Can't top this

The other day Jane Hamsher wrote the definitive piece on the political wrangling behind the health care reform bill(s). 

People make a mistake when they think the battle for health care reform is about ideology, because it's not.  It's about who controls K Street and the cash that flows from it, which could fund a 2010 GOP resurgence -- or not.

On June 9, a lobbyist who worked for the insurance companies, hospitals, and other stakeholders said that these groups were "considering joining their Republican allies and mounting a public relations offensive to put the brakes on President Barack Obama’s overhaul plans." ...

...  If you look at the cat-and-mouse game played between the Democrats and the Republicans, support expressed by the President for a "public plan" meant "don't you dare."   A commitment that the bill will be "bipartisan" (since the GOP would never agree to one) was a signal that there would be no public plan.

The White House never cared about getting Republican votes -- it cared about keeping the Republicans from peeling off the dollars of stakeholders like PhRMA.  Giving in to "Republican" demands was cover for writing shitty things into the bill that would keep the stakeholders happy.  They didn't need Republican votes, they never did, and they never truly cared.  As long as the money stayed out of their campaign coffers, it was all good.

If a public plan gets into a final health care bill, it's going to be because of public pressure, because people who put Obama in office demand one.  Because in the grand scheme of White House priorities, it was something that could acceptably be dealt away in pursuit of a higher political objective by the guy who was calling the plays:  Rahm Emanuel.

I don't think anyone need to bother writing another word about the situation.  Take the time instead to stay in close touch with your representatives in Washington if you want a health care plan with a public option.  But join the revolution if what you want -- no less than you want a public option -- is a political system which is not entirely about its own maintenance in perpetuity.  One commenter at Jane's post writes:  "Why in the HELL aren’t We, the People, defined as at least part of 'stakeholders?' If we’re not stakeholders, then let the stakeholders hold the stake while we drive it through their hearts."

Amen.