So first of all, I know proper English does not allow us to end sentences in prepositions like I did above, so I will amend the title to, “So Where We At, You Bums?” I am speaking directly to our elected politicians, who are currently awash in a flood of populist sentiment which is calling for the heads of any politician involved in helping Wall Street (see Bernanke appointment) and seemingly is against health reform due to the massive spending that many fear would accompany it.
So where we at? Well with the election of Senator Brown in Massachusetts, the best bet for saving health reform is the House passing the Senate bill with some changes to pacify more liberal House. Supposedly this is the week that the bill is to be presented to the House, but to me the prospects seem rather dim.
This strategy is risky and certainly very risky as the majority of voters who although favoring expanded coverage and slowing costs, just don’t trust these two bills from the Senate and House. Here are some stats that were published by the Washington Post:
-33 percent of respondents said they believed their access to care would be worse if a health care overhaul occurred, a jump from 25 percent in the poll released last month. Thirteen percent said they thought they would have better access to care in a remade system, about the same as last month.
-30.5 percent said their personal finances would be worse under a health care overhaul, compared to 24.5 percent last month. Eleven and a half percent said their personal finances would improve, compared to 14 percent last month.
-35 percent said the country’s access to health care would be worse under a health care overhaul, compared to 30 percent last month. Around 38 percent said it would be better, around the same as last month.
-42 percent said the country’s finances would suffer under a health care overhaul, compared with 34.6 percent last month. Thirty percent said matters would improve financially, compared to 32 percent last month.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said last week she does not have the votes to pass the Senate bill without changes. Democratic congressional aides, speaking on condition of anonymity because the issue is in flux, said the latest strategy involves using a special budget procedure to revise the Senate bill.
The procedural route – known as reconciliation – would allow a majority of 51 senators to amend their bill to address some of the major substantive concerns raised by the House. That would circumvent the need for a 60-vote majority to hold off Republican delaying tactics.
The remaining alternatives are unappealing: scaling back the health care bill to less controversial, smaller pieces, or setting it aside altogether.
Among those arguing for a quick strike on health care is David Plouffe, the political adviser who helped elect Obama president and has just been summoned back by the White House to help coordinate this year’s elections.
So where we at? The truth is nowhere! I know that the good folks at the Florida Consumer Action Network who are the leading proponents of health reform in Florida think that the key to passing this vote is Olympia Snowe, but that would mean a new Senate vote which would also mean a new bill as Snowe did not vote the Senate bill the first 3 times.
I just don’t see any changes coming anytime soon no matter where I look. It seems that President Obama is now focused on reforming Wall Street, which though an important issue to nearly everyone (with the exception of the Wall Street Scoundrels) is not going to help get coverage to the uninsured, who should be everyone’s chief concern. They are mine.
So where are we at? It boils down to the grim fact, that tonight, more Americans will go to sleep without health insurance then the night before.
