POLITICS - Blue Dog Democrats & Health Care Reform

"Dems must bring Blue Dogs to heel" by JESSE JACKSON, Chicago Sun-Times 6/23/2009

We are down to the last rounds of the health care debate. The ideas are on the table. The estimated costs are published. The insurance industry lobby is up in arms. The White House and congressional leaders are starting to push. Now it is a question of will.

Will conservative "Blue Dog" Democrats sabotage the best chance for health care reform in a generation? Democrats are the issue because they don't really need the votes of Republicans who have chosen simply to be the party of "no." With few exceptions, Republicans rail about "government takeover" of health care, mutter about "socialized medicine," warn darkly about "government rationing" destroying the "best health care system in the world." Blind to reality, they have absented themselves from adult conversation.

The realities are starkly clear. We spend far more on health care than any other industrial nation -- 50 percent more per capita, according to Peter Orszag, head of the Office of Management and Budget. And we get worse results -- in life expectancy, childhood mortality and much more. We tax all Americans for the most inefficient system of care -- expensive emergency rooms for the uninsured, more focus on the terminal illnesses of those in the last weeks of life than on providing preventive care to keep people healthy early in life.

And everyone knows we can no longer afford to go down the path we are on. As Barack Obama says, our long-term federal deficit challenge is entirely composed of the projected soaring price of health care. Get health care costs under control and we have no problem. Fail to get them under control and the federal government, state governments, businesses and families will all go broke. Already, health care disasters are the leading cause of family bankruptcy in America, and central to the bankruptcy of GM and Chrysler.

The course forward is clear. Provide health care for all. Regulate insurance companies so that they don't waste billions trying to avoid insuring anyone who might get sick. Provide a public option -- like Medicare -- to hold down prices. This will cost a lot of money in the first years -- $1 trillion to $2 trillion over 10 years -- with massive returns in the out years, as costs get under control.

But of course, the insurance and drug company lobby wants to cripple reform. They offer vague promises to lower the rate of cost increases. They warn that a public option might be too attractive to compete with.

The public isn't buying this. The public option has overwhelming support-- even among Republican voters. Polls show Americans understand major changes are needed, and are even willing to pay more in taxes if necessary to cover everyone.

Democrats have the votes to get this done without having to worry about Republican obstruction. But that requires the conservative "Blue Dog" Democrats to support the president and the program. Thus far they've done everything they can to sabotage reform. Led by Evan Bayh, a bunch tried to deny the president a majority vote on his program, empowering the opposition. Led by Kent Conrad and Max Baucus, they've tried to gut the public option -- suggesting local cooperatives or state plans, both of which wouldn't do much to hold down costs.

Why? Their voters support reform. Supposedly concerned about deficits, they know the public option will help hold down costs. They can't really be against government-provided choice. After all that's the insurance they all enjoy. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that they are listening to their donors, to the well-financed industry lobbies.

That's not surprising. Senators have to raise millions for their campaigns, and deep-pocket lobbies speak loudly. But this isn't a normal time or a normal issue. We can't afford not to make major reforms. The president of their own party has risen to the challenge. The majority of their party and the public support him. It is a matter of will. Will a handful of willful senators stand in the way of a reform vital to this country's future? Or will Americans in their states let them know that it is crunch time and time to step up? We will find out over the next few weeks.