Bipartisanship Bullshit!

Barack Obama’s desire for “Bipartisanship” is so bizarre that I can’t get my mind around it. It is as if he has missed the last 9 years of governance in this country. He watered down his already watered down “Stimulus Package’ and got three votes in the Senate for his efforts. It strikes me that you can only do bipartisanship if there is a group that has some desire to be bipartisan. Now it seems to me that the Right, whether Rebubs or Blue Dogs, has no desire to make meaningful compromise other than to say “No!” So, why is he, and his Administration, so desirous of their imprimatur?

Take Health Care Reform, these are the same people who were opposed to Medicare and Medicaid and still are. Why would they change their stripes and want a “Public Option?” They were opposed to it in the 60’s and they are using the same talking points to be opposed to it now. Their argument that it is “Socialism” is no different now than it was then. Obama and his Administration may be truly DLC, and not interested in real reform, or completely stupid. Those are my two choices.

Prof. Krugman is much kinder than I am:

When it comes to domestic policy, there are two Barack Obamas.

On one side there’s Barack the Policy Wonk, whose command of the issues — and ability to explain those issues in plain English — is a joy to behold.

But on the other side there’s Barack the Post-Partisan, who searches for common ground where none exists, and whose negotiations with himself lead to policies that are far too weak.

Both Baracks were on display in the president’s press conference earlier this week. First, Mr. Obama offered a crystal-clear explanation of the case for health care reform, and especially of the case for a public option competing with private insurers. “If private insurers say that the marketplace provides the best quality health care, if they tell us that they’re offering a good deal,” he asked, “then why is it that the government, which they say can’t run anything, suddenly is going to drive them out of business? That’s not logical.”

But when asked whether the public option was non-negotiable he waffled, declaring that there are no “lines in the sand.” That evening, Rahm Emanuel met with Democratic senators and told them — well, it’s not clear what he said. Initial reports had him declaring willingness to abandon the public option, but Senator Kent Conrad’s staff later denied that. Still, the impression everyone got was of a White House all too eager to make concessions.

The big question here is whether health care is about to go the way of the stimulus bill.

So the question before the “O” man is whether or not he has the Stones to get this job done right. Because without a strong “Public Option” there is no Health Care Reform not even a Band-aid. So you either vote with the American Public or with the Medical Healthcare Industrial Complex. It is just that simple. Of course Single Payer would have made the dialogue so different.

Medicare for all!

Update: Here is Robert Reich on the Journal to explain how the whole process works. It is not a pretty picture of our “democracy” and how it works. Follow the link.