I understand digby’s point. It can be quite annoying to hear Democrats talk about the value of bipartisanship ‘because it can bring the country together.’ The country is together on a public option for the new health care plan. The country overwhelmingly supports a public option. As digby says, only corporate whores oppose a government-run alternative to giving their money to health insurance companies. But Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) is on the floor of the Senate right now arguing the merits of a public option. He’s advocating a position that no more than one or two Senate Republicans are even remotely likely to support. It’s far more likely that a handful of Democratic Senators will oppose a public option than it is that a handful of Republicans will support one.
Ron Wyden serves on the Finance Committee, which is much more conservative than the HELP Committee. The Finance Committee chair is Max Baucus (D-MT), and other ‘centrist’ members include: Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Kent Conrad (D-ND), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Bill Nelson (D-FL), and Tom Carper (D-DE). The HELP committee is chaired by Teddy Kennedy (or Chris Dodd, when Kennedy is unavailable) and it’s most conservative members are Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico and Kay Hagan of North Carolina. These two committees are trying to mark up health care bills and then combine them into one comprehensive bill to take to the floor of the Senate. There are very good reasons for Ron Wyden to make conciliatory gestures to the other side of the aisle. For one thing, Orrin Hatch and Olympia Snowe sit on the other side of the aisle on Finance, and they are two Republicans well known for their interest in health policy.
Harry Reid has instructed Max Baucus to stop trying to attract votes from Hatch, Snowe, and the other Republicans on Finance, but that doesn’t compel Wyden to adopt a hard-line tone. I think Wyden and Obama are right. Everyone’s first choice is to pass a bill that has significant (or any) Republican support. There is nothing wrong with saying so. In fact, acting reasonable and conciliatory now will make it easier to ram home a bill on party-line later if that (as it appears it will) becomes necessary.
I don’t think it is a fair criticism of Ron Wyden to compare him to David Boren.
I’m wondering why We the People couldn’t just start a health collective that operates on the same principles as a credit union? Just go around the insurance companies, and around the government as well. I can’t claim to have contemplated every aspect of such an idea, but does anyone think it’s worth taking seriously and exploring the possibilities?
how is that really any different than an HMO?
An HMO is usually a for-profit corporation. I think eagleye has something non-profit in mind, like a union or a co-op.
As a member of all three kinds of organizations, I think it’s a great idea. But there’s the rub – organization.
I’m pretty sure that there is no law against organizing a pool of people and going to a health insurance provider and asking for a group rate. I don’t know what regulations exist, but I’m pretty sure it can be done.
There are non-profit HMOs out there.
I think this is also the gist of the “co-op” plan that some folks in the Senate were floating as an alternative to the public option. The co-op plan would only be available to folks in rural areas, though, so that insurance companies could continue to cherry-pick the customers they wanted and throw the rest of them to the co-ops.
Of course it could be done – I meant that getting organized is a problem.
Ron Wyden takes tons of money for health lobby.
Ron Wyden works to weaken health care reform that his constituents voted for.
the.system.is.broken.period.
I agree that Wyden’s remarks are no big deal. If we accept and assume that Senator Wyden is “on board” with a public option, then his conciliatory remarks are just that- conciliatory. They do not signal a shift on Wyden’s part.
Instantly criticizing for those remarks, however, does serve a purpose. It (again!) puts the Senators on notice that they can either pass a good bill, or a bipartisan bill, but not both. It (again!) puts the Senators on notice that the public is in no mood for a bad but bipartisan bill.
WRT health care reform, the time for congeniality is over. The heat that’s been put on the Senate has been working, and as such I see no reason to pull back or become more cautious in who you put the heat on. If Senator Wyden gets caught in the crossfire by making some ill-advised remarks, then so be it.
Keep the pressure on.