Not so fast!
Is the discussion and proposals on health care reform truly “centrist”? Mike Lux makes a few points, that no matter what the media and think tanks tell you, what is happening on the Hill is hardly new. But, we (progressives, liberals, and dems) must also take note that what is being called “centrism” is not.
2. It’s not centrist except in the bizarre world of inside-the-Beltway land. Seriously, it is only in the odd nether-world of special interest-dominated Washington, DC that a policy widely unpopular with the general public in every poll, one where the winning presidential candidate spent over $100 million in campaign advertising attacking, could ever be considered as a credible “centrist” solution to anything. The reason this is possible is that centrism inside-the-Beltway has nothing to do with what real voters think, and everything to do with wealthy special interests and contributors happy. Centrism in DC basically equals corporatism- doing what’s good for big business. Rather than do the simple, more popular (with the voter, as opposed to the big business lobbyist) thing of paying for health care reform with progressive taxes, having wealthier taxpayers and businesses pay their fair share, as President Obama has proposed, the DC version of centrism says “Hey, let’s increase taxes on hard-pressed middle-class people who work for a living.”
As Mike points out, the proposals by so-called centrists, are not centrist positions at all.
To further confuse the issue, some of these so-called centrists apparently don’t know what their position on health care reform is (TN Rep. Cooper, can you explain your wishy-washy support of two pledges on a public plan? Let’s offer a public plan and then pledge to make sure that public plan is not a guarantee when nearly one-third (32.4%) of the people in our state are uninsured).
Obviously these fools on the hill don’t pay attention to their constituents. That has got to change before meaningful changes in health care coverage for the PEOPLE can happen. Perhaps the best way for the people to get their representatives to listen to them is to withhold support in the voting booth.
