Who needs to make health care Barack Obama's Waterloo, as Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C. suggested? Why not make it the president's Alamo?
That's the advice PBS host Bill Moyers had for President Barack Obama in an appearance on HBO's August 28 "Real Time with Bill Maher." According to the former press secretary for President Lyndon B. Johnson, a defeat on health care/health insurance reform would do the left more good than crafting some sort of compromise.
"I mean, I would rather see Barack Obama go down fighting for vigorous, strong principled public insurance, than to lose with a bill - look, BusinessWeek had a cover story last week, ‘The Insurers are Winning,'" Moyers said.
Moyers alluded to the deal the President has allegedly made with the pharmaceutical industry, but he said that ultimately Obama shouldn't stop at universal health care controlled by the strong arm of government for the good of the public.
"Everybody knows that the White House has already made a deal with the drug industry promising not to import cheaper drugs from Canada and Europe, promising not to use the government to negotiate for lower prices. That deal's been cut. Much better for Barack Obama to go back to this public insurance for everybody - universal health care run by the government with tough cost controls to which everybody can join - employees and individuals, and which puts the care of the patient back in the hands of doctors. And lose."
The consensus is that such a policy proposal would never make it through the U.S. Congress, however if it went down in flames it could serve as a symbolic gesture that rally the far left wing of the Democratic Party.
"If he were to do that and lose this fight, this fall - I guarantee you it would reinvigorate the party that we all know is suffering now from not being sure who it is and who it's for," Moyers added.
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Interesting because
Mon, 08/31/2009 - 10:17 ET by Dan The Man 2Interesting because all Texans who fought at the Alamo died. They were not supposed to hold the Alamo at all. The real victory came later on and I doubt Obama has a San Jacinto unless he is playing the part of Sana Ana. Of course it seems like the health crap bill is trying to sneak in in the cool of the morning to catch us unawares.
Fine by me
Mon, 08/31/2009 - 10:41 ET by KC MulvilleGo ahead and test that theory.
Agreed
Mon, 08/31/2009 - 11:00 ET by CarlosSI agree completely.
The democrats have the votes to pass it..., they should go it alone and take ALL the credit for it later on
The republicans should sit this one out 'cause someone once said that wrestling with a pig (or donkey) only gets you dirty and the pig likes it
Strong...principled?
Mon, 08/31/2009 - 10:44 ET by StarAZThat description caught my eye--at best, it's undefined and the unintended consequences lied about. So hey, defeat it!
It worked so good for GWB
Mon, 08/31/2009 - 11:06 ET by FishFace222It worked so good for GWB when he didn't get social security reform passed--lost both houses of Congress in '06. There were other reasons but this is included.
This kind of thinking has
Mon, 08/31/2009 - 11:11 ET by d1carterThis kind of thinking has gotten Bill Moyers to the top of the media elite....interviews on the Bill Maher Show?
The Democrats, lead by Ted
Mon, 08/31/2009 - 12:59 ET by mattmThe Democrats, lead by Ted Kennedy, created the HMO system. So, if "the insurers are winning" and that's a bad thing, they can only blame themselves.
Now the dems want the government to become the only HMO anyone (other than Congress) can access.
The solution is to abandon the HMO system for HSAs with catastrophic coverage with no middleman between the patient and the care provider, or between the customer and the insurance company.
But I do agree with Moyers that BHO should go down. I hope he keeps going down until he is finally irrelevant.
Let's hope your fellow Dems are as stupid as you are, Bill...
Mon, 08/31/2009 - 13:39 ET by wnaegeleSigh!