Thoughts On The Current Situation

The time has come for Democrats to make a choice. The Republican opposition, aided by Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, have made it clear that they are unwilling to pass any kind of meaningful healthcare reform. The Democrats thus far have compromised from single-payer to the Public Option, and from the Public Option down to a  Medicare buy-in and now they may not even get that.

The Medicare buy-in, which was first purposed by Sen. Joseph Lieberman (who is now a staunch opponent of the idea), is meant to be an alternative to the Public Option. Now this compromise may have to be watered down even further to satisfy the health insurance spokesman/senator from Connecticut, Joseph Lieberman.

Now I would rather have single-payer but I was ready to settle for the Public Option. However that had to be removed from the bill (mainly because of Sen. Lieberman’s threats to filibuster) and I was then prepared to settle for the Medicare buy-in. However, it appears that I will not get that chance because of Sen. Joseph Lieberman. This is getting to be extremely frustrating. I voted for Democrats, not an independent who can’t look away from the hand that has been feeding him all these years.

Now Sen. Lieberman may try and claim that he is not working on behalf of the health insurance industry. This would be a lie however. Since his days as the Attorney General of Connecticut, Sen. Joseph Lieberman has been accepting campaign contributions from the health insurance industry in the total amount thus far being 1.04 million dollars. Thus I am not surprised by Sen. Joseph Lieberman’s actions. I am fairly surprised by the actions of President Obama and Sen. Reid for allowing Sen. Lieberman to remain part of the Democrat Caucus.

All of this illustrates a much broader point though. Why hasn’t Sen. Reid utilized reconciliation? Could it be that he is paid off by the insurance industry as well? I am still hoping Sen. Reid will be utilizing reconciliation soon, however I also fear that he will wait till the last moment when there will be nothing left in this bill to salvage.