Another Cowardly Sell-out

Posted on 06/20/2009 at 9:40 am by Bob Cesca

Senator Blanche Lincoln joins the ranks of the cowardly and bought-off:

U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., says she prefers private insurance cooperatives to a government-run provider that would compete with the private sector in reforming the nation’s health care system.

“We want to keep what works in the private industry and make it better,” Lincoln told Arkansas reporters in a conference call today. “There’s a lot of discussion about what else we might need that we can’t get from the private sector.”

This co-op thing is about as good as nothing at all. The health insurers will destroy the co-ops in short order and we’ll be left with what we have now.

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  • http://www.osborneink.com Matt Osborne

    “The health insurers will destroy the co-ops in short order and we’ll be left with what we have now.”Bob, why you gotta go ruin a perfectly good evil plan like that, huh? Why you gotta be that way?

  • ec

    How does she suggest we make private insurance “better” without competition? Is she suggesting regulation? Congress can’t even agree to limit the CEO compensation of companies in which the taxpayers are the majority shareholders!This is smoke and mirrors.I got the impression from the Friday night PBS shows that Obama is going to let Congress wrangle with this for a bit longer and then step in. Apparently, he wants Congress to be educated in the complexity of the problem but can’t let his go on beyond July.He seems to be sticking with his “competition” argument which points directly to a public option.

  • Balch

    Why can’t we take a page out of the “Tea Baggers” playbook and organize nationwide rallys? I think it would be alot harder for congress to ignore the will of the people if they saw hundreds of thousands of Americans rallying on the streets for a public option.

  • Jan

    The Congress people know all of this-problem is, they don’t give a damn what we want. They are too bought off by the insurance companies.SO, I don’t buy it when I hear pundits say it’s all up to us-to contact our reps, write letters to the editor etc. We have done all of that and we still have these folks that insist our healthcare should be kept private and no public option or single payer. The blogs are on fire with this as are various programs like Countdown, Rachel etc. So folks like Baucas, Lincoln know this already.Obama needs to hit the road and go to the cities that folks like Lincoln represent. But I’m not even sure this would help. Obama needs to accept the fact that he doesn’t need the rethugs-screw them. Hell, we can’t even get the dems on board.It’s so frustrating.

  • roxsteady

    Hopefully, next weeks healthcare show on ABC will be a start. I’m very hopeful now that the house plan wich was released yesterday afternoon has the public option. It was on the huffington post yesteday but, I can’t find it right now. Anyway, I’m encouraged since Pelosi had told Ed Shultz when she appeard on his show that if there was no public option the bill would not make it out of the House. Now, these Senators who are not on our side are the one’s we need to continue to call and write. I wish the idiots in their states would vote their asses out of office. I hope there will be other Democratic challengers to these jerks so that we can fund their tv commercials in their respective markets exposing who the Senators are really working for!

  • Jan

    I’m not too worried about the House-Pelosi will whip who she has to whip to get a public option in. The problem imho is the Senate. Harry Reid will fold like a cheap tent.Obama needs to say OUTLOUD that he will veto any bill that comes to his desk without a strong and real public option.And that if the thugs don’t get on board there will be a reconciliation vote not this 60 vote crap.I must be high.And you know it is a sad state of affairs when the DPVA can’t find one single person to run against Eric the tool Cantor.

  • http://tarackian.deviantart.com J M Ashby

    It seems to me that the House is going to end up making the Senate look utterly incompetent on healthcare.

  • Allonfla

    I have to disagree with you on that veto announcement, Jan. To say that would be like Obama saying, “your opinion doesn’t matter”. That’s not the message you want to send to people who you will have to work with for years to come, and who can make or break your Presidency. No, he shouldn’t back down but in politics good relationships are extremely useful in the long term. Let them debate, let’s see what Dems need to be ousted, let them show their true colors and then Obama can say, “well, I tried, now we are going to do things my way.”What I would love to see are threats of a primary challenge against incumbent Dems in the Senate. That would certainly put them in their place.

  • El Mystico

    Blanche Lincoln campaign contributions 2003-2005:Health Professionals $511,500Hospitals/Nursing Homes $328,394Lobbyists $310,738Insurance $308,318Pharmaceuticals/Health Products $290,824Health Services/HMOs $135,900Her biggest total sector: Health, at over a million dollars. Too bad, I hear she’s the nicest person in congress. Still, I’m kind of required to hate her now.Can we maybe get some publicly financed elections up in this bitch?

  • Jan

    Let them debate, let’s see what Dems need to be ousted, let them show their true colors and then Obama can say, “well, I tried, now we are going to do things my way.”What I would love to see are threats of a primary challenge against incumbent Dems in the Senate. That would certainly put them in their place.I agree. I meant what you said. AFTER he sees what is coming from the dems-caving in-then he needs to step up to the plate.Question is-will he?

  • El Mystico

    >>>It seems to me that the House is going to end up making the Senate look utterly incompetent on healthcare.Oh Ashby. Like the Senate needs any help looking incompetent.

  • http://www.windonwater.net QueenTiye

    The only way I think the coops are bad is if the big insurers aren’t broken up (think Ma Bell) to be regional and cover the same regions as the coops. OR if they fail to make a national coop with regional coverage chapters. But as a model, I think its a good idea. Credit unions are awesome.QT

  • Any*Mouse

    Miz. Blanche does nothing, and I mean nothing without the approval of her wlamart corporate overlords.(I normally am signed in as vintagegoddess)

  • Stranahan

    QT…The Co-ops are a total smokescreen – it’s a deception desgined to keep the status quo while giving voters the fake appearance of change.

  • http://arkytek.blogspot.com/ SillyGit

    The corporate tools make themselves known. These people represent corporations, not people. Never vote for these tools.