I'm going to change my alarm to that annoying, high-pitched beep, or find a music-only station.

[LWolf]

I'm tired of waking up at 4:30 am to NPR only to hear Obama uttering yet another outrage. Earlier this week, he was applauding the union-busting tactics employed to fire an entire high school staff. Not a way to start a good day.

This morning they were replaying this:

Whether people oppose or support the comprehensive health care plan, Obama said, the time for talk should be over.

"Every idea has been put on the table," Obama said. "Every argument has been made. Everything there is to say about health care has been said and just about everyone has said it."

The "long and wrenching debate" over the sensitive topic of health care should not be decided on sheer political decisions, Obama said.

"We can't just give up because the politics are hard," Obama said.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2010/03/obama-and-health-care-wants-an-up-or-down-vote-in-the-next-few-weeks/1

Really? Really?

On Tuesday, eight courageous activists stood up to Sen. Max Baucus and demanded that single-payer national health insurance be considered. The confrontation, which drew police to the chamber, occurred during a roundtable discussion on health reform held by the Senate Finance Committee, which Baucus chairs. This was one of the few times that single-payer has been covered in the mainstream press, and it’s shameful it took something as dramatic as the arrest of physicians and other activists to make it newsworthy.

Baucus has taken the lead on shaping health reform legislation in the Senate this year, in part due to Sen. Ted Kennedy’s ailing health, and he is arguably the most powerful Democrat in Congress on this issue. After the activists were removed by the Capitol Police, Baucus made a brief statement in which he said that “everybody in the Congress deeply deeply respects the views of all members of the audience, and all Americans who feel deeply about health care reform, especially those who are worried about a single-payer system or public option who really do fervently believe that is the proper result.”

However, from the beginning Baucus has declared single-payer “off the table” and he has refused to allow even one single-payer supporter to testify before the Senate Finance Committee, even as the chief lobbyist for the private insurance industry and trade organizations that oppose fundamental reform made repeat appearances. The incongruity of Baucus’ recent statement and his actions over the past year are almost Orwellian — he will consider all opinions on health reform, except for single-payer, which, by the way, he deeply respects. The final roundtable discussion on health reform takes place next week, on May 12, and once again, no supporters of single-payer have been invited to participate.

http://citizenvox.org/2009/05/08/all-health-reform-created-equal-except-single-payer/

So much for "everything has been said and everyone has said it."

"Can't just give up because the politics are hard?" You can't give up on something you never even gave a chance, even though a majority of the nation's voters support it, because "the politics are too hard."

What's too hard for Obama and too many Democrats in Congress is doing something insurance corporations don't like. If it's not a "political decision" to craft a health INSURANCE reform bill to keep your corporate campaign donors happy, I don't know what is.

[Captain Hilts]

1. Except for those that support single payer. They weren't invited to talk. nt

[LWolf]

2. So why do no journalists call him on this? nt