Hoosier Democrat

Lugar wants Health Care delay: Uninsured can't wait

Sen Richard Lugar has tried to sound a "reasoned" approach of delaying the health care debate for a full year while Congress deals with the issues of the budge and Afghanistan.  It's disappointing to see such a distinguished senator taking such a devious approach to supporting the far right opposition to health care.

A year's delay in health care reform means another year without medical care for the uninsured, another year without coverage for those with pre-existing conditions; another year of insuance employees who receive bonuses based on denying claims, denying coverage (and therefore treatment) to those who believe they have health insurance;  another year of bankruptcies for tens of thousands due to medical bills, including those who think they have plenty of insurance.

Sen. Lugar knows full well that a delay on health care reform will throw it into the 2010 election cycle, and possibly past the election cycle when Republicans hope they can gain just a single seat to scuttle health care reform.   His plea is nothing more than throwing his hat with those who want to do anything to stop health care reform, but to put a more "reasoned" face on his opposition.

But delay is death to health reform.  The AMA is now on board supporting health care reform.  So is the AARP.  Millions of Americans cannot wait for another year.  And they certainly cannot wait for delay which would effectively kill reform perhaps for another decade.

And the same message needs to be delivered clearly to Indiana's other senator.  Evan Bayh needs to go firmly on the record in support of health care reform.  NOW.

GOP at the Crossroads: Club or Party

The seminal blues legend is that Robert Johnson learned to play the Blues by selling his soul to the devil at midnight at the Crossroads -- the intersection of Highway 49 and Highway 61 in Clarksdale, Mississippi.  If you go to Clarksdale today, there is a big guitar-shaped sign at that intersection.

The next year will show whether the GOP has made a similar deal with the Devil for the support of the Palin-Limbaugh-Santorum ultra right wing.  New York 23, with the ultra conservatives dumping the party nominee in favor of a Conservative Party candidate, may be just a sample of what is to come.

Michael Steel, GOP National Chair, announced that Tuesday's election results in the gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey were a sign that the GOP was back.  But he ignored the results in NY 23, and the tell-tale signs of splintering between the traditional GOP stalwarts like Linsey Graham and even Newt Gringrich, and the "rogues" lead by Palin, Michelle Bachman, Glen Beck and their ilk.

The battle in 2010 will not be so much between Republicans and Dems, but between Republicans themselves.  The California GOP Senate nomination will be one of the big battlegrounds where ultra-conservatives already have their sights set on defeating former Hewlett Packard Chair Carly Fiorini, a  conservative but practical businesswoman whom they view as too liberal.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, whom no one but the far right would label as liberal, pointedly said “To those people who are pursuing purity, you’ll become a club not a party.”  For article CLICK HERE

So it's nearing midnight.  Palin, Limbaugh, Bachman, Beck and Fox News are all standing at that Crossroads.  The BIG political issue for 2010 is whether they will make that deal, and by doing so turn the GOP from a Party into a Club.

It Was Almost Obama - Bayh, Campaign Manager's Book Discloses

Obama - Bayh --  The ticket that almost was. 

The new book, The Audacity to Win by Obama campaign manager David Plouffe reveals that it was a coin-toss between Joe Biden and Evan Bayh for the VP slot on the Obama election ticket.

For political junkies, the disclosure about the VP selection process is fascinating.  Barack Obama considered Hilary Clinton much more seriously than his advisors anticipated.  But in the end, the President-to-be determined that there would always be a third person -- Bill Clinton -- in the relationship, and t Hilary was dropped from the final list.

The final 3 were Biden, Bayh and Virginia governor Tim Kaine.  After final interviews by David Axlerod and Plouffe, their conclusion was that Kaine simply was too inexperienced, and that adding him to Obama's relative lack of experience would "make it twice as ough for us to roll this boulder uphill."

Biden was viewed as having a stronger upside, but also likely to cause issues with his undisciplined talk-to-much style.  Bayh on the other hand was "substantively close to perfect."  They viewed Bayh as having less upside but also very little downside.

After hearing the report from Axlerod and Plouffe, Obama said "It's a coin toss now between Bayh and Biden."  But as we all now know, the coin toss went for Biden. The fact that Obama would select Biden over the "safer" choice of Bayh is an interesting insight into the President's decision making process.

I've only read the excerpt in Time, but if you have an interest in politics or the Obama campaign, this new book,The Audacity to Win, looks like a must read.