Blue Double Cross
By PAUL KRUGMAN
NY Times Op-Ed: May 21, 2009
That didn't take long. Less than two weeks have passed since much of the
medical-industrial complex made a big show of working with President Obama
on health care reform - and the double-crossing is already well under way.
Indeed, it's now clear that even as they met with the president, pretending
to be cooperative, insurers were gearing up to play the same destructive
role they did the last time health reform was on the agenda.
So here's the question: Will Mr. Obama gloss over the reality of what's
happening, and try to preserve the appearance of cooperation? Or will he
honor his own pledge, made back during the campaign, to go on the offensive
against special interests if they stand in the way of reform?
The story so far: on May 11 the White House called a news conference to
announce that major players in health care, including the American Hospital
Association and the lobbying group America's Health Insurance Plans, had
come together to support a national effort to control health care costs.
The fact sheet on the meeting, one has to say, was classic Obama in its
message of post-partisanship and, um, hope. "For too long, politics and
point-scoring have prevented our country from tackling this growing crisis,"
it said, adding, "The American people are eager to put the old Washington
ways behind them."
But just three days later the hospital association insisted that it had not,
in fact, promised what the president said it had promised - that it had made
no commitment to the administration's goal of reducing the rate at which
health care costs are rising by 1.5 percentage points a year. And the head
of the insurance lobby said that the idea was merely to "ramp up" savings,
whatever that means.
Meanwhile, the insurance industry is busily lobbying Congress to block one
crucial element of health care reform, the public option - that is, offering
Americans the right to buy insurance directly from the government as well as
from private insurance companies. And at least some insurers are gearing up
for a major smear campaign.
On Monday, just a week after the White House photo-op, The Washington Post
reported that Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina was preparing to run
a series of ads attacking the public option. The planning for this ad
campaign must have begun quite some time ago.
The Post has the storyboards for the ads, and they read just like the
infamous Harry and Louise ads that helped kill health care reform in 1993.
Troubled Americans are shown being denied their choice of doctor, or forced
to wait months for appointments, by faceless government bureaucrats. It's a
scary image that might make some sense if private health insurance - which
these days comes primarily via HMOs - offered all of us free choice of
doctors, with no wait for medical procedures. But my health plan isn't like
that. Is yours?
"We can do a lot better than a government-run health care system," says a
voice-over in one of the ads. To which the obvious response is, if that's
true, why don't you? Why deny Americans the chance to reject government
insurance if it's really that bad?
For none of the reform proposals currently on the table would force people
into a government-run insurance plan. At most they would offer Americans the
choice of buying into such a plan.
And the goal of the insurers is to deny Americans that choice. They fear
that many people would prefer a government plan to dealing with private
insurance companies that, in the real world as opposed to the world of their
ads, are more bureaucratic than any government agency, routinely deny
clients their choice of doctor, and often refuse to pay for care.
Which brings us back to Mr. Obama.
Back during the Democratic primary campaign, Mr. Obama argued that the
Clintons had failed in their 1993 attempt to reform health care because they
had been insufficiently inclusive. He promised instead to gather all the
stakeholders, including the insurance companies, around a "big table." And
that May 11 event was, of course, intended precisely to show this big-table
strategy in action.
But what if interest groups showed up at the big table, then blocked reform?
Back then, Mr. Obama assured voters that he would get tough: "If those
insurance companies and drug companies start trying to run ads with Harry
and Louise, I'll run my own ads as president. I'll get on television and say
'Harry and Louise are lying.' "
The question now is whether he really meant it.
The medical-industrial complex has called the president's bluff. It polished
its image by showing up at the big table and promising cooperation, then
promptly went back to doing all it can to block real change. The insurers
and the drug companies are, in effect, betting that Mr. Obama will be afraid
to call them out on their duplicity.
It's up to Mr. Obama to prove them wrong.
***
From: Robert Bernstein
Hi,
Did you hear that the deeply disappointing news that the California Supreme
Court upheld Prop 8, enshrining discrimination into the state constitution?
In response, the Courage Campaign just released a 60-second TV ad version of
"Fidelity" -- the heartbreaking online video viewed by more than 1.2 million
people, making it the most-watched video ever in the history of California
politics.
Check out the new "Fidelity" TV ad and join me in signing the pledge to
repeal Prop 8 by building a marriage equality army one million strong:
http://www.couragecampaign.org/1Million
If you like the TV ad as much as I did, please tell your friends by
forwarding this message to them ASAP.
Thanks!
***
"Steal a Pencil for Me,"
Tonight's film describes the lives of a couple who met in a Nazi
concentration camp. Learn more at www.stealapencil.com. -Ed
From: Margrit Polack
On PBS Tonight (in So. Cal. KCET Channel 28)
Independent Lens: Steal a Pencil for Me
Tuesday, May 26, 10:00pm
"Steal a Pencil for Me," about a WWII romance.
IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET, THE DOCUMENTARY ABOUT MY MOM AND DAD will be on
Public Television Tonight!!!!
Independent Lens, the PBS documentary series, will air STEAL A PENCIL FOR
ME, in most markets, on May 26th. See the link below for your local listing.
The film has been shortened to one hour (from 94 minutes) for PBS but for
those of you that haven't seen it, please take this opportunity to either
set your TEVO or sit and watch. This film has been a completely wonderful
experience for my parents, now 96 and 86. They are enjoying far more than 15
minutes of fame, and my friend. Oscar Nominee Michele Ohayon , who directed
the film, did a truly extraordinary job. Please tell your friends..
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/stealapencilforme/
If you would like to learn more about the film, check out their website at
www.stealapencil.com.
***
----- Original Message -----
From: pdlavote@aol.com
President Obama at the Beverly Hilton
Wednesday, May 27th, 3:30--5:30 PM
President Obama will make an appearance in Los Angeles at the Beverly
Hilton Hotel. Join CODEPINK to deliver him our message that we are not
happy about his policies on Afghanistan! Meet us on the corner of Wilshire
and Whittier and bring your signs expressing your concerns about his
policies towards Afghanistan and Pakistan.
For more info and to RSVP, please contact Audrey.
PDLA mailing list
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