Rick Sanchez said: "The Public Option is a conservative idea."

I agree, it is more cost effective than the Baucas bill if it is a real Public Option.

It allows the insurance criminal industry to remain in existence and allows competition.

Of course corporatism is not really conservative, and true "free enterprise" no longer exists when "too big to fail" Goliaths dominate most industries.

Republicans have not been conservative since Eisenhower.

On the otherhand, mandated and subsidized insurance is a corporatist idea. So there is a little something here for everyone.

but money for a few. They are the corporatist/monopoly party.

is a good name for them.

"Characterized by reaction, especially opposition to progress or liberalism; extremely conservative"

and it pisses them off to no end.

Well put! Profit maximization is antithetical to the provision of health care.

would be against 'foreign entanglements'.

The main points of neo-liberalism include:

THE RULE OF THE MARKET. Liberating "free" enterprise or private enterprise from any bonds imposed by the government (the state) no matter how much social damage this causes. Greater openness to international trade and investment, as in NAFTA. Reduce wages by de-unionizing workers and eliminating workers' rights that had been won over many years of struggle. No more price controls. All in all, total freedom of movement for capital, goods and services. To convince us this is good for us, they say "an unregulated market is the best way to increase economic growth, which will ultimately benefit everyone." It's like Reagan's "supply-side" and "trickle-down" economics -- but somehow the wealth didn't trickle down very much.

CUTTING PUBLIC EXPENDITURE FOR SOCIAL SERVICES like education and health care. REDUCING THE SAFETY-NET FOR THE POOR, and even maintenance of roads, bridges, water supply -- again in the name of reducing government's role. Of course, they don't oppose government subsidies and tax benefits for business.

DEREGULATION. Reduce government regulation of everything that could diminsh profits, including protecting the environmentand safety on the job.

PRIVATIZATION. Sell state-owned enterprises, goods and services to private investors. This includes banks, key industries, railroads, toll highways, electricity, schools, hospitals and even fresh water. Although usually done in the name of greater efficiency, which is often needed, privatization has mainly had the effect of concentrating wealth even more in a few hands and making the public pay even more for its needs.

ELIMINATING THE CONCEPT OF "THE PUBLIC GOOD" or "COMMUNITY" and replacing it with "individual responsibility." Pressuring the poorest people in a society to find solutions to their lack of health care, education and social security all by themselves -- then blaming them, if they fail, as "lazy."

http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=376


All this will explain why we will end up with a public option that will be destroyed in the marketplace when it is forced to compete with private for profit giants who will continue to make money denying care and dumping the sicker people into the public option/medicare, despite whatever weak regulations are proposed.

A real public option would be medicare for all who chose it phased in over 3-5 years beginning the day after reform is passed. Real regulation to strengthen the public option would be prohibiting the ins. companies from competing with the basic, comprehensive plan the public option offers which for profit ins. companies are also required to offer to everyone. Insurance companies compete in the add-on luxury/frills market.

They support corporate controlled government and corporations hate competition. They want a monopoly.