PoliTalker
Diversity Makes Greatness
Hello Dutch Uncle,
Obama wanted to address a terrible problem. Healthcare was a mess. And some people couldn't even get healthcare insurance if they had preexisting conditions. Big insurance didn't want to take policies it saw as being money losers.
It was really a problem created by having health insurance run solely for profit.
Many ideas were talked about during the debates. Single payer, government-only, some sort of hybrid.
The reasons health care costs so much were identified:
1. Americans are just not very healthy. We get so sick.
2. Big insurance and big pharma make a LOT of money.
3. The whole system is being run for profit, not results.
The negotiations were difficult, and it looked like nothing could be possible. Republicans pretended to want change, but that was only a ruse. All they really wanted was to prevent Democrats from having success. Republicans wasted a lot of time hoping to run the clock out on Democrats. It almost worked.
Democrats were up against big pharma, big insurance, and Republicans.
Big insurance flexed their muscle: They told Obama to take single payer off the table. If he would do this, they would put big bux into supporting the new plan. If he did not do this, they would put big bux into fighting the new plan. Obama had no choice. He needed more support on his side. He caved and took single payer off the table.
Big insurance got to write the law under constraints laid down by Democrats. Big insurance guaranteed themselves a set profit of 20%.
The very complex plan passed both houses, but really needed House tweaks after what the Senate did to it. Just then, Senator Kennedy died. Democrats did not have enough votes to get the plan through a second time with tweaks. So they had to let it go just the way it was.
And that was the plan Obama signed.
It's too bad that Republicans did not join Democrats and fight for the people against big insurance and big pharma. If that had happened, we could have gotten a far better plan.
It's really Republican's fault for arguing in bad faith, and failing to fight for a better plan for the people.
Democrats were trying to do something for the American people. Republicans were playing politics, as usual.
Obama wanted to address a terrible problem. Healthcare was a mess. And some people couldn't even get healthcare insurance if they had preexisting conditions. Big insurance didn't want to take policies it saw as being money losers.
It was really a problem created by having health insurance run solely for profit.
Many ideas were talked about during the debates. Single payer, government-only, some sort of hybrid.
The reasons health care costs so much were identified:
1. Americans are just not very healthy. We get so sick.
2. Big insurance and big pharma make a LOT of money.
3. The whole system is being run for profit, not results.
The negotiations were difficult, and it looked like nothing could be possible. Republicans pretended to want change, but that was only a ruse. All they really wanted was to prevent Democrats from having success. Republicans wasted a lot of time hoping to run the clock out on Democrats. It almost worked.
Democrats were up against big pharma, big insurance, and Republicans.
Big insurance flexed their muscle: They told Obama to take single payer off the table. If he would do this, they would put big bux into supporting the new plan. If he did not do this, they would put big bux into fighting the new plan. Obama had no choice. He needed more support on his side. He caved and took single payer off the table.
Big insurance got to write the law under constraints laid down by Democrats. Big insurance guaranteed themselves a set profit of 20%.
The very complex plan passed both houses, but really needed House tweaks after what the Senate did to it. Just then, Senator Kennedy died. Democrats did not have enough votes to get the plan through a second time with tweaks. So they had to let it go just the way it was.
And that was the plan Obama signed.
It's too bad that Republicans did not join Democrats and fight for the people against big insurance and big pharma. If that had happened, we could have gotten a far better plan.
It's really Republican's fault for arguing in bad faith, and failing to fight for a better plan for the people.
Democrats were trying to do something for the American people. Republicans were playing politics, as usual.
