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Health care reform: How big money hijacks democracy
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Issue
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| Contributor | Craverguy |
| Last Edited | Craverguy Jul 31, 2009 03:02pm |
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| Category | Commentary |
| Author | David Sirota |
| Media | Newspaper - Oregonian, The (Portland) |
| News Date | Friday, July 31, 2009 02:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | For those still clinging to quaint notions of the American ideal, these have been a faith-shaking 10 years. Just as evolutionary science once got in the way of Creationists' catechism, so has politics now undermined patriots' naive belief that the United States is a functioning democracy.
The 21st century opened with a handful of Supreme Court puppets appointing George W. Bush president after he lost the popular vote -- and we all know the costs in blood and treasure that insult wrought. Now, the decade closes with another cabal of stooges assaulting the "one person, one vote" principle -- and potentially bringing about another disaster.
Here we have a major congressional push to fix a health care system that leaves one-sixth of the country without coverage. Here we have 535 House and Senate delegates elected to give all 300 million of us a voice in the solution. And here we have just 13 of those delegates holding the initiative hostage.
In the Senate, both parties have outsourced health care legislation to six Finance Committee lawmakers: Max Baucus, D-Mt.; Kent Conrad, D-N.D.; Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M.; Mike Enzi, R-Wy.; Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine. The group recently announced it is rejecting essential provisions like a public insurance option that surveys show the public supports. Meanwhile, seven mostly Southern House Democrats have been threatening to use their Commerce Committee votes to gut any health care bill, regardless of what the American majority wants.
This, however, isn't about the majority. These lawmakers, hailing mostly from small states and rural areas, together represent only 13 million people, meaning those speaking for just 4 percent of America are maneuvering to impose their health care will on the other 96 percent of us. |
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