The dreams endure
Aug. 26th, 2009 10:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pecuniumOr, to reach back to Joe Hill, "Don't mourn, organise."
Ted Kennedy is dead. Nothing we can do about that (and his legacy will long outlast what I have to say about him). He was flawed. Who isn't? He did his best, and his best was pretty good.
He was in favor of fixing our healthcare problems. His committee passed out a bill which is a lot better than the present mess in the Finance committeee (of which one of the members, Mike Enzi, admits he's acting in bad faith, ""It's not where I get them to compromise, it's what I get them to leave out," Enzi said.").
It's just possible that, with the other things going on (the 65 members of the House who vow to vote against any bill without a public option, Steny Hoyer deciding that the Senate trying to dictate to the House, Reid getting pressure from inside the Senate, Grassley saying he won't support a bill without fellow republicans signing on, Bingamen saying he could support making a filibuster impossible) a decent bill could be presented to the House.
So far, it seems the best proposals are in the Kennedy bill (because no one in the "debate" has the courage to argue for a complete overhaul, a move to single payer, and an emphasis on healthcare, not health insurance). Support for that bill equals pressure for a better bill out of any of the other committees, and gives political cover to the members of the House who are on the fence.
You can provide such support at the Petition to Honor Senator Kennedy
Ted Kennedy is dead. Nothing we can do about that (and his legacy will long outlast what I have to say about him). He was flawed. Who isn't? He did his best, and his best was pretty good.
He was in favor of fixing our healthcare problems. His committee passed out a bill which is a lot better than the present mess in the Finance committeee (of which one of the members, Mike Enzi, admits he's acting in bad faith, ""It's not where I get them to compromise, it's what I get them to leave out," Enzi said.").
It's just possible that, with the other things going on (the 65 members of the House who vow to vote against any bill without a public option, Steny Hoyer deciding that the Senate trying to dictate to the House, Reid getting pressure from inside the Senate, Grassley saying he won't support a bill without fellow republicans signing on, Bingamen saying he could support making a filibuster impossible) a decent bill could be presented to the House.
So far, it seems the best proposals are in the Kennedy bill (because no one in the "debate" has the courage to argue for a complete overhaul, a move to single payer, and an emphasis on healthcare, not health insurance). Support for that bill equals pressure for a better bill out of any of the other committees, and gives political cover to the members of the House who are on the fence.
You can provide such support at the Petition to Honor Senator Kennedy
