Not the only one

No Kevin, you're not the only one thinking this:

Am I the only one who thinks that if the Dems pass a bill with mandates and subsidies for poor and moderate income people to purchase it but no public option or competition with the insurers, that it will be pretty much a catastrophe for the Democrats in political terms?

A mandate to purchase insurance without an affordable public option to provide it will be political suicide for the Democrats and Obama. All this kabuki about the great American desire for bi-partisanship is just bullshit to cover up their own lack of will to stand up to the health care industry. The dance right now is all about trying to shift the blame for the planned failure to put the industry in its place.

I can't believe the Dems are so stupid that they really don't know the GOPers aren't going to vote for any plan they put forward, even if they let the Republicans write it themselves. One can only conclude that they think we're so stupid we won't realize they're trying to weasel out of the mandate we gave them to fix the system.

For 8 years we heard the Dems just couldn't do anything without a better majority. They now have a better majority than anyone's had in a long time. So they're hiding behind the 60 vote threshold, pretending they couldn't pass something if they wanted to. They're just afraid to take a stand. If they stand up for us, then the industry gets pissed off and shuts off their slush funds. If they they stand up for the corps, they figure it will be just like last time with FISA or a hundred other sellouts. We'll be pissed off for a while but will forget by the time elections roll around again. Or we'll hold our nose and vote Dem because we don't want GOPers back in power.

The problem with that strategy is no one will have forgotten because we'll all still be suffering from their spinelessness. So we'll still be pissed off. I've heard more than one progressive say they're willing to see the Dems take a loss in 2010 to learn a lesson. This time we will follow through on it, because we have nothing left to lose except our self-respect. We've proved to be an effective force and they still treat us like expendable pawns in their power games -- sneering at the "far left" to "win" the center, which as a practical matter means they cave into the far right. Screw that and screw them. Let's see them try to win without us.

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]