Are Democrats pulling a Jedi mind trick on Health Care Reform?

[yurbud]

Are they about to dramatically improve and pass what so far has looked like a deeply flawed and corrupt bill by adding a strong public option or Medicare buy in?

Think about it: only an idiot would really think the Republicans would support real health care reform that took money out of the pockets of insurance companies, and if the debate started with single payer, a public option, or opening medicare to all, enough Blue Dogs and DLCers would have joined the GOP to sustain a filibuster and kill the bill. Likewise, the media would not have been kind to such a bill and would have parroted the GOP talking points about the evils of socialism.

So what do you do? Get over the initial hurdles with a bill that is nearly identical to one signed into law by a Republican governor. Republicans will protest it anyway, but swing voters might notice their hypocrisy, which would limit the effectiveness of GOP protests.

Once the bill got past the procedural hurdles to the point that it could be done with reconciliation, it still does no good to telegraph the punch, but it does help to get the public to visibly ''twist their arms'' with ever growing demands for a public option.

Then if they substitute a strong public option, Medicare buy in, or hell, even single payer at the last second, the protests of the right and their parrots in the media won't matter. The public will get it, and thank the Democrats for it at the polls in November.

It would have a side benefit as far as all the money insurance companies threw at Democrats to sway their vote. The Democrats would get to keep that money, and what could the insurance companies say? That they expected a quid pro quo? A second benefit would be that Democrats could honestly say their vote on this could not be bought in spite of all the money that was showered on them and it could reset the relationship between pols and lobbyists.

This scenario would require a lot of coordination and discipline, which the Democrats as a party rarely demonstrated apart from voting for the worst excrement of the Bush administration, and maybe the current talk of a public option is just shining us on until they pass a corporate give away--but maybe, just maybe, these aren't the droids you're looking for.

Move along.

Move along.

[drm604]

1. Shhh...

:hide:

[WillyT]

2. We Should Be So Lucky To Be That Clever

:shrug:

[tridim]

3. I don't know, but I just got goosebumps.

[leftstreet]

4. The trick they pulled was convincing us Repubs had any power after Nov

A dead party.

Revived by the Democrats and M$M just in time to shaft us on healthcare

:puke:

[Meeker Morgan]

5. It's not the Republicans who are getting Jedi mind tricked ...

... when you call this bill "health care reform".

[kath]

8. Exactly, Healh care reform it AIN'T.

[Change Happens]

6. Please see this thread I just started....?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x223788

[Edweird]

7. It would be cool, but looking at the big picture kills any optimism.

[laughingliberal]

9. If I saw and act of courage like that, I'd do sommersaults on the 11th dimension

chess board and hand over our food money for a week to whoever made it happen. I do not expect it but it would be brilliant-too late for the industry to mount a multibillion dollar ad campaign to defeat it. By the time it's a done deal, they can rant on the airways all they want. The public will show their apprectiation in November. It would marginalize the Republican party for 20 years.

Keep calling!

[yurbud]

10. me too.

[deutsey]

11. That would be great, but the reality seems like the same old shell game to me n/t

[Javaman]

12. There are no mind tricks, 23 level chess games, old switch aroos, nor clever tactics.

I'm tired of the comic book type hopes of ridiculous scenarios that will have the sun rise twice on the same day.

big pharma and the health insurance corps see to that via massive donations and control of the congress people.

we live, sadly, in reality, were there are no John Does, no more "champions of the people".

We live with the hard facts of special interests, corporate bribery, special backroom deals and complete stagnation for the sake of making sure the congress people don't miss out on any free-bees.

The days of hollywood type 11th hour save that makes anytown america hopeful again are either made up from whole fabric or never existed.

If you just look back over the year we have had, don't you honestly think that, if there was some sort of magical thing that could be done to save a public option, single payer, buy into medicare, etc, etc, that it would have been done by now?

It's politics. It's rhetoric. It's the reality that we as americans have to learn to deal with in the new landscape of corporate ownership of our congress. This is the way it is.

Once you embrace that, then and only then can an honest plan of action can be exacted to defeat the political sycophants.

But alas, myself, as many other americans, have been beaten down so far and now view our government as nothing more than corporate sock puppets, that we just don't have the energy anymore.

I'm middle aged and cranky, perhaps, some young folks with the will to change regardless of the odds will take up the cause. I will support them if they do.

[deutsey]

13. Well said, unfortunately

It captures how I feel (right down to the "middle age and cranky" part).

[yurbud]

14. if that turns out to be the case, the next thing to do is starve the corporate beast

Figure out how to stop using what they sell, and start with banks.