should strike out and get what they want: the iron is hot. But alas! The liberal progressive base will be asked to be good soldiers and put on a good show for the cameras on Wednesday which is pissing off Keith Olbermann.
Olbermann said “Triggers, ha, ha, ha, when the system does not work know!” In other words as soon as the health care bill is passed the triggers would release and fire off the public option insurance choice because the system is already broken. What Mr. Olbermann failed to realize is that the “triggers” will only have to release fifty times to have a public option choice of insurance for every citizen. If all the compromise would do is delay the public option for a while why put the presidency at risk?
This may just end up being one of those years where fighting for health care finally pays off or it will be another year of fighting for health car reform. Either way the fight is always worth having because of constant need: forty seven million.
Liberal progressives understand that many of the congressman that promise to stand their ground and vote down a bill with no public option insurance choice are merely political posturing or saving their jobs. These law makers will simply say “sorry, I tried to get the public option and voted down this bill, now, I have to get my constituents something and vote for this bill over here.”
So be original Democrats. Stand behind the president when he disappoints you this time around. Show the health care insurance industry that the health of America is more important than our egos.
Hey, and if President Obama asks us to march on Washington D.C. to defend the transformative health care reform 77% of Americans want then prepare yourselves to march. Otherwise, stop comparing the health care reform debate to the civil rights movement.
Tell the reporters that your content with what the president did for health care reform this year. Also, tell them that next year you’ll expect more from him and so on and so on.
Rafael Buena © all rights reserved 09/06/09
What can be transformative to the health care system of the United States that brings its people satisfaction?
While some citizens want a paradigm shift others want the same system but modified. In other words these people would agree with the statement “we understand the health care system needs reform, so fix it Mr. President but don’t rock the boat for us and we don‘t want to pay very much for it.” Some pundits describe the current health care reform debate as simply moving the current state of affairs from the private to the public paradigm. So, the president is pursuing the wrong paradigm because the traditional paradigm is not transformative. What I have learned from my own investigation is that what makes Health Care transformative is three things. After making the process “patient centric” the next steps are:
A. making costs transparent,
B. lowering administrative cost and
C. adding incentives for a healthier life style.
These, of course, are a small fraction of the suggestions floating around the health care reform debate. Folks, the public debate on this issue has only touched upon a fraction of the contentious points yet to make headline news. Funding for this “deficit neutral health care plan” is one aspect of this debate not yet fully flushed out. Still others have added:
D. If the president compromises on the public option insurance choice then no bill!
E. Cooperatives might help.
F. Add the public option as a trigger.
G. Run the health care system like a public utility.
H. Add a trigger that releases a public option only if the insurance companies fail to comply with the wishes of progressives but on a state by state bases..
The President is about to give a speech on Wednesday and according to talking heads, like Keith Olbermann, he will be speaking not so much to the citizens but to his party and a few conservatives. The key message from the presidents corner will be directed to democrats urging his party not to let perfection be the enemy of good. The consensus is that President Obama will ask his party to keep a stiff upper lip and accept half a loaf of bread. On the progressive liberal side they question whether they ever asked for perfection at all from health care reform but for good and fair care.
By accusing the progressive liberal wing of seeking perfection in health care reform the president’s emissaries, the Sunday before his speech to Congress, were diminishing the needs and suffering of the constituents those representatives serve who lack health care, are under insured or are drowning in debt because of health care bills.
Instead of the Democrats situating themselves to reap victory from any reform in the health care system, they have fostered an atmosphere that situates them as “sell outs” which is a phrase used by Keith Olbermann from MSNBC in the last few days.
While candidate Obama promised a great deal of reform to the health care system in the United States President Obama actually did not write any of the proposed health care bills, his party did. Which means the politics of his party are a stronger force than President Obama. Candidate Obama promised not to bring politics as usual to Washington but health care reform was blocked all of August by politics.
Rank and file Democrats like accusing Republicans for the problems they’re having passing a health care bill but not many historians were surprised by the political response to the presidents attempts to get this legislation passed by Christmas. Being surprised by the conservative and health insurance industry response to health care reform is like fighting WWII over again and wondering if the Nazi’s are going to be respectful to Jewish people.
While progressives, such as Keith Olbermann, feel betrayed and contemplate punishing President Obama in the 2010 mid-term elections at least he has the good sense to interview people like Jonathan Cohn, author of the book Sick who believes that health care can still be reformed without the public option. Cohn warned that the reform must “provide the foundation” for proper health care in the future. Cohn was concerned that people who are waiting for health care get relief soon and that the President not compromise too much of what the current bills offer. While the public option is not essential, a health care system can run like a public utility and high standards can be set believes Cohn “This option is for those people that don’t like the public option.”
To be fair to Keith Olbermann he’s crying foul because “the White House [is] preparing to sell out…” all or most of the following “…the public option, the national health care exchange, no discrimination protection against those with preexisting conditions, and credits for small business that help make health care affordable.”
These attributes to health care reform are important and it is sad to see them bargained away but lets give the POTUS the benefit of the doubt and consider that he did everything he could to get the people of the United States something for their suffering. If liberal progressives celebrate something, anything the president gets them, anything, then they’ll take victory from those that wanted nothing in regards to health care reform. Liberal Progressives could celebrate that next year the fight continues for more transformative change.
In the mean time do not execute those sentenced to death using a circular firing squad. Think about it for a second, it's horrible. The only people that suffer are the soldiers in the squad. Their leader and the accused get away with murder! Kidding, I think?
What this means is that the Democrats are going to shoot themselves no matter how much warning anyone tries to given them.
Since hindsight is 20/20 lets stop talking about what the president should have done these last few months to move this issue forward. Lets, instead, look at some of the sentiments percolating to the top of the madness associated with health care reform these last few months.
As far as rage is concerned a man in California recently bit the finger off another man because they disagreed over this issue. Democrats are puzzled when Republicans are disrespectful at health care forums which to many people just indicates how little history people have read on this subject because this behavior is nothing new. If liberal progressives wanted a president that would not compromise on their ideals then they should not have let liberal conservatives and independents decide who was going to occupy the oval office.
The result is that on Wednesday progressive liberals will have a choice to make, punish President Obama because he has compromised too much or accept compromise with a smile and say “thank you sir, may I have some more?”
Progressives, in some circles, are tired of caving into conservative fears of "government take over" and in fact are tired of hearing that a government run organization must always mean a badly run organization.
Health Care is like Civil Rights Reform
Reforming civil rights did not take one bill or one political cycle but was a process that required multiple political battles and there were many political casualties along the way.
Is this analogy correct?
If progressives liberals stick to their guns and punish the president in 2010 for not holding out for the complete health care package candidate Obama promised them, what will a week party deliver for the two years that leading up to the 2012 election?
The Republicans and the Blue Dog Democrats would benefit the most from any punishment the liberal progressives plan to dole out in 2010. Citizen independent will point to the progressive liberals as the key political obstacle to “half a loaf of bread.” In other words, as the pressure of the economy continues to press down on citizens, independents will regret not having a bill signed before Christmas to at least have had some help with lowered premiums. You get it right! A little help with the bills might be better than nothing?
Christmas was just an arbitrary date that means nothing to the health care debate. If health care comes by Valentine's Day or Easter that would be fine...with many people the date matters little.
Reforming health care has been described as an issue with the urgency of civil rights reform. It is not difficult to understand why people make that association considering the millions of citizens that deserve and need health care. What I do not see are the marches on Washington D.C that happened during the civil rights movement. If millions of Americans marched on Washington then maybe this issue would carry the sense of urgency that civil rights did. Yes, my fellow Americans, what I am saying is that were I your Commander in Chief, I would march on Washington to let the Congress and all Americans understand how serious about proper reform I was and what steps I was willing to take. At least I would if I were making this analogy.
But President Obama won the presidency because he courted the conservative liberals and the independents. So, unless the President coddles their fears he faces something worse than a progressive liberal punishment but a punishment by independents. Independents don’t have the commitment to march on Washington D.C. That is also the same group that is slowly abandoning the president according to recent polls. President Obama knows that he can disappoint a progressive liberal and still count on their vote because the progressive liberal has no where to go; what other party? Will the progressive liberal ever vote Green again and risk giving the country over to another Bush-like figure?
The piece of loaf vs. the whole loaf.
The Republicans are “shadow boxing” simply to hurt the president while progressive liberal Democrats are willing to push the health care reform into a new paradigm that has many liberals, conservatives and independents feeling that the devil they know is better than one they don’t. In other words these groups are not comfortable with the possible outcomes that come with transformative, comprehensive reform that progressive liberals have proposed. Also, the progressive liberals are willing to accept having to post-pone passing a health care bill if it means compromising on key issues. This is kind of frightening considering that people are losing their homes these days and want help quickly.
“Competition,”
“Choice,”
“Protection against discrimination for having a preexisting condition”
“We need a strong network to start out… a public option… not a trigger… not a patchwork or a weak group”
“…progressives should walk away ..”
“…The insurance industry should make concessions”
“…the president should talk to the forty seven million and tell them they should continue to compromise...”
“…those that get millions in contributions should compromise?"
These are some of the current narratives creating havoc in the minds of the left these last few days of Summer. Since the left fancies themselves as the reasonable half then they should ponder the following question before the speech on Wednesday by the POTUS.
1. If the president lowers the cost of monthly premiums for all citizens will that be enough to help during a economic down turn to keep some people above water? Or What are the repercussions of fettering an industry during an economic down turn?
Keep feeding from the anger of Keith Olbermann on the one end and Glenn Beck on the extreme other and the result is a weakened presidency. Maybe just getting one concession on health care could help turn the economy around and stabilize it there a few years. A citizenry making tangible economic progress will not vote out of office their commander in chief. Those citizens might vote the president into a second term to get a little more health care reform.
Mr. Olbermann means well and is frustrated because 77% of the public is in favor of a public option insurance plan which means this is the time that liberal progressives should strike out and get what they want: the iron is hot. But alas! The liberal progressive base will be asked to be good soldiers and put on a good show for the cameras on Wednesday which is pissing off Keith Olbermann.
Olbermann said “Triggers, ha, ha, ha, when the system does not work know!” In other words as soon as the health care bill is passed the triggers would release and fire off the public option insurance choice because the system is already broken. What Mr. Olbermann failed to realize is that the “triggers” will only have to release fifty times to have a public option choice of insurance for every citizen. If all the compromise would do is delay the public option for a while why put the presidency at risk?
This may just end up being one of those years where fighting for health care finally pays off or it will be another year of fighting for health car reform. Either way the fight is always worth having because of constant need: forty seven million.
Liberal progressives understand that many of the congressman that promise to stand their ground and vote down a bill with no public option insurance choice are merely political posturing or saving their jobs. These law makers will simply say “sorry, I tried to get the public option and voted down this bill, now, I have to get my constituents something and vote for this bill over here.”
So be original Democrats. Stand behind the president when he disappoints you this time around. Show the health care insurance industry that the health of America is more important than our egos.
Hey, and if President Obama asks us to march on Washington D.C. to defend the transformative health care reform 77% of Americans want then prepare yourselves to march. Otherwise, stop comparing the health care reform debate to the civil rights movement.
Tell the reporters that your content with what the president did for health care reform this year. Also, tell them that next year you’ll expect more from him and so on and so on.
Rafael Buena © all rights reserved 09/06/09
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