On the eve of the historic health care vote, President Obama spoke to House Democrats. He began his speech by quoting Abraham Lincoln: "I am not bound to win, but I'm bound to be true. I'm not bound to succeed, but I'm bound to live up to what light I have."
Listening to the final floor speeches that followed put into stark relief the key difference between the two parties. The Democrats, as they had been throughout the yearlong process, were fractious -- often frustratingly so -- but engaged in the debate about how to best deliver health care reform to the American people. The Republicans, on the other hand, were so united in their lockstep refusal to be a serious part of the process that it's hard to even call them the opposition.
Indeed, watching the contrast between the two sides, including the Democrats' last-minute horse-trading over abortion, brought to mind another Lincoln quote, from when he was just a former Illinois congressman. It came in response to Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas' Kansas-Nebraska Act, which allowed residents of the two new territories to vote on whether slavery would be allowed. Douglas had chided his opponents for not being united.
"[Douglas] should remember that he took us by surprise -- astounded us by this measure," responded Lincoln. "We were thunderstruck and stunned, and we reeled and fell in utter confusion. But we rose, each fighting, grasping whatever he could first reach -- a scythe, a pitchfork, a chopping-ax, or a butcher's cleaver. We struck in the direction of the sound, and we were rapidly closing in upon him. He must not think to divert us from our purpose by showing us that our drill, our dress, and our weapons are not entirely perfect and uniform. When the storm shall be past he shall find us still Americans, no less devoted to the continued union and prosperity of the country than heretofore."
In other words, rallying a fractious party of equality against a united party of oppression was difficult, but, in the end, good for the country.
Today's GOP, in its unbending commitment to upholding a broken status quo, differs from the Southern Party of Lincoln's day in name only.
There is no doubt that there are far too many in the Democratic Party also dedicated to maintaining the status quo -- one that benefits the few to the detriment of the many. They don't really want change either. But enough did to make history.
Yes, the final bill is deeply flawed. Yes, the process that led to it was woefully mishandled -- right up until the very end when, as Ryan Grim points out, the votes were there for a public option that, nonetheless, wasn't included. And yes, the Democrats once again revealed their many flaws -- including just how many of them remain susceptible to the health care industry lobbyists who descended on Washington.
But there is no denying that the lives of millions of Americans will be improved because of what the Democrats have done.
Republicans, meanwhile, have been hoisted with their own deeply cynical petard. As David Frum outlines it in his must-read post-mortem, Republicans decided that there would be "no negotiations, no compromise, nothing" in the hope of turning health care into Obama's Waterloo. In the process, they turned their back on many "traditional Republican ideas" on health care and "followed the most radical voices in the party." "We went for all the marbles," laments Frum. "We ended with none."
The GOP's toxic smokescreen of fear-mongering ("This is going to cause Armageddon") and untruths (they want "to pull the plug on grandma") has been blown away, revealing a party that stands unified against progress.
John Boehner declared last week that if health care passed, "it'll be over my dead body." Since he seemed very much alive today -- orange tan and all -- let's hope his party's obstructionism fills his slot on the cold slab of the political morgue.
On the other side of the aisle, Democrats are empowered and energized. In the best tradition of great presidents who have learned on the job, President Obama has shown a willingness to course correct and an ability to do so. In the wake of Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts (a victory that led Fred Barnes to declare health care reform "dead with not the slightest prospect of resurrection"), Obama finally moved off the sidelines and took charge of moving health care forward. He finally gave up his obsession with bipartisanship, finally took on the health insurance industry, and finally adopted the populist rhetoric the times call for.
As a result, he created the kind of momentum that builds upon itself -- the kind that delivers the votes you never have until, well, you have them. The kind of momentum that says, this train is leaving the station, you better get on board or get left behind. The kind of momentum he and his fellow Democrats can use as they tackle the huge problems ahead.
As the president put it in his speech following the health care vote: "The work of revitalizing our economy goes on. The work of promoting private sector job creation goes on. The work of putting American families' dreams back within reach goes on."
So, as he pivots to addressing these other major issues, let's hope the president and his party don't wait until their backs are up against the wall -- and have given too much of the farm away to a party unwaveringly committed to maintaining the broken status quo -- before doing the things they should have been doing all along.
Follow Arianna Huffington on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ariannahuff
Nalini Chilkov: Let's Be Honest: Health Insurance Reform Is Not Health Care Reform
Let's be honest we are getting a small amount of insurance reform and no health care reform.
security cameras
to the benefit of their patients, yet just about the only thing they did was to endorse the plan by a
relatively unimportant AMA. They have relegated their responsibilities to the politicians to take care
of their patients and they will just follow orders. It looks very much like this is the beginning of the end of a proud profession. The most likely scenario is young people will no longer be interested in becoming physicians and practicing physicians will be treated like lower level employees in a government controlled organization. The future of this proud profession is at stake.
We will change the way business is done in America, including the banking and financial systems.
We will stop any unfair "free market" agreements and trade polices, and replace them with "fair" trade policies that protect the people and the environment.
It is the dawn of a new age, and I am glad.
The health insurance act is a Republican bill. Alexander Cockburn is right about that. See "T'was a famous victory" 3/26-3/28 at http://counterpunch.com/
There is no real indication, none whatsover, that the neoliberal Obama Administration much less quisling mainstream Dems in general will now change their approach to government "of, by and for" the corporate and wealthy interests who principally finance their campaigns. (Remember Dick Durbin's famous admission.)
Britain's Liberal Democratic leader Nick Clegg said the other day (closely paraphrasing if I haven't remembered the quote verbatim): "For the Labor Party 'change' is what they promise when they want everything to stay the same. For the Conservative Party 'change' stops on election day." (See my comment below for a link to the speech.)
And so it is here with the Democrats and Republicans.
All but the elites in this country are well aware the leaders of both parties and their incessant noisome narrative machines form a political-enterainment complex that have trapped them in a baleful super-stratified status quo.
It is a nightmare from which only a new left oriented internationalist rainbow coalition party modeled approximately on Britain's Lib-Dems can awaken us.
Eric C. Jacobson
Public Interest Lawyer
Culver City, California
However, there seems to be a generally accepted proposition that I feel is off the mark. You speak of President Obama's, "obsession with bipartisanship".
To that point, I repost one of my HuffPo comments:
Just think of what would have happened if the first non-white president had come into office without trying, to a fault, to have bipartisen cooperation in pursueing his agenda. You know what would have happened. The "Jonestown conservatives" would have scared more than just other "Jonestown conservatives".
Obama outsmarted them all, but it took a few months for the general public to see the "Jonestown conservatives" for the fruitjuice-aid drinkers they are.
IMO, President Obama has left little to chance and continues to provide world class statesmanship in his approach to being as good as he can be at his job and I, for one, appreciate his style and finesse.
Thanks for all you do Arianna. America and the world needs more people like you being heard.
Behind every argument is there elementary fear,hate and racism for the melting pot that is America.
Republicans do know the difference between nationalism and patriotism. Republicans will use fear to motivate voters because for so long in the past it has worked.But now hope and change have been given a mandate by the American people.I hope more Republicans will quit like Palin did.I hope more Americans will vote Democratic and push and cram more change down the Republicans throat.Lets not stop with this health care bill.We still need the public option,to stop the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
We need to change the tax code regarding the free ride given to corporations and wealthy individuals.To name a few of the things we need to tell our government to do.Remember the government works for us.
And when it doesn't vote it out like we did with President Bush.
Frankly, I'm surprised that you believe you're in a nightmare.
Read the Constitution. Look around you. Talk to people other than those who echo your narrow-minded point of view, and you'll see:
Conservatism is obsolete.
The GOP is anti-government, anti-people, and anti-American.
We need to put a stop to these selfish corporatist extremists, and take back America again.
Power to the people!
Yes to power to the people.
the lack of analysis and understanding of what is going on is mind boggling.
Miles "Hoisted On His Own Petard" Long
-Presidents who have broad vision must wage a permanent, sustained campaign. They must have fire in their belly. Change is complicated.
- Don’t assume prematurely there is no oasis in the wilderness. Many Democrats panicked following the summer of town hall discontent, and immediately following Scott Brown’s win in Massachusetts. Needless!
- Don’t declare your opponent dead prematurely. Remember Bush’s “Mission Accomplished,” Graham’s “dead-on-arrival” and DeMint’s “Obama’s Waterloo” prediction. But it became a Republican Waterloo.
- In politics, always leave yourself an elbow room. Republicans put themselves in a straight jacket when they defined their position in extreme, uncompromising terms. Therefore, they denied themselves the capacity to later sincerely contribute to the discourse.
- Avoid “whackos” and loud and aggressive people like a plague. Republicans co-opted the tea party as their energizer; the tea party took over the Republican agenda. Those who ride the tiger mostly end up inside (Roman saying).
- Don’t under-rate or marginalize your opponent. Republicans were trying to de-legitimize Obama and deny his huge mandate. But he usually accomplishes the impossible.
- Don’t doubt the power of hope to overcome cynicism and doubt. Republicans tried in vain to thwart Obama’s “Yes You Can” with “Hell No, You Can’t.” It failed big time! Remember: Light is superior to Darkness.
- Don’t think people are stupid. In the end, they will catch on. Western democracy thrives, not on deliberate misinformation, but an educated electorate.
- Pragmatism as needed; but idealism still matters.
Sure, some people will get insurance. But it's coming out of their OWN pocket. The nanny government takes their money and forces them to spend it on something "good" for them.
Perhaps if they had done the whole thing backwards by cutting those payroll taxes, the people would be able to afford the insurance WITHOUT the nanny government giving them back their own money in a subsidy.
"The American Republic will endure until their Congress discovers it can bribe the people with the peoples' money."
Alexis de Tocqueville of France
Late 19th Century
$210 billion from those making over $200k per year.
$455 billion stolen from Medicare Advantage, which was put there by regressive payroll taxes, paid by the working class.
Obama and the Dems pulled the wool over everyone's eyes on this one. They made it sound like the rich were paying the bill, but it was really the working class that paid most of it.
Robbing the poor to feed the poor, like a confused dysfunctional Robin Hood.
The laws just enacted pretty much say the opposite.
Unless by millions, you meant the few Americans making millions in bonuses that will be deeply enriched by the new revenue.
Those that you think will be blessed with improved lives in reality will find themselves even more poor as the states they reside in struggle to come up with the cash to pay for their new medicaid coverage and increase taxes on the very people who were supposed to be helped.
The ugly truths will slowly seep out over time as those who should have already read and REPORTED on the bill before it became law finally start to read it.
In the meantime insurance and pharma companies are patting themselves on the backs in celebration of the buying of hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars for just a few hundred million.
The rich get richer the poor not so much.
Paid for on the backs of the working class.
TAKE BACK AMERICA IN 2010.
You LOST, τea βagger. Gimme a 341.