There is a lot of turmoil these days relating to the health care debate. The TV news is full of images of angry people mad at various aspects of reform ideas circulating in congress or from the White House. No doubt some part of it is composed of industry shills and no doubt some of the strident shouters' distrust of Obama stems from race. But proponents of humane reform who dismiss the entire display as either put-up phonies or racists do so at their peril. There is sincere doubt and real fear out there. The President and advocates of improving the system have to address these substantively in order to hold the middle and pass meaningful reform. Otherwise only an ineffectual window dressing bill will pass.
The first thing at work here is the body of American conservatism rousing itself. Some of the people shown on television are making emotional pleas to save the country from socialism. Others cite the fear of taxes and breaking the budget. Others speak of a broader set of grievances that include the end of school prayer, abortion, illegal immigrants (will they be covered?) and other such among the usual litany of conservative issues. These folks have begun shaking off the albatross of the failed Bush presidency and see the Democrats marching ahead on their agenda just as they said they would. The demoralization of defeat has given way to the determination to fight for their beliefs, threatened now as they have not been since early in the Clinton years. This is normal.
So between the conservative private citizens, the special interest publicity and the conservative media machine, the message is getting out. Most Americans know there are serious problems with the accelerating cost and lack of access for many to our health resources. They are open to positive change and reasonably generous about providing for the genuinely needy. But the great moderate middle is also wary of boondoggles. They want reform that works. The job of genuine conservative folks and their industry and ideological allies is to raise questions, or doubt and fear if you will. The job of progressives and the president, if they want real reform, is to dispel it. This isn't patty cake. It is the usual hardball politics when important interests are at stake.
Proponents of meaningful reform have two things going for them in this battle. One is the nature of the opposition and two is the need for change. First, there is a good chance the opposition is overplaying its hand with its rude, bullying tactics. Shouting down opponents and disrupting meetings in the long run may do their cause more harm than good. Recall that McCain and Palin's celebrity, socialism and communism campaign against Obama last fall fell flat. Obama spoke convincingly of the need to get past such politics and this time the negative campaigning did not work. The bullies will earn the contempt of many moderates.
Second, the opposition is, if you watch the video on it, overwhelmingly just what the Republican Party is: almost all white and disproportionally elderly. And their questions reveal an appalling ignorance and susceptibility to the most idiotically false rumors. Over and over they ask will the new bills pay for abortion, will old people be left to die, will their Medicare be taken away, will government take over all the hospitals, and so forth. The ease with which such concerns can be disproved to the objective and the open minded serves to discredit the opposition cause.
And finally, the need for some kind of strong correction is conceded by practically everyone. Not only are 47 million uninsured, but tens of millions more fear they will lose the coverage they have if they lose their job or their employer is unable to continue to pay the ever accelerating insurance rates. It's up to Obama and the Democratic leadership to show how their ideas will do this in a responsible, cost-effective and fair way. They have to get the policy right and they have to sell it right. That's how American politics works. Why would anyone think this time would be any different?
No comments:
Post a Comment