OpEd:
Democrats Finally Exert Control
October 26, 2009 by Kyle BradyTags: Congress, Democrats, Healthcare, Insurance, Obama, Politics, Wall Street
As required by the FTC, a Full Disclosure is available - this piece adheres to the Code of Ethics
It seems as though the Democrats in Congress may have finally realized what the thinking-person’s America has known for months: if President Obama was elected on certain ideals, and Democrats have the requisite majority to accomplish these items by themselves, then concessions to Republicans are not necessary when they’re not interested in participating on any logical or coherent level. The evidence in this can be found in any news source, excluding those that include the word “FOX” in their trademark, over the end of last week.
This long overdue exertion of control has manifested itself in the regulation of Wall Street pay for institutions still under government financing, and is likely a prelude to overall Wall Street regulation; the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, intended, among other issues, to prevent banks from overexploiting American citizens, has taken a substantial step closer to being realized; equal rights for LGBT individuals has taken its first federal step in the form of hatecrime legislation; and, most importantly, the public option has suddenly become a viable legislative option once more, after a few weeks of resounding political depression across the nation.
What has inspired the more rationally-minded portion of Congress to suddenly take such control is unknown, but their decision to do so is apparent in their actions. In these four recent issues, it could be argued that the voices of the American public have not only reached the halls of the Capitol after long being ignored, but that they’ve become too strong to ignore. Momentarily disregarding healthcare reform, it would seem that so-called populist outrage over the behavior of banks, exorbitant bonus of still-failing institutions, and continued inequality became such a politicized and discussed issue that there was no choice but to act, for fear of not being re-elected come time for midterms.
Healthcare reform is, in and of itself, a large beast – especially when the issue of a public option, Medicare-E, or any of its other names arises. Recently, however, the insurance industry may have ruined their chances at receiving government subsides as a pretend reform measure by releasing what essentially amounted to a promise to increase healthcare costs by unacceptable amounts in the near future. This report was then followed by a number of polls from mainstream organizations that showed upwards of 60%, depending on source, of the American people support a public option – not a fake public option, or a public option through subsidies, but a real, robust, legitimate federal option for healthcare.
The coming weeks will show what is truly occurring with Congressional Democrats, and just how strong their political will to accomplish true change is – change that their President has demanded. If all is for the best, the last six months of extreme minority manufactured outrage by Republicans on behalf of the insurance companies will have been all for naught, proving that even the most astroturf-laden campaigns are often ineffective.
Something that is worth analyzing in the weeks and months to come is slowly revealing itself: were the summer months of unintelligible screaming part of the Democratic plan? Was President Obama’s occasional public option ambiguity part of the ploy to manipulate the Republican Party into destroying itself? Did Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, and Joe Wilson play right into the arms of a grand political scheme?
Only time will tell, but if this is the case, the Republican Party should be scared – President Obama may be an even greater politician than America already believes.
Kyle can be found on Twitter and MySpace, or reached via email.
