What's the purpose of insisting the public option is dead?

Is there a bizarre wish at play, a self-fulfilling prophecy? Why are some people admantly stating that the public option is dead when it has strong support?

and I hope they fail---miserably!

People in general are not stupid, and the Internet cannot be stopped, no matter how much the corporations and the fascists would like otherwise.

Perhaps they've bought into the media campaign designed to make people think it's dead, perhaps their purposes in insisting it's dead are not on the up-and-up.

We have a long fight ahead of us - public option is far from dead. Dare I hope for an expansion of Medicare for all? ;-)

pressure Congress to support it. That would make it easier for the Repubs and Blue Dogs to vote against it.

They just won't happen (at least not in any meaningful way) in this country, at this time, with this political system.

Kennedy's bill is meaningful. Now why are you insisting that his bill will not pass when it has strong support?

I'll be ecstatic if America gets meaningful health care reform. The side with the most money hasn't lost a fight in Washington since before either of us was born, but I suppose it could happen. Let's knock on wood and remember that, whether we believe it will pass or not, we both are *in favor* of real health care reform.

i haven't seen anyone say that. the reich wing acts like single-payer isn't even dead. they're still screaming about the pathetic, public-option bogeyman.

If they convince enough Dems that they should not fight for it, they will be winning this one without a fight.

This is why you need to call every single Dems and tell them that people want it and that it is essential, even if they are the strongest supporters of the public option. They need to know that the movement is still strong and that people CARE.

Lobbyists spend millions on pols and millions more on media to create conventional wisdom. Their aim is make it a mantra that the Public Option is dead.

You have a point in that we will only know the answer in the next few weeks.

because it's viewed as unfair competition to the insurance industry. It is designed to drive them out of business.

The only thing that has a chance is single payer. "Medicare for all." People can understand that. But for single payer to have a chance, a much larger number of people will have to become desperate re healthcare, and the wars will have to be shut down so we can fund it. Until then, forget it.

Because it will not drive them out of business? Oh brother.

but it's the slogan "medicare for all" that will win the day. It's a talking point the average person can understand. They can't understand "public option" or the fact that the government will compete with the private sector. "Medicare for all" is something they can understand. It's just a matter of perception.

Still, even single payer is not possible until there's more desperation re healthcare, the wars are stopped so there's arguably a funding source, there's campaign reform so the healthcare industry doesn't control Congress, and the budget deficit falls to a reasonable level. That's why I'm thinking single payer is not possible in the foreseeable future.

The RW will roll over? Really?

Some might. They understand medicare. The rabid right won't roll over for anything, anymore than the Republicans in Congress will support anything constructive, because they are obstructionists.

But a certain segment of the middle and maybe even the right might support "medicare for all." Even then, I admit it's a longshot.

What Congress is wrestling with is a $1.5 trillion deficit, and the fact that we're in a depression and Congress doesn't want to put hundreds of thousands of insurance industry employees out of work in that environment, and potentially send the economy into a steeper tailspin. That's how I read what Obama is saying. This bad economy really limits the options.

it's called a cover story. msm has been squawking day and night about how tough the negotiations are, and how the details of one senate committee's plan are going to scuttle the whole thing. they know very well that it is bullshit. or at least i hope they do, since it is. but they can't just kill something that is so wildly popular without some sort of explanation. and "they said so on the teevee all along" seems to be all the cover one needs for the crimes of the elite.

Let one goddamned senator or congressman vote against that!

Edited for correction.

name on it! They have a nest of vipers as their constituents as well. So don't be so sure...

Obama has not been in office long enough to turn pessimistic views into optimistic views.

It is part of the FUD campaign they are running against it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear,_uncertainty_and_doubt

Get us at each other's throats, get us to turn on and attack Obama (which is easy around here even with minimal prompting). Some people here seem to be solidly convinced that he has already caved in on the PO because of the Pubs and is poised to sign off on a private insurer giveaway bonanza.

the media Tweety,Geraldo,and others I have seen keep saying it as though we asked there opinion on the matter their job is to get to the heart of the matter/plan and stop giving us their opinions because frankly we don't give a damn!

DO YOUR DAMN JOB MEDIA! These so called reporters/commentators keep placing themselves in the discussion as though we care. I have been getting tired of hearing this shit as though they are telling us.

The wingnuts are right because they scream more or bring crazy signs and this shit about comparing what happened in the 90's to what is going on now is bullshit! We are not the same and the times are not the same...