Update: Thanks for the recs.
I think healthcare is a human right.
I didn't always think this way.
I voted Bush in 2000 because I thought a sense of entitlement leads to lazyness and injustice.
But my views have changed considerably, in no small part due to the fact that I married a single mom with two kids.
My wife was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, left by her husband, and terrorized through economic bullying and a protracted legal battle. She did nothing wrong, other than get sick.
I'm in this fight for people like her. And because I want the good guys to win.
And I say, let's pass the Senate bill. Now. Get a bill passed. Now. Go to conference committee. Get it done. Stop the bickering and posturing and get it done.
I've read thoughtful, well-argued, passionate diaries on all sides of the issue. I respect those who see the public option as the sine qua non, end-all, be-all of healthcare reform. I agree with President Obama and others that the public option is the best way to increase choice and competition and hold the insurance companies accountable.
But there are other, legitimate, successful, effective ways to do this. And I think we all need to be careful not to allow an unfunded mandate. As my libertarian friends say, "A government big enough to provide all you need is big enough to take all you have."
The truth is, this political battle isn't about the law.
It's about morality.
It's about right and wrong.
Each of us, I'm sure, can tell stories like the one about Nataline Sarkisian, who died because an insurance company denied her treatment.
Each of us can tell a story of a family member who went into extraordinary debt because of a health condition.
Each of us can tell a story of a coworker or neighbor who kept a terrible job because of the insurance benefits.
I think each of those things is wrong. Fundamentally wrong.
I don't know what Joe Lieberman wants or what he stands for.
It's become apparent to all of us that Lieberman is willing to continue moving the goalposts, not because of principle, but because he opposes any healthcare reform that might weaken the stranglehold of our insurance company overlords.
It's evident to me that too many Americans put profits ahead of people.
And it's evident to me that too much of Washington is run by Murphy's Golden Rule: Whoever has the gold, makes the rules.
But I refuse to bite my nose off to spite my face.
I refuse to accept that no change is worse than incremental change.
And I refuse to allow my fellow progressives to besmirch the good name of people like Chris Dodd, Sherrod Brown, Jay Rockefeller - Senators who have worked tirelessly to hold the line on reform and simply have not been able to leverage 60 votes to get cloture.
What this proves, conclusively, is that the GOP fear tactics are wrong.
60 Democratic senators are not to be feared. They are a minimum requirement to get anything done.
The Republican Party is universally opposed to any reform that puts patients first. They have sold us out.
And so has Joe Lieberman.
But at the end of the day, we have to deal with reality - the Senate we have now. And the current Senate doesn't have Jim Martin. It has Saxby Chambliss. It doesn't have Ned Lamont. It has Joe Lieberman.
And if this isn't sufficient motivation to get out and campaign for more and better Democrats, then I don't know what is.
We can all say, "I told you so."
But right now, we need to stop the obstruction and get the best possible bill passed.
Not next year.
Not in 2011.
Now.
Update #2 11:20 AM CST: Ultrageek links to a very helpful potential action step. Consider donating to ActBlue and the 2010Blue campaign. It's time for progressives to look forward - that's what we do best!
Update #3 12:03 PM CST: for a laugh, check out this comment from jjohnjj.
Update #4 2:48 PM CST: TomP's diary is outstanding - a must read for the latest on strategy. The basic message? No mandates without a public option that provides REAL alternatives to the private, for-profit insurance companies. I can get behind that. I like the House version better with no mandates and a tax on the wealthiest 1%. The revenue generation from House Ways & Means is much more appealing to me than the plan to mandate coverage and punish the uninsured.
Going WAAAAY back to 2007 and the Iowa primaries... President Obama's statement is as true now as it was then: "The problem isn't that people don't want insurance. It's that they can't afford it."
We need to focus on affordability instead of punishing the uninsured.