WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON IN HEALTH CARE?!

I love Barack Obama. Let me start by saying that. Let me also say that I do believe that our health care system needs of overhaul. But seriously, man, what were you thinking? Did you really expect to just give this to Congress and have them work it out? Congress is a shit-show, and this debate has gotten so muddied by the fact that WE HAVE NO PLAN.

Let me back up a minute. Obama's been pursuing a very ambitious domestic agenda, and I agree that we need some changes. Unfortunately, by handing over the task of crafting a piece of legislation to Congress, he's handed over the framing of his message to them. Yes, he handed over his message by handing over the legislators, and too many of them are simply not on his side. They either oppose the type of reform he wants (Blue Dogs Dems) or oppose reform period (Republicans, although they wouldn't admit to being characterized that way). Now, the debate has gotten framed entirely around a handle of components (public option, employer mandate, etc.), and the debate and negotiations have boiled down to the inclusion or exclusion of these components.

This is to the detriment of the American people. This type of framing (which occurs all the time) shuts out alternative, innovative solutions. Obama could have easily framed this differently to come out with more innovative solutions. It has become pretty clear to me that when something like the "death panel" claim becomes a rampant part of the national discourse (a claim that is pretty clearly bullshit to anyone with half a brain), you have lost control of your message.

Personally, I think Obama needs to decide on something and fight for it. I know how he feels. Psychologically, I understand how much he wants to do something that everyone can agree with. Unfortunately, sometimes, people don't want to agree. I don't believe the Republicans are honestly trying to contribute to a solution. Obama needs to get behind some specifics and fight for them, because otherwise, he's not going to be very happy with what he gets.

I support the public option, mostly because I don't understand why health insurance can't be run by the government. I'm not saying the government needs to run health care (a la Britain), more like the government should provide health insurance (a la Canada). The conservatives fear a government takeover of health care, but unless the free market can really provide better service (which I don't believe it can), I see no reason why the government can't get involved. I'll re-outline some of the philosophical underpinnings of this in a later post (you can go back to an earlier post, if I didn't delete it, with my initial ramblings on the subject).