Why are liberals and Democrats losing on issues like healthcare? Columnist E.J. Dionne (Washington Post, 2/18/10) rightly points out that congressional Democrats have caved on almost every big issue: “Single-payer was out at the start. The public option died. A Medicare buy-in died.” He wonders:
While liberals were arguing about public plans and this or that, and while Obama was deep into inside deal-making, the conservatives relentlessly made a straightforward public case based on a syllogism: The economy is a mess. Obama and the Democrats are for big government. Big government is responsible for the mess. Therefore the mess is the fault of Obama and the Big Government Democrats.
Simplistic and misleading? Absolutely. But if liberals and Obama are so smart, how did they–or, if you prefer, “we”–allow conservatives to make this argument so effectively? Why do the mainstream media give it so much credence?
That last question is really the answer. Conservative misinformation is effective when the media allow it to be effective. It’s a pretty easy formula. The best part is that the right can take up all that space in the media debate and still complain about the media’s liberal bias.
Congress gave up on SinglePayer even when the electorate wanted it. That’s not because the media persuaded the people and the people directed our representatives in Congress. Rather, it’s because congress is more responsive to corporate donations than to the public will.
The influence of corporate-owned media is real and malign, but you can’t logically blame it for this one.
Well, there’s something beyond that, isn’t it?
Dionne asks, “[H]ow did they–or, if you prefer, “we”–allow conservatives to make this argument so effectively?”
That could be asked of every issue of import, couldn’t it? And it’s not the entire story, but I think the overriding reason is that the Republicans can feed into the narrative they’ve created, with able corpress assistance, whereas to effectively counter those lies, the Demorats (no misspelling) would have to go against that narrative.
And since they’re part and parcel of the system, they ain’t studyin’ ya, as my momma might say.
Obviously, there are plenty of persuasive counters to these lies, and they’ve been delineated here and many other places – but they don’t come from the Demoratic hierarchy, do they?
To do so would be to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs for them, and dumps birdshit on the rest of us.
Dionne and Hart both miss the main point, which is, Democrats do not have a majority within their own party to pass health CARE reform. They, too, are greased with Wall Street money and the media’s noses, MSNBC to Fox News, are pointed toward the common wisdom of think tanks and PR pundits and general cynicism of the Beltway.
Now that we hear “the public option” is back on the table, perhaps, does anyone have a clue just what the newly-minted public option entails?
It’s nice to see some Dem senators sign that letter to Reid. I think that most of them, like Specter (the newest signatory), are doing it for “primary” (as in voting season) reasons. If they would only get it through their heads that a strong public option (I would prefer Medicare for All) is very popular and would help them electorally. However, their reality is facing legalized bribary–some would say free speech–every day, and having to devote so much time to raising campaign money. I would bet, as Thom Hartmann has theorized, that they face lobbyists who tell the senators that not only will the fat cats cut off all that cash to public-option senators, the lobbyists will shovel it toward building up the repug opponents in the Fall and toward demonizing anybody who pushes for any kind of public option. We need to get the big money outta the system. That said, I would be shocked but pleased if we got a strong public option. I don’t see any way to keep Greedy Big Insurance in check without some competition. We really don’t even need to have that disgusting industry. It is nothing but a big leech on our future, our health, and our economy.
Here is the main reason why we Dems are losing on issues like health care (even though polls, not so long ago, surverys showed Democrats polling very well on the health care issue).
Lack of enthusiastic, in your face leadership ! I really think that Reid and Pelosi could not sell a glass of ice water to a thirsty Arab in the Sahara desert. In August.
Why doesn’t Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid appear on Meet The Press more frequently ?
Newt Gingrich was the most frequent guest on Meet The Press during the last six months. The Democrats MUST get out there in front of those TV cameras and on radio talk shows and start explaining why their health care bills are so vitally necessary and why people must elect Democrats in November. The Democratic leadership in Congress MUST appear on any and every talk show that will have them and explain and defend, explain and defend, explain and defend ….. even to the point of media saturation, that their health care bills, now pending are absolutely important. Congressional Democrats have allowed the Republicans to frame this vital effort as a big government takeover of the health care industry which, of course, it is not. Private industry will still be in charge and making billions of dollars, even if Congress passes one of the present bills, using reconciliation. But Republicans will stop at nothing, including outright lies, to prevent Obama from achieving universal (or close to universal) health care coverage in the U.S.
They don’t want the Democrats to have ANY successes to brag about this November.
Conservatives have an aversion to government regulations, a hatred of it that borders on the pathological. Much of it comes from a deep seated phobia of taxes and a hatred of the government for pushing anything that conservatives don’t like (such as civil rights in the 60’s, laws against torturing suspected terrorists and gay rights.
Surveys of Massachusetts voters showed a high degree of ignorance and mistrust about exactly how the Democratic health care bills which have already passed the House and Senate will affect the people who already HAVE medical coverage.
Also, Democratic leaders must VIGOROUSLY defend the stimulus bill. They must show how it has helped specific people, using actual people as examples and showing how the money saved or created the jobs of those individuals.
When are the Democrats going to start doing that ?
It needs to be done IMMEDIATELY. Time flies very fast.
The November election is getting nearer by the minute. Further delays in the convincing of centrist voters to support Democratic Congressional initiatives will only help the Republicans this fall. Personally, I think that Reid and Pelosi have been terrible when it comes to selling the Democratic agenda to the voters.
Those two couldn’t sell a glass of ice water to a thirsty Arab in the Sahara desert in August.
I feel like yelling the following at every Democrat in Congress. Defend yourselves ! And do it frequently! Enthusiastically! In front of TV cameras. Democrats must take apart every single Republican talking point, one by one. It is not enough for Democrats to simply defend themselves. They must attack Republicans for their do nothing agenda. In politics, as in some sports, frequently the best defense is an offense. The Republican heartlessness concerning getting EVERY American covered with health insurance needs to be stressed. The Republican’s are using the Chicken Little …. â┚¬Ã…“The Sky is Falling” tactic in attempting to scare Americans into doing nothing about some very important crises we face, (like millions of fellow citizens without health insurance) The GOP distracts from that by by focusing on the deficit and national debt. We need a national sales tax to help pay down the national debt.
Many countries, Great Britain for example, have such a tax. The problem is, the Democrats have not yet found the courage to propose and push for such a tax. Yet it a concrete solution to paying off the national debt. (Sorry conservatives, but simply cutting back on spending alone won’t solve this problem any time soon). Even if the GOP takes control of Congress, it will still be many years before the national debt is paid off unless there is a “broad-based tax” (such as a national sales tax) to get the debt paid down.
And we can FORGET about Republicans proposing such a tax. Because to them, the very word â┚¬Ã…“taxâ┚¬Ã‚ is equivalent to the word scum, at least to most of them. But taxes are the dues we pay for having the privilege of living in a society where basic human needs are provided to folks, no matter how poor a person is. Like a free public elementary and high school education, for example. Is health care any LESS of a necessity than education. I would argue that it is even more of a necessity. So why isn’t health care a birthright guaranteed to EVERY American, the way it is a birthright guaranteed to every British citizen and every Canadian citizen.
And how is it that those countries manage to cover ALL of their citizens and yet they devote a smaller percentage of their GDP to health care than us ?
Liberals are not losing on health care. In fact, the liberal position (for the public option) is gaining support, if anything. The losers are the “moderates”, or as Doug Latimer calls them. “Demorats,” who have produced an incomprehensible mish-mash of a bill watered down so as to be inoffensive to the health care industry.
But the health care industry is precisely the problem. The reason why the public, including many likely Republican voters, remains so stubbornly loyal to the public option in the version Obama outlined during his campaign is precisely the opportunity to tell their health insurance company to take their coverage and shove it. Everyone who has been denied, bullied, kept on hold, and been given a bureaucratic runaround by a health insurance company wants an outlet to express their anger. And due to the economic downturn, many more people have lost their jobs, and with them, their coverage.
This fight is not over. Not by a long shot. And single-payer coverage, Medicare for all, looks better every day.
A question: Can a senator or congressperson force the networks to put them on their shows? Gingrich seems to be a staple–& he’s no longer a congressman–while democratic solons watch from the sidelines.