Obama caves on "Public Option", Dems toast!!

Both Bloomberg and AP are reporting that Obama is ready to drop the public option. From AP: "Bowing to Republican pressure, President Barack Obama's administration signaled on Sunday it is ready to abandon the idea of giving Americans the option of government-run insurance as part of a new health care system."

I am probably one of the few hard righters to be unhappy about this as I would have liked to see a public option passed in some form.

It was not that long ago that the left was crowing about the end of the Republican party, how we were finished, blah, blah blah. That assessment may not have been too far off the mark...........until today.

We have a lefty Dem in the White House and veto proof Democratic majorities in the House and Senate and the Dems then go and bitch themselves out to the Republicans. The 'pubs are laughing their asses off at this very moment, and they should.

My question is, what carrot was used to get the public option dropped? Was it solely Republican pressure and armtwisting and threats or did some group offer the Dems a huge wad of cash to just forget about the public option, or, was it some combination of both?

For the Democratic party, the larger issue is what is a party's future that cannot even get pet legislation passed when they control the White House and Congress? The answer, of course, is the the Democrats now have no future. The Republicans will continue on, though a bit leaner than before, but for the Democrats, caving on the public option is the death knell of the party.

Though I won't be losing any sleep over the breakup of the Dems, I am saddened that they were not able to do something really necessary and constructive for the nation. I am also a bit disappointed at the stupidity of much of the American public. Does the average idiot who still has company provided health insurance think that the outfit they work for would not jump at the chance to save a grand a month plus per employee by not providing family health insurance? More and more folks will continue to lose their coverage.

No guts, no glory Dems. Rest in Peace.

Good nationalized health care? Yes, use dual currency.

Many conservatives are not relishing the possibility of socialized medicine. There is good cause for concern since most countries that have socialized medicine have problems with it. The main reason for this is that socialized medicine relies on tax revenue. A national health system IS expensive and in order to have a maintainable system costs must be kept to a minimum. Minimum cost=minimum care. Is there an alternative?

Yes, and the alternative is to nationalize health care and pay for it with a dual currency. Since we are using valueless fiat money now anyway, this system could work. Also, the private sector and the Government have accumulated significant assets, and this makes my system a bit more workable although we have printed enough money that we can't really back it with anything.

Here's the deal. You have two currencies, a private sector dollar and a government dollar. Codified, so that the rate of exchange is always 1:1. The Government nationalizes our health care system, puts doctors and nurses on a government wage scale based on current private sector salaries. The Government health care employees are paid in Government dollars which are exchanged 1:1 for private sector dollars. This precludes the use of tax money to fund the system.

In the private sector, the cost of a brick and mortar building is a liability, as is the medical equipment that's in it. (i.e. a private company has to charge enough to recoup their costs plus allow for entrepreneurial profit) In the Government's case the building and equipment become the asset that backs the government currency, so the government would have a vested interest in maintaining the buildings and constantly upgrading the equipment.

Dual currency would have other applicability as well. Let's say a city needed a new bridge. The City Government issues an RFP and awards the contract. The city pays the contractor in Government dollars which are exchangeable 1:1 for private sector dollars. The completed bridge then becomes the asset that helps back the Government currency. (rather than a tax liability)

In this manner, most taxes could be eliminated and there would be a great improvement in our infrastructure. Medical care would not suffer and business would no longer be burdened with skyrocketing health care costs. This is actually a workable plan, but things being what they are, I'm not getting my hopes up.