Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Ah, so this is what it looks like when a senator beholden to the health care industry shows up to a news conference with the equivalent of a pair of kneepads, some plastic sheeting, and an extra large tube of AstroGlide? That any rational, sentient human being would have actually expected Max Baucus to come up with a fair, balanced, and reasonable health care reform bill almost defies rational understanding, doesn't it? By putting forward a bill that pleases drug companies, health insurance companies...and virtually no one else outside the health care industry, Baucus has demonstrated that democracy really IS for sale.
I found it telling that Baucus was standing at the podium with nary another Congressman in sight as he laid out his plan for the media. Apparently Baucus' plan is so bad that no one from either party wanted to be in camera range, so as not to risk being associated with this turkey of a bill.
Once upon a time, the Bush Administration used to allow lobbyists to write bills. This bill smacks of the same sort of unholy alliance...only this time a Democratic Senator is behind it. Given the amount of money that Baucus has received over the years from the health care industry, I suppose it's not unreasonable to expect that Baucus would repay his benefactors. I would have thought he'd at least have the decency to at least attempt to camouflage his eforts.
If Baucus' bill isn't a big, wet, sloppy kiss to the health care industry, it would be difficult to know what would be. This is not universal health care. It's not a public option. In reality, it's nothing if not a gift to those with a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. Wow...and to think that I actually had faith that this process would eventually produce a bill that would guarantee quality, affordable health care for all Americans.
And you wonder why the American public has such a low opinion of their elected representatives? Uh...'cuz you get exactly the quality of representation you deserve?
WE DESERVE BETTER.