52 online
 
Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 23 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
OpEdNews Op Eds   

President Obama will Likely Dump the Public Option, and Here's Why

By       (Page 1 of 2 pages)   6 comments
Follow Me on Twitter     Message earl ofari hutchinson
Become a Fan
  (10 fans)
<

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius found out the hard way that when you say what your boss may really be thinking or worse end up doing on a crucial piece of legislation you get quickly smacked down.Sibelius in an unscripted and unvetted moment said that President Obama's public option in the health care reform war could go by the wayside if that's what it takes to get Senate obstructionists to back a reform bill. Sebelius didn't say anything that Obama point man, Rahm Emanuel didn't hint at weeks earlier, and that Obama himself has hinted at. The public option is not only expendable but likely will go.

Even if Sibelius, Emanuel, and Obama hadn't dropped the hint that it can be tossed, it would still likely go. This has much less to do with angry town hall loudmouths, the drum beat Fox Network, Limbaugh, and the legion of right shrill blogger attacks, and GOP orchestrated Senate attacks on the public option, than Obama the politician. Obama wants, no desperately needs, to win a big victory on health care, or at least the appearance of a victory, even if the victory means scrapping the only thing in the health care reform package that really represents true health care reform. Put another way, a government health insurance option is the only real lever to make the pharmaceuticals and health care insurers lower drug costs, reduce their obscene profit rake offs, deliver better services, eliminate the endless dodges that insurers use to cherry pick only the most healthy and profitable patients, and make some dent in the 45 to 50 million uninsured.

If private health insurers and the pharmaceuticals had done that decades ago without a government lever, the whole health care debate and crisis would have long since been a moot point. Obama well knows this, and has said as much in his earlier political days. But that was then, and now it must be said again, and again that Obama quickly morphed into the archtypical Hollywood casting lot moderate, centrist Democrat who will cut a political deal with legislation to get something, anything, out of it that can be sold as a win. This is nothing new, let alone a sign of duplicity, with Obama.

A cursory read of his record, as well as a fine comb of his speeches, statements, and interviews, that the talk during the campaign of Obama as an unreconstructed far out liberal was mostly talk by first Hillary Clinton, and later by conservative talk jocks, Sarah Palin and the GOP attack teams.

If he even remotely resembled what the attack hounds claimed he was he could never have gotten the stamp of approval from top Democrats, beat down the Clinton Machine, gotten the parade of endorsements from former Reagan and Bush Sr., and even W. Bush officials. And most imortant, broken the cash registers on fund raising. That included a a generous plop of more than $2 million into the Obama campaign till. Republican rival John McCain got a relatively paltry $600,000 and some change.

Obama's centrist bent was plainly evident during the campaign when he and McCain at times sounded like they were more agreement than not on the issues of expansion of stem-cell research, immigration, faith-based social services, expanded government wiretapping, building more nuclear power plants, global warming, fair trade, and the death penalty. The similarity between the two was more glaring when Obama edged closer to McCain on their plans on health care and taxes and the Iraq War. This also was no surprise.

Next Page  1  |  2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Must Read 1   News 1  
Rate It | View Ratings

Earl Ofari Hutchinson Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is a nationally acclaimed author and political analyst. He has authored ten books; his articles are published in newspapers and magazines nationally in the United States. Three of his books have been published in other (more...)
 
Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Critical Race Theory Yet another Strawman Issue

The House is duty-bound to Bring Articles of Impeachment against Clarence Thomas

Think of the Two Decade Embarrassment of Thomas We Would Have Been Spared If We had known about Thomas's Porn Alleged Ob

Tea Party Now a Huge GOP Liability

The Awful Transformation of Bernie Sanders

Clarence Thomas Can Breathe a Sigh of Relief with Weiner Downfall

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend