Giving Lobbyists the Wink
Senators in Pockets of Healthcare Cartel, Plain and Simple
The current healthcare battle raging in Washington solidifies the fact that American politicians are losing sight of what their jobs are for: serving the people. Seeing politicians that hail from states with large poverty numbers stating they will block a public option clearly shows that that they all sit in the pockets of the healthcare cartel, plain and simple. I believe (sadly) that this is exactly why the Obama administration has demonstrated such a lackadaisical approach to the public option. His persistence in not drawing a line in the sand shows he understands where many of his colleagues get their money, and how desperately he and Rahm just want to pop the cork and call it a “win.” Tango anyone?
Considering that Wall Street and the banks received absurd amounts of bailout money at bullet’s speed, yet giving the public an option of an option causes such fierce arguments and foot stomping, clearly demonstrates that the American people need to wake up, and stop being such low-information voters, and vote these “public servants” out of a job. This obsession with bi-partisan support and watering down or trimming out anything that’ll hurt corporate medical insurance/manufacturing/pharma overlords, will result in a steaming piece of ineffective mediocrity.
Senators Schumer and Reid need to emphasize to the conserva-Dems that this is all very bad for Democrats. The public option is popular. The public option cuts costs. The public option reduces the deficit. Healthcare reform is supported by an overwhelming majority of Democrats and the American Public. There are primary campaigns lining up to confront the conserva-Dems at this very moment, and its only a matter of time before Republicans start yelling about how Democrats withheld the public option from the people (watch!). Nelson, Lincoln, Landrieu, Carper, and of course old Lieberman need to wise up and step out of the cloud of lobbyists that parade their offices. This is the argument we need to shout. No more compromises! Unfortunately, as history has shown us, when it comes to the good of the people, there is always room for a “compromise.”
The only clear solution to this political pandemic is very simple: campaign finance reform. Until we can remove these corporate behemoths from the offices of our representatives and senators, we will always encounter politicians running a system that pretends to serve for the people, all while giving lobbyists the wink.
