State of the Health Care Bill

Ta-Nahesi Coates (a daily read of mine) posted his discussion with Ezra Klein about the status of the Health Care bill now that Kennedy's Senate seat has been lost. Klein does an excellent job of explaining why the (Senate version of the) bill was (and still is) worth supporting. While Klein describes it as "intellectually honest" for progressives to admit that we truly wish for a single-payer system and that the current bill isn't really what we'd dreamed of, he rightly insists that the potential improvements to our present system included in the bill are too great for us to pass up.

Although my own insurance situation will not be affected either way (bill or no bill), I can't shake the feeling that we are missing a historic opportunity to accomplish something momentous in terms of social justice and economic fairness.
Perhaps most frustrating is the thought that the Democrats are on the verge of dropping this completely simply because their huge majority in the Senate was diminished by just one seat. One f'n seat! They still have 59 seats in their caucus. Maybe I'm overestimating the discipline of the congressional GOP, but I'm pretty confident that if they had a 59 seat majority in the Senate, with an insane majority in the House, not to mention a doctrinaire Republican in the White House, and that if they were then on the verge of passing legislation that was pretty much a pillar of their party's agenda for a generation or two (say tax code reform, for example), they would not hesitate to ram it through. They would succeed. Sure, some Senate Democrats would threaten to filibuster, but in the end, they would pass their bill, the President would sign it, and they would all celebrate together at parties with their mistresses, while drinking bourbon, and joking about how easy it all was.
Why can't the Democrats accomplish things the same way? Is it a matter of will? Are they just a bunch of cowards? Or is it just that a significant proportion of elected Democrats aren't committed to social democratic or progressive ideals to begin with? If so, what the eff are they doing in our party?

Economic Rights

Michael Lind boosts economic rights in his Salon column this week. Lind often refers to himself as a "New Deal Democrat", so it's fitting that the piece centers around the policies of FDR. The money is in the FDR quote:

"This Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under the protection of certain inalienable political rights ...As our nation has grown in size and stature, however -- as our industrial economy expanded -- these political rights proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness."

In addition to arguing for the extension of "economic citizenship" to the general populace, FDR rebuked the notion that economic rights should take priority over political rights and liberties, but in doing so underscored the point that without economic rights, citizens of a state are unlikely to truly enjoy said rights and liberties.

"We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. 'Necessitous men are not free men.' People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made." (emphasis mine)

With the news that Sarah Palin is getting her own show, FDR's words really stand out. I am concerned that we may be in a situation that is ripe for something like dictatorship. Not that Palin is herself a fascist or a dictator, but that sort of rabid tendency is there in her intended audience. Look: Palin, Tea-Parties, Glenn Beck, Minutemen, Lou Dobbs, etc. For all their rhetoric about "liberty" and retro "Don't tread on me" flags, there is an undeniably scary feel to the way they stand around with boogey-man signs of an African-American President, openly brandishing guns, endlessly blaming our country's troubles on immigrants, and rambling on about other baseless garbage (ie. death panels and the like).

With such a terrible economic situation, and a relatively tame government response (at least by FDR's standards), should we be surprised that so many have reacted this way? Right-wing crazies have always been with us (see: Slavery), they were quiet for a while, but now they are back big-time. The problem is, this time, they are getting quite a few more fans than just nuts like Timothy McVeigh.

What to do about this?
For one, this shouldn't just be about winning. It should be about creating a situation in which more people get a fairer share of the pie. More economic security, more political freedom, and a greater stake in preserving and protecting those securities for future generations. This is what the President should be working on. A newer New Deal. Then I'll call myself a "New New Deal Democrat".

Harry Reid

For once I agree with Michael Steele. If a Republican had said the same thing I would have referred to him as a racist until the day he died, and then forever after (see Strom Thurmond). I'm pretty surprised that (so far) Reid's getting a pass for this from all the important players.

I should emphasize though, we should never be surprised when racist comments slip out among powerful elected officials of either party. Yeah, the Democrats should be better on this, and to a certain degree, they run into this problem less often than than Republicans do. But don't forget how apparently common this sort of attitude is even among significant Democrats. Remember Joe Biden's "slip"?:

“I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,” he said. “I mean, that’s a storybook, man.”

Of course, Biden went on to be Obama's running mate and our eventual VP.

If the President can hear someone talk like that, and then make the guy his VP, how often has he heard similar comments in his life? It makes me sick to my stomach to think of how the President of the United States has heard so much of this garbage in his life that he's just numb to it. He just ignores it, when he probably wants to push them right off of Air Force One...or, at least give them a strong rebuke.

Point is, it should be considered unacceptable. Reid should pull his foot all the way out of his mouth and then step down as the Majority Leader.