Waxing Philosophical about the Health Care Debacle

Like most left-wing intellectuals, I belong to the upper decile of the income distribution and, since I've always worked for big employers (universities), I have very good health care. So, the health care debate doesn't affect my pocketbook. Maybe that's why I can afford to get philosophical about it unlike all the people who struggle without health care for which this is a real disaster. So here I go.

In Colombia we have a saying to describe the attitude of the Democratic Party: they killed the tiger and ran scared from the hide. It is still possible that the Dems will pass the Senate bill and accomplish something. But the more time passes, the more unlikely it seems. So, for the purpose of intellectual stimulus, I'm writing as if they had dropped the ball because, even if that doesn't transpire, the very fact that it was a possibility says a lot.

The Democratic party has majorities that would be the envy of most parties in the advanced, industrialized democracies. It has majorities that are larger than anything it has enjoyed in the past 30 years and, probably, it will take another 30 years before they have something like it again. And still they can't get through the single most important initiative they've come with which, when all is said and done, is basically a set of incremental changes designed to preserve as much as possible the status quo of health care. It's not like they are nationalizing the banking sector, or dismantling the military-industrial complex or abolishing private property. They were just changing, nudging to be more precise, health care delivery a little bit in the direction of other industrialized democracies. The level of impotence is just breathtaking. 

Before I get into the crux of my arguments, I'll vent a bit more. Let's consider first the disproportion between cause and effect. A handful of voters in Massachusetts give a Republican a slim margin of victory and, next thing you know, THE SKY IS FALLING!! THE PEOPLE HAVE REJECTED HEALTH CARE REFORM!! 

To repeat what others are saying: Massachusetts already has health care reform. And they love it. If they wanted to reject it, they would have killed it in their own backyard. Furthermore, they've been voting for Ted Kennedy since forever. If that doesn't count like supporting health care reform, I wonder what counts. Even the guy they elected supports health care. So, of all the times that Massachusetts has spoken about the issue, of all the times when it has consistently sent the message that it likes universal health care, the one time it waffles a little bit is the one that counts. 

In any private matter, this would be considered completely ridiculous and irrational. So, why is it that this can happen in "the world's greatest democracy"?

They're kicking me out of the cafe so I'll answer this question in my next post.