Obama is Cutting Sen. Specter Too Much Slack

The same should be said for health reform. It’s not clear at this point whether Specter even backs Obama’s health reform plan. In truth though, particularly given the number of uninsured people living in Pennsylvania, Specter should be pressed to back the single-payer bill being put forward in the Senate by his colleague Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Specter, after all, just went through a tough battle with cancer, which he seems to have beaten thanks to his extraordinarily generous Congressionally offered and taxpayer funded health insurance plan, and his access to the finest doctors and hospitals the country has to offer. He is not in any position, ethically, at this point to oppose making healthcare available to and affordable for every resident of his state.

Right now, Specter is at his most vulnerable. Many of his long-time Republican and independent backers are angry at him for quitting the party, and at the same time, many Democrats, who have voted against him for years as a Republican, are skeptical about his sudden change of party registration.

Now is the time that President Obama should be demanding that Specter back the key elements of his program. Now is also the time that progressives and labor activists in Pennsylvania should be letting Sen. Specter know that if he wants their support in 2010, he will have to support our issues. That means full-throated backing for EFCA, and for a single-payer health plan for America.

If Specter weasels on these key issues, progressives and labor should withhold their backing and throw themselves behind a more progressive candidate, should one choose to run against him for the Democratic nomination next spring.
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DAVE LINDORFF is a Philadelphia-based journalist. His latest book is “The Case for Impeachment” (St. Martin’s Press, 2006). His work is available at www.thiscantbehappening.net