RETREATING FROM THE RETREAT

Wow. Not even 24 hours after leading democrats backed away from the public option, suddenly it is creeping back onto the table. Sounds like they are being pressured by their far-left base. I haven't seen so many flip-flops since my last trip to the beach!

I'm not surprised, though. The public option is the entire reason d'etre for the health care reform package. The whole point is to get to a single-payer program, according to statements Obama has made in the past, and that can only be accomplished with a public option. They are getting backlash from their base, though, and so are walking back from their walking back.

Something to be wary of - they are testing the waters on a 'co-op' plan. I mentioned it in my last post. It might be a good idea, but it might possibly be a public option in disguise. I will be keeping tabs on it, for sure.

Remember, the democrats are masters of 'rebranding'. Single-payer raised alarm bells? Call it a 'public option'. Wise to the public option thing? Call it a co-op. Sounds very collectivist and trendy, doesn't it? So harmless, so...for the people.

We must continue to bring pressure to bear on them about their plans to steer us into their ultimate goal of single payer health care. We must be ever more vigilant, because our opponents are slippery and have a habit of changing the rules to suit their purposes. In the bizzarro world of the liberal elites, up is down, good is bad, wrong is right. Words are things to be manipulated, meanings changed, definitions redefined.

According to the House, only the Senate has removed the public option - the word is that the House bill won't pass without it. So was the Senate walk-back a red herring? Testing the waters to see what the base's backlash will be like?

Or is it just that the level of tone-deafness on the part of the House, and most notably Speaker Pelosi, is so high that they still think the push-back on public option is mere astroturf by a minority of insurance industry funded 'fringe' groups?

Perhaps they simply don't care what the majority of the public wants. Perhaps she is so drunk with power that she feels she doesn't need to pay attention to the obvious mandate by the people against it. Interesting how, back in November, a 53%-46% vote was depicted as an 'overwhelming mandate from the people', but 54% of voters polled recently who would prefer NO health care reform over the 35% who want reform is nothing to pay attention to.

Talk about selective hearing!

It's time to start telling them what we WANT, not just what we don't want. Scrap the bills. Tort reform. Streamline Medicaid/Medicare. Regulate insurers and require them to allow portability, access without employment and eliminate pre-existing conditions.

We're making progress, without a doubt. Every attack they've made against us has backfired on them. We must press our advantage, not sit back on our laurels. This isn't just health care that we are fighting for - it's 1/6th of the largest economy in the history of the world. Remember what Thomas Jefferson said:

"A government that is big enough to give you everything you want is strong enough to take everything you have."

Remember, too, the nine scariest words in the English language, according to Ronald Reagan:

"I'm from the government and I'm here to help."

SCORE ONE FOR DEMOCRACY!

Congratulations, people of America! You just scored a major victory, proving that democracy is alive and well in our beloved Republic. The administration is doing two things, due to pressure from the American people:

1) The public option seems to be off the table. The free market is sighing in relief, I'm sure. Instead, they are eyeing co-ops, which will be examined more in-depth as the week goes on. This is a HUGE win, absolutely huge. The fight isn't over yet, though, because it still has to go through committee, where all sorts of interesting things happen to bills.

2)Doctors will no longer get paid to suggest end-of-life counselling (for those 'death panels' that the administration said didn't exist...well, until they took them out). They can still offer it, of course, and there are times when it is necessary. But to offer cash incentives is to open up the possibility of abuse. After all, President Obama himself has told us that doctors are willing to lop off limbs and yank tonsils all the time for the cash, right? What's a little counselling?

Yes, the exchange got heated for a while, and probably will remain so, since there are so many other questionable things still in the bill, but this is a wonderful victory, and something to savor.

Mmmmmm, delicious! Soooo satisfying....

Okay, enough savoring!

Now it's time to get them to take out the access to our bank accounts, reverse the White House deal with big PhRMA so that certain Plan B drugs can be moved to Plan D, saving seniors money - oh, and don't forget the tort reform and insurance regulation allowing it to be transportable and not employer-dependent!

It's unfortunate that we had to shout so loudly (and, apparently, offensively) and take a few shots, both verbal and physical, before they would listen, but at least we finally got their (breathtakingly tone deaf) ear.

Now, let's see if they keep listening.