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Where Are the Fighting Dems?
Oct 23, 2009
Let's hear it for false fact studies from lobbyists! This one seems
to have served as a declaration of war. Last week, America's Health
Insurance Plans released a study claiming that healthcare reform would
cause Americans' premiums to soar, and hey presto...
Suddenly, the Democrats are acting like they're actually in a fight.
Nancy Pelosi has vowed to bring a plan with a robust public option to
the House floor, and even Senate leader Harry Reid Twittered his
intention to strip insurance companies of their protections from
anti-trust laws.
Reid says that the law allows insurers to fix prices and monopolize
markets in ways that are illegal and uncompetitive. Surprise surprise,
some senior Democrats are starting to back him up. The President even
mentioned the exemption in his weekly address.
So are Democrats finally growing spine? Well, not so fast. Obama
still won't commit to ending the exemption that allows insurance
companies to do with our health what we don't let Microsoft do with
computer software. And he hasn't declared a war for Medicare for all.
Getting insurers to agree to cover everyone is nice -- but without a
public option, it does nothing to drive down price.
With new polls showing that public support for the public option has
only increased since August, it's time for Obama to take a stand.
Americans didn't elect a president of insurance, they elected a
president of the country. It's Obama's job to lead on this issue, to
fight for the promises he made on the campaign trail: a public plan to
keep insurance companies honest, no individual mandate and no taxes on
employer-provided care. It's time for the Democrats to fight for
measures that will actually improve care, not just sound nice on CNN.
Go for it.
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Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
© 2023 Laura Flanders
Laura Flanders
Laura Flanders interviews forward-thinking people about the key questions of our time on The Laura Flanders Show, a nationally syndicated radio and television program also available as a podcast. A contributing writer to The Nation, Flanders is also the author of six books, including "Bushwomen: How They Won the White House for Their Man" (2005). She is the recipient of a 2019 Izzy Award for excellence in independent journalism, the Pat Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award for advancing women's and girls' visibility in media, and a 2020 Lannan Cultural Freedom Fellowship for her reporting and advocacy for public media. lauraflanders.org
Let's hear it for false fact studies from lobbyists! This one seems
to have served as a declaration of war. Last week, America's Health
Insurance Plans released a study claiming that healthcare reform would
cause Americans' premiums to soar, and hey presto...
Suddenly, the Democrats are acting like they're actually in a fight.
Nancy Pelosi has vowed to bring a plan with a robust public option to
the House floor, and even Senate leader Harry Reid Twittered his
intention to strip insurance companies of their protections from
anti-trust laws.
Reid says that the law allows insurers to fix prices and monopolize
markets in ways that are illegal and uncompetitive. Surprise surprise,
some senior Democrats are starting to back him up. The President even
mentioned the exemption in his weekly address.
So are Democrats finally growing spine? Well, not so fast. Obama
still won't commit to ending the exemption that allows insurance
companies to do with our health what we don't let Microsoft do with
computer software. And he hasn't declared a war for Medicare for all.
Getting insurers to agree to cover everyone is nice -- but without a
public option, it does nothing to drive down price.
With new polls showing that public support for the public option has
only increased since August, it's time for Obama to take a stand.
Americans didn't elect a president of insurance, they elected a
president of the country. It's Obama's job to lead on this issue, to
fight for the promises he made on the campaign trail: a public plan to
keep insurance companies honest, no individual mandate and no taxes on
employer-provided care. It's time for the Democrats to fight for
measures that will actually improve care, not just sound nice on CNN.
Go for it.
Laura Flanders
Laura Flanders interviews forward-thinking people about the key questions of our time on The Laura Flanders Show, a nationally syndicated radio and television program also available as a podcast. A contributing writer to The Nation, Flanders is also the author of six books, including "Bushwomen: How They Won the White House for Their Man" (2005). She is the recipient of a 2019 Izzy Award for excellence in independent journalism, the Pat Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award for advancing women's and girls' visibility in media, and a 2020 Lannan Cultural Freedom Fellowship for her reporting and advocacy for public media. lauraflanders.org
Let's hear it for false fact studies from lobbyists! This one seems
to have served as a declaration of war. Last week, America's Health
Insurance Plans released a study claiming that healthcare reform would
cause Americans' premiums to soar, and hey presto...
Suddenly, the Democrats are acting like they're actually in a fight.
Nancy Pelosi has vowed to bring a plan with a robust public option to
the House floor, and even Senate leader Harry Reid Twittered his
intention to strip insurance companies of their protections from
anti-trust laws.
Reid says that the law allows insurers to fix prices and monopolize
markets in ways that are illegal and uncompetitive. Surprise surprise,
some senior Democrats are starting to back him up. The President even
mentioned the exemption in his weekly address.
So are Democrats finally growing spine? Well, not so fast. Obama
still won't commit to ending the exemption that allows insurance
companies to do with our health what we don't let Microsoft do with
computer software. And he hasn't declared a war for Medicare for all.
Getting insurers to agree to cover everyone is nice -- but without a
public option, it does nothing to drive down price.
With new polls showing that public support for the public option has
only increased since August, it's time for Obama to take a stand.
Americans didn't elect a president of insurance, they elected a
president of the country. It's Obama's job to lead on this issue, to
fight for the promises he made on the campaign trail: a public plan to
keep insurance companies honest, no individual mandate and no taxes on
employer-provided care. It's time for the Democrats to fight for
measures that will actually improve care, not just sound nice on CNN.
Go for it.
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