With the passage of health care insurance reform finally assured, the Democrats face the next huge hurdle. And this one may be even more important than finally passing the massively complex and politically perilous legislation. The time has come to name whatever this thing is so the Democrats can frame and sell their handiwork to the country and lay claim to their achievement for all time.
In its intent to change American society forever, this health care legislation can only be compared to Social Security and Medicare. The completion of the health care safety net will be the third leg of the Democratic Party's fundamental contribution to America. For the sake of political smarts, this beast cannot continue to be called "health care reform," or "health insurance reform."
The Democrats need a name that expresses their ownership of a system of health care that for the first time attempts to include all Americans. The challenge is that this new system will quickly become a complete and normal part of American life. In ten years it will be difficult for people to remember a time in which coverage could be denied, or a world in which you could lose your house because a child became ill. People will forget the time when there was genuine terror in the notion that most human beings were running around with something called "pre-existing conditions" that somehow flagged them as unworthy of health care. At this moment, for instance, Canadians don't know what we're talking about when we say, "pre-existing condition."
It is possible that the new system simply gets no new name, like the Medicare prescription thingy the Republicans created with the donut hole. They failed to name it, and now they don't own it. Health care reform could just slip invisibly into the fabric of American life. There's no question it will become the way things are, a new normal, like the existence of the web. If so, that would be a great loss to the Democrats if it happens without getting named. They would be forced to make convention speeches that go like this:
"We're the party that gave you Social Security, Medicare and mandated health insurance for all."
That would be a catastrophe. So here goes: It's a complete modern health care system. But it's not Eurocare, since our insurance companies are still allowed to make a killing. So yes, it's uniquely American. How about Americare? It's the creation of a unique American system of health care. Then the media can say things like, "Americare means your insurance company can't drop you." Or, "Americare means that this girl, who would have died under the old system, will now get her liver transplant." Americare needs concrete deliverables, too. Letters in the mail. A Bill of Health Care Rights for all Americans. A website. Make it simple, make it real for people.
I would suggest the Republicans jump on the Americare bandwagon. Because there is one gigantic lurking danger out there that just might sink the party for all time. Since this historic health care restructuring has passed without any Republican support (so far -- it's still possible a Republican in the House or Senate might actually jump in). What would happen if the Democrats took real ownership of their revolution and call it what it is: Democare.
Imagine how that would work for the Republicans throughout the ages. What if the Dems had branded Social Security, Democratic Security. And what if Medicare had been Democrat's Eldercare?
Your choice, Democrats. Democare or Americare. But call it something! And do it now.
Follow Gerald Sindell on Twitter: www.twitter.com/gsindell2
Do they 'live in that much FEAR' that they could not vote their conviction? Yes, that is why it is sadness more than anything else.And if being 'conservative' is more important than being Republican, then they should rename their party to reflect that change.
I was further saddened that no one 'advanced the discourse' during the hours of the debate. What are they going to do now that its passed?
I liked how it went down. Even for all the sadness it generated.
It's called Obamacare.
When the tally hit 216, the Democrats in the House chanted "Yes we can". That's not a generic Democratic slogan. It's the president's campaign slogan. Anyway, the Republicans already named it.
In any case, I like the way you asked the question. Simple, forward, no hyberbole.
Personally, I think what we see in ten years won't look like today's bill. It will be worked out over time.
The country is actually liberal in spirit, but conservative many times in action because the right is able to scare them. For instance, a majority opposed attacking Iraq until the relentless barrage of Republican lies convinced them Saddam Hussein either attacked us on 9/11 or would in the immediate future.
Great track record.
Social Security is solvent and will be for years. Medicaid is the only portion with immediate problems--and those problems are due to Republican attempts to kill it every chance they get.
We, progressives, have now finally to recognize that within the Democratic Party there are no dependable progressives; only pretenders. Examine Kucinich's concern: not to destroy the presidency of Barack Obama. Why care? In matters of warfare, defiling of the Constitution, alignment with Wall Street and the multinationals, Obama is indistinguishable from GWB. He is a killer of wedding parties, pregnant women and children with drones, with Special Operations forces. He is an occupier in Iraq, Af-stan, Columbia, Somalia, Yemen, with military forces or mercenaries. He is a renderer, a warrantless invader of Americans' privacy, a denier of habeus corpus. This is the man for whose presidency Kucinich betrayed progressives, went back on his word?
Kucinich, goodbye! You are no longer a national leader for progressives. You are the rep from Ohio, a has-been.
it's too bad you have lost hope, and won't stand behind the elected representatives we have.
If you fail to plan, plan to fail.
Changing to Medicare for all would have been a great "Democare" program--and something Democrats could have been justifiably proud of.