Joe Lieberman from the state of Connecticut has announced to his base (the health insurers and their lobbyists) that he will filibuster any bill presented in the Senate that contains the words "public option". Unfortunately for Holy Joe, his constituents heard that as well. In fact, the whole country did. And we are pissed.
A recent poll found that 72% of the population in the US is in favour of the public option. Why? Because when they get sick they want to be able to go to a doctor and without any insurance that simply isn't an option, public or otherwise. But if the government creates a public option, all of a sudden, upwards of 25 million people will, for the first time, be able to go to the doctor or the hospital without first having to check their bank balance or wonder which of their maxed-out credit cards they might be able to melt just a little bit more.
For some reason this scares the ever-loving shit out of the right-wing. For some inexplicable reason, a healthy population, one that has access to preventative medical care, vaccines and routine check-ups scares the lily-white rich folk more than an IRS audit. I have no idea why.
I know why the lily-white rich politicians hate the public option, because they've been told to feel that way by the people that own them, you know, the drug companies and the insurance industry, but deep down inside, you would hope that at least a few of them get a twinge when they realise the depth of their hypocrisy. After all, they themselves are the beneficiaries of a very nice public option in their health coverage. They just don't seem to want to share. And that makes them all a bunch of selfish bastards. It's not a new concept, the old "I'm alright Jack" mentality has always been front and centre for the well-off, but it becomes very problematic when that mentality is applied to the national healthcare debate. Simply telling people to suck it up and buy insurance, or get a job that offers health insurance is all well and good, but when the national unemployment rate is 10.2% that's easier said than done. Plus, at the end of the day it doesn't actually solve the root of the problem, sky-high premiums.
Of course, if I were a cynic I'd say that there was a bit of collusion going on between the insurance companies and the drug companies. Each agreeing to continue to hike the cost of their products to the vast unwitting population whilst claiming at the same time that a public option would force the premiums even higher. Now, I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but even I know that sounds like a load of bollocks. When you introduce competition prices go down, not up. At least they do in the world I live in, but apparently that is not the case in the world that republicans inhabit. In that twisted plane of existence, when competition comes in to the marketplace, the old guard has to raise it's prices in order to stay competitive, rather than lowering them to, you know, compete with the new upstart. I know what you're thinking and you're right, that is definitely a load of bollocks.
I have a potential solution. Instead of accepting what Holy Joe is saying to the poor, the sick and the uninsured (that would be a hearty "Go fuck yourselves" in case you hadn't figured it out yourself), how about if we get the government to approach healthcare reform from a different angle, like, oh, I don't know, immediately banning insurance companies from sponsoring golf tournaments? Or prohibiting drug companies from advertising on the telly all-day, every-day? I bet that would save the odd billion or two over the years. That would mean that the drug companies wouldn't gouge up the price of the dick-stiffening medication everyone in the US is apparently desperate for, the insurance companies would be able to lower their premiums, and we'd all get a bit of piece and quiet all at the same time.
Sounds like win-win-win to me....plus it would mean that the saggy-faced douchebag from Connecticut could go back to doing what he does best, kissing the asses of the hosts on Fux Noize in a desperate attempt to still appear relevant...
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