Public option comeback, but no thanks to Obama

What a week it's been for American politics and supporters of public health insurance. The Democratic Party's proposed public health insurance option, which previously died in the US Senate (as Obama did not push for it, and instead let the Senate leadership cut backroom deals with corporatists like Joe Lieberman, Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu etc to get them onside with half-assed lacklustre reform) and was to be a key component of health insurance reform legislation, now has new life and has the Democratic base and supporters fired up. This is all thanks due to three rookie Congressman: firebrand progressive Alan Grayson of Florida, Chellie Pingree of Maine, and Jared Polis of Colorado. It was specifically Grayson who began an online petition which called for Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada to include and pass the public option in health care reform legislation via reconciliation, a parliamentary style Senate process which requires only a simple majority of 51 votes to pass (instead of going for the unrealistic and unnecessary goal of 60 votes, which the Democrats previously pursued by cutting sleazy backroom deals which pissed the American electorate off and resulted in Republican Scott Brown capturing Ted Kennedy's senate seat). Even if the public option can only garner 50 votes in the Senate through reconciliation, Vice-President Joe Biden could provide the tie-breaking vote as the Vice-President also serves as the President of the United States Senate.

To date, over 100 Democratic Representatives of the House of Representatives have signed onto the petition urging Harry Reid to hold a reconciliation vote on the public option, and close to 30 Democratic Senators have as well. And it doesn't even have to be Reid to call for an up and down vote in the Senate on the public option via reconciliation. Under the Senate rules, any Senator can bring forward an amendment calling for such a vote. Meanwhile, progressive political action groups such as the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Democracy for America and Credo Action have been organizing the renewed push for a public option outside of the corridors of power.

As it currently stands, approximately 26 Democratic Senators have signed on and are urging Harry Reid to pass the public option via reconciliation. Even corporatist Senator Evan Bayh seems to be on board. Bayh hasn't signed the petition, but he told the Huffington Post that he would support the public option via reconciliation (which is shocking, considering that he was previously a lobbyist and his wife is a board member of WellPoint, a private for-profit health maintenance organization, or private health insurance company.

However, President Obama has had nothing to do with this comeback. Not only did Obama previously not push and fight for a public option, instead leaving the Senate leadership to cut backroom deals with corporatist Democratic Senators, in order to pass the original Senate health insurance reform legislation; but also, President Obama recently unveiled his proposed health insurance reform plan which did not include a public option. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs would give the lame excuse that the Senate does not have the votes to pass the public option via reconciliation. Well, we'll see about that.

Regardless, this is so typical of Obama, another corporatist Democrat who seems to be more inclined to fight for corporations, as opposed fighting for his base of supporters who put him in office. FDR, LBJ and Harry Truman must be rolling in their graves. After all, up until this point, Obama has been way too quick to play nice with and kiss the asses of the Republican Party, instead of currying favour with his base. It's perplexing that Obama, Rahm Emmanuel, the White House and the corporatist Democrats can be so aloof, incompetent and outright so clueless. This is really a no-brainer. Poll after poll has shown that a large majority of Americans support a public option. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee just recently commissioned the non-partisan Research 2000 to conduct a series of polls in key states regarding the public option and recently passed Senate health reform bill which didn't include the public option, and the results are quite telling:

• In Nevada, only 34% support the Senate bill, while 56% support the public option.

• In Illinois, only 37% support the Senate bill, while 68% support the public option.

• In Washington State, only 38% support the Senate bill, while 65% support the public option.

• In Missouri, only 33% support the Senate bill, while 57% support the public option.

• In Virginia, only 36% support the Senate bill, while 61% support the public option.

• In Iowa, only 35% support the Senate bill, while 62% support the public option.

• In Minnesota, only 35% support the Senate bill, while 62% support the public option.

• In Colorado, only 32% support the Senate bill, while 58% support the public option.

You would think that President Obama and the Democrats would be all over this in a heartbeat. Polls from 2009 also showed a large majority of Americans supported the public option. This is an easy ticket for the Democrats to improve their re-election chances in the upcoming 2010 Congressional elections. But oh no: absolutely zero leadership and fight from President Obama.

This is all happening while the greedy, blood-sucking private health insurance providers have jacked up their premium rates across the country:

• California: Average rates are expected to increase 25 percent in 2010, with increases as high as 39 percent for some policyholders.

• Colorado: Average rates are expected to increase 19.9 percent in 2010, with increases of up to 24.5 percent for some policyholders.

• Indiana: Rates are expected to increase 21 percent in 2010.

• Maine: Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield requested a 23 percent increase for 2010 after five straight years of double-digit increases for individual policyholders. Anthem is suing the Maine Insurance Commissioner for rejecting its request last year for an 18.5 percent rate hike and allowing a 10.9 percent increase.

Incidently, in 2008, 39 WellPoint executives made salaries of $1 million or higher, and spent $27 million for 103 executive retreats at exclusive resorts in Hawaii and Arizona in 2007 and 2008. This of course is coming at a time when private health insurance firms are posting massive profits. But in order to maintain those profits and executive retreats, private health insurers must deny coverage to their customers and raise premium fees. Sickening, absolutely sickening.

So where the hell is Obama? Why isn't he fighting for the public health insurance option? Isn't he supposed to be the "change" guy? Well, as I previously pointed out, Obama isn't the change guy when it comes to public health insurance. In fact, he cut sleazy backroom deals in order to secure campaign contributions while avoiding fighting for the people.

On August 13, The New York Times reported that although Obama had displayed himself as "aloof from the legislative fray," especially when it came to the public option (again, serious weakness and zero leadership from Obama), "Behind the scenes, however, Mr. Obama and advisors have been...negotiating deals with a degree of cold-eyed political realism potentially at odds with the president's rhetoric." The New York Times reported that one of the deals was with the pharmaceutical industry, or big pharm. The other deal was with the for-profit hospital lobby to limit its cost reductions to $155 billion over a ten year period, and in return the White House promised that there would be no public option:

Several hospital lobbyists involved in the White House deals said it was understood as a condition of their support that the final legislation would not include a government-run health plan paying-Medicare rates...or controlled by the secretary of health and human services. 'We have an agreement with the White House that I'm very confident will be seen all the way through conference', one of the industry lobbyists, Chip Kahn, director of the Federation of American Hospitals, told a Capitol Hill newsletter...Industry lobbyists say they are not worried [about a public option.] 'We trust the White House,' Mr. Kahn said.

Then on September 9, President Obama gave his major health care speech to a Joint Session of Congress, and in it he said one of the programs he was considering was a "not-for-profit public option available in the insurance exchange." Public option supporters and progressives beleived that Obama was on their side. But no so. The New York Times pointed out that:

Mr. Obama's call for a public plan, however, omitted any discussion of what rates it might pay or who might control it...'He worded it really carefully, because he said 'not for profit' and he didn't say it had to be controlled by the government,' Mr. Kahn [the hospital lobbyist] added. 'The way he described it, we could support that!

Controversial liberal muckracker Jane Hamsher has chronicled a timeline of President Obama's unwillingness to support and undermining of the public option.

So yes, Ralph Nader was and is right: the Democratic Party is essentially a corporatist party, and that there are very few differences between the Democrats and the Repbulicans. Obama should be fighting for the public option and for his base. And yes, the liberal base needs to get up off their asses and march on Washington and protrest and fight for the public option. Instead of yelling at their televisions and computers, they need to learn from the crazy Tea Partiers and make their voices heard. Although it appears Democrats and in the House of Representatives and the Senate are finally taking a bold and long overdue stand on the public option, President Obama is not. Unlike previous Democratic Presidents who fought for and achieved landmark legislative reform, such as FDR, LBJ and Harry Truman, President Obama is not fighting for the American people at all. He is instead all too happy to curry favour with the Republican Party and appear in the media nearly everyday, which he seems to believe is accomplishing something.