Kucinich's Brave Health Vote vs. Obama's Failed Promise

There were plenty of cowardly votes in the House last night but there was only one truly brave one. The unsung hero of the night was Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich. Despite enormous pressure to support H.R. 3962, Rep. Kucinich did the right thing and voted 'no.' Unlike the Blue Dog votes against the bill, he did it for all the right reasons.

In a principled and practical statement, Rep. Kucinich said what a growing number of progressives have realized as we've watched real health care reform be compromised again and again.

During the debate, when the interests of insurance companies would have been effectively challenged, that challenge was turned back. The "robust public option" which would have offered a modicum of competition to a monopolistic industry was whittled down from an initial potential enrollment of 129 million Americans to 6 million. An amendment which would have protected the rights of states to pursue single-payer health care was stripped from the bill at the request of the Administration. Looking ahead, we cringe at the prospect of even greater favors for insurance companies.

Personally, I supported President Obama in the primaries and the election but do not support him on this corporate giveaway built on broken campaign promises. I voted for the Barack Obama who opposed the individual mandate, who said the negotiations would be televised on C-SPAN and who campaigned against backroom deals with PhARMA.

Conservatives have expressed outrage for months about the way the health care bill was handled. Their anti-government anger is misplaced because the lets the insurances and drug companies who really helped drive this bill off the hook. But I understand their sense that this bill was passed despite the people.

Progressives should be every bit as upset that President Obama lied to us to get his historic health bill. The citizens of this country did not have a seat at the table. Proponents of single payer didn't have a seat at the table. Under the guise of health care reform, we watched as the insurance industry got a bill passed that entrenches and enriches them.

Don't let anyone fool you that this bill is a good start. It's got a poison pill "Public Option" that is designed to fail. As the brilliant RJ Eskow wrote recently about the House bill's public option:

The plan will have low enrollment and little power to negotiate, causing the CBO to state as fact what I've long considered possible: That the public option could become a dumping ground where private plans jettison sicker people, while lacking the efficiencies of scale or negotiating power to get better rates or administer itself more economically.

As a result, says the CBO, a public plan's premiums might be higher than private insurance. While the CBO's word isn't gospel, it's entirely possible that they're underestimating the cost of any "public option" we're likely to see this year. The likeliest political outcome, once the House and Senate bills are combined, is a non-robust "public option" with a state-by-state opt out. The CBO didn't consider the opt-out when it came up with its shocking (to some) estimate.

Even if it passes in its weak form, this public option will be the target of the GOP for years and they won't rest until it is dead. As the public option kicks into gear, they will find stories of 'rationing' and denial of care they can highlight, true or not. They will use the higher costs as proof of the public option's folly. They will grind away at the public option relentlessly but they will leave the individual mandate alone. If anything, once the mandate is in place, the Republicans will make sure the insurance industry is 'free to compete' and unrestricted.

The corporate interests that spend millions to influence the media and both political parties want you to ignore Congressman Kucinich. Too many Democrats unwittingly help them. Don't be a patsy.

People like Dennis Kucinich, Ralph Nader and Michael Moore have been made pariahs by establishment Democrats. They have all been marginalized and made fun of...but check their records. They have been considered 'fringe' because they are telling us the truth about corporate abuses of power long before most of the rest of us catch up to the reality of what's happened.

If enough of us stand with Dennis Kucinich, maybe we'll actually get real health care reform. If we don't, maybe we don't deserve that reform.

 

Follow Lee Stranahan on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Stranahan

Comments

[jrb]

I am disgusted with Kucinich, heath care reform won by only 2 votes. His no vote was reckless. If it lost by 1 vote, Kucinich would have been the destroyer of health care reform.

[Independent1969]

There's only a small handful of politicians on either side of the aisle that I have some faith in. Dennis Kucinich is definitely one of them. I don't agree with everything he says but I will always listen to what he has to say. Ron Paul is my most trusted on the other side of the aisle.

[GlennInVenice]

You can read Dennis Kucinich's POV yourself...

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20091108_kucinich_why_i_voted_no/

I could not agree more.

This version of "health care reform" forces people to buy policies that will not be worth the paper they are printed on.

The winner here; health care insurance agencies NOT the people.

I firmly believe that "you cannot jump a chasm in two bounds". I disagree with those that will settle with this watered down compromised legislation because they feel it represents "progress".

I believe that we are better with NO BILL and a continued unaddressed need. It is our best chance at getting REAL universal access to health care.

The current bill rewards the very corporations that have caused our current troubles. That is NOT progress.

[RobBob]

I like Kucinich. I applaud his sentiments. If, however, his symbolic "no" vote ended up causing the bill to fail, I would think just as little of him as I do now of Joe Lieberman.

[Awake-and-Sing]

I would have thought of him as even more a hero because he would have saved tens of millions of Americans from having to lower their standard of living by requiring them to purchase for-profit insurance at extortion level rates under heavy tax penalty if they don't.

This bill deserved to die. It's not health care reform. It's not even a start. It's just corporate welfare.

[mitch93]

I have an uncle who can't keep a job. He tries hard, but his demons always overcome. Just 3 months ago he had a massive heart attack and nearly died. The first thought everyone in the family thought was how they will pay for it. We later found out he had veterans care. It was a great weight lifted from our shoulders. If he had not had VA care there would be NO way he could get the care he needed to live. The option would cover the very needy. At least 36 million americans. How dare you say it is not reform. If I can see just a few million people get covered I will be happy. It is a start. I am afraid you are just too stuburn to see it. I support seeing a single payer system a few years down the road, and it will happen if we get this passed! He would not be a hero, not at all. He would be the reason for thousands of stopable deaths.

[mitch93]

Very true, I am a liberal but honestly he went too far. This house bill is not perfect, but it is going to help many. I will never vote for Kucinich again!

[splathrop]

Here's my take: Opposing this failed attempt at healthcare reform isn't a perfect solution, but it's a start. Once we don't pass it, we can fix what's wrong with it and revisit the issue. Political realists must understand that Rome wasn't built in a day, and real reform must be a step-by-step process, with the first step being the defeat of this bill. If we don't take the first step, how can we ever hope to accomplish our larger goals?

[SKEENGE]

Oh boy Splathrop, you sound just like a democrat with all the appropriate cliches and everything. The truth that you need to someday awaken to is that the democrats are not on your side any more than the republicans are. There is no real effort being made for reform and we are not going to leave Iraq or change our plans for Afghanistan. The working people of this country will continue to be ripped off and we will continue our quest for world economic domination until people wake up to the fact that we are being played.

[chonus]

Fanned for truth.

[GlennInVenice]

Read the details of FDR's New Deal and you will see what progressive legislation looks like. It was gutsy and represented REAL CHANGE hapenning over night to meet the immediate needs of the people.

Forget Rome, if you want a great example of leadership you only have to look back a few decades in American politics.

Washington is full of a bunch of apologists with slouched shoulders and victim written all over them. The constiuency seems to be coddling them and protecting them from those that demand more.

[mitch93]

The only diference is that there was not a health care lobby then. Be realistic. I am sorry but you really should not expect real change in a day or even a year for that matter. I knew that when I voted Obama. If you did not, well I suppose you do not live in this century.

[GreatNews27]

Kucinich 2012. Unless, of course, you are satisified with Minority Rule.

[chonus]

I get what you are saying but I had to take a second look.

:)

[mitch93]

Sure nominate him. Then see Sarah Palin win. I suppose you would love that? Also say good bye to Pelosi and Reed.

[TheBaffler]

Why wouldn't you want to see Pelosi and Reid go? Are you a Blue Dog?

[GeorgeP922]

Lee I am with you until your last line.

Ralph Nader and Moore are not elected to anything and never have been.

That said you are dead wrong to allude that some Democrats respect Ralph Nader, NO Democrats respect that snake oil salesmen.

He is not an activist, he is not even a Democrat.

He would be against this bill even it where Single Payer, and if you don't know that, you are sadly naive.

[Awake-and-Sing]

Ralph Nader has far more credibility on this issue than all those coporate-sellout DLC politicians.

If Ralph Nader is a "snake oil salesman" than what is Barack Obama who has proven through his actions that his whole campaign platform was utterly bogus.

[DavidDial]

Ralph Nader has become an egotistical crank. He hasn't done anything to make America a better place in 40 years and without his help George Bush probably would never have been elected. As Dennis Kucinich gets older and more bullet proof in his district he runs the risk of ending up just like Nader... a bitter old man who is always willing to sacrifice the good in the quest to achieve his ideologically skewed version of the perfect.

[dsgeorge]

I hate to burst the bubble here but Obama did NOT break his campaign promises on this issue with regard to public option. He NEVER stated he was for single payor - he said in a "perfect world" and is he had it in his power to "start over" that would be his choice - but he promised reform for pre-existing conditions - which is in the bill, he promised contained costs - which is in the bill, he promised keeping the insurance companies honest - which parts of that are in the bill. Is the bill perfect? Far from it. But it is a start. The democrats are their own worst enemy. They have too much diversity of thought and range from liberal to conservative - unlike the other party which is almost all on the fringe at this point. That is what is killing this bill. Diversity of political thoughts. I applaud Kucinich for voting against the bill for his priciples. But principles will not get people covered, not get pre-existing clauses off the plans - we have to start here and then get true progressives voted in the Congress to make the changes needed.

[Awake-and-Sing]

He did say he was OPPOSED to a mandate.

And this bill MANDATES tens of millions of middle class and working poor people who cannot afford health insurance now, and will not be one of the tiny number of people to qualify for the irrelevant "public option" in name only, to lower their standard of living even further by forcing them to buy overprice, unreliable for-profit insurance at extortion level rates under heavy tax penalty if they don't.

THAT is certainly breaking a campaign promise.

[mitch93]

I love liberalism, but sometimes liberals, who do not understand why everything does not go there way right away, just ruin it for me. I support single payer, but I am a realist who knows that this is a great start. Dsgeorge I am glad to see that I am not the only liberal with a brain, I just fanned you.

[SKEENGE]

Aren't you all missing the point of this exercise in futility? The bill was never meant to help the uninsured or to regulate the insurance industry. It was meant to further enrich the the insurance companies and pharma and that's exactly what it will do. Look at that huge smile on Nancy's face. Success!! We managed to convince the American people that we were working hard to deliver what we promised. Now,as we all know, the senate will further water down and weaken any hint of reform that may remain and then, wearing that same beaming smile, Obama will sign whatever useless attempt at legislation that is put on his desk. Success!!

[jmpurser]

I could not have said it better myself. From the day Obama took single payer "off the table" this has been a massive sell out of America's interest in favor of corporate profits. There is little or nothing to like about this bill. What little positive it does it does in the worst possible manner.

I will never again vote for a Democrat based on party. If he proves he's a man of honor and integrity like Kucinich then I'll vote for him. But to date Kucinich stands alone in his party so I suspect I just voted for my last Democrat.

[katmeyster]

The alternative is that 17,000 more people will die each year without health insurance. Of course I wish we had single-payer, of course I hate the abortion provision, of course, of course. But I will not fall on the sword of ideology when the outcome affects actual people's lives. Ideology is abstract and people can not go without health care -- even Dennis Kucinich would not give up his family's health care coverage for the sake of ideology. And why aren't the health insurance companies for this reform if it is such a gift to them? Go ahead and say no because of principle -- tell me what you think the outcome will be?

[jmpurser]

This is a corporate welfare bill. It's not quite as "pure" a corporate welfare bill as the insurance industry would like.

And there is no indication that it will save any lives at all yet. We'll have to see.

[RobBob]

Well, the CBO says the House bill will cover an additional 36 million Americans. I'm not sure how you can say that doesn't help save lives.

[GlennInVenice]

Forcing the 17,000 people to buy insurance that they cannot afford will not save lives. To the extent that they will be forced to buy something that they cannot afford they will end up with policies by the for profit agents with deductibles and clauses that continue to put their health care needs out of reach.

Unfortunately this bill is not about the 17,000 as good as it sounds. A bill that addressed their needs would have included single payer or, at a minimum, a vigorous public option. It did not. They were sold out.

[Mnemanth]

Too bad our society is more concerned with the wrapper, over the contents.
Mr. Kucinich made a good call. We need more representatives, like this man, versus career talking heads more concerned with their own income.

[GlennInVenice]

Exactly!

The "heath trees and forests" act was about clear cutting.

The "health care reform" bill forces millions of Americans to become customers of the for profit health care insurance companies that have NEVER had their interests in mind.

[JimR]

For many reasons, not the least of which is the bickering about whether or not abortion should be covered, I hope the Senate kills this bill. Then maybe Congress can start over again by splitting up health care reform into more manageable parts. It's become painfully obvious not everything can be done at once.

[DavidDial]

That just doesn't make any sense. This bill doesn't have to fail for Congress to address a wiser approach. This is a move in the right direction that doesn't take effect for several years. In the interim it can be further improved upon.

[onceler]

it's one thing to oppose the bill. an argument can be had about that. but you have to realize that if it's defeated, Congress is not going to pick it up, and re-work it in a more liberal way. it will be done, over with, as a political topic, for as long as or longer than it was dead after Clinton's failed attempt. what you are describing is not how Congress works. it's this bill, or nothing.

[pfrogger]

sadly I agree.
this bill is a giveaway for corporations, ie. insurance industries, Pharma, medical device manufacturers.
mandates will force people purchase insurance that is worthless and will not help them in any constructive way.
and the insurance industry will find loopholes to limit the removal of preexisting conditions and rescission.
and the public option is watered down to the point of absurdity
and the number of people who can enroll is pitiful
and it'll be available when? 2013? seriously? so the 45,000 dying annually due to lack of insurance will continue to die.
no bargaining with Pharma for better prices.

I think that this bill will do more harm then good. and the Senate will make it even less useless.
I hope this bill does not pass.

[legalgirl]

Rep. Kucinich got it right. Here's the link to his online petition. Sen. Bernie Sanders may introduce this as a Senate bill.

http://healthcare.kucinich.us/petition