Swinging At Piñatas In The Dark

Okay, so it wasn't my plan to get all wrapped up in political blogging right now, but this headline caught my eye:

"Democrats ready to go-it-alone on health care"

And so, what the hell happened to President Obama's promise of bipartisanship? Out the window, I guess…or, at least that's the way his party is acting. Claiming that "the system is broken," Senator Charles Schumer said "We prefer to go at it with Republicans if we can reach compromises in some areas, but we're not going to not pass a bill."

Great. That's friggin' WONDERFUL. Do something, anything, rather than do nothing. Even if the fix might be worse. Now, I'm not saying the fix WILL be worse, 'cause no one knows that for sure, and we WON'T know it until something is put into play, and it's too late to take it back. I just loathe the idea that Democratic lawmakers are willing to cram something through for the sake of claiming victory. That's bullshit.

The AP reporter behind the story writes:

"The Democratic measures would leave 12 million or more eligible Americans uninsured. Many middle-class families who'd now be required to buy coverage would still find the premiums a stretch, even with government aid. A new federal fund to provide temporary coverage for people with health problems would quickly run out of cash."

This isn't some left-field made-up whacko reporting from cuckoo bloggers; this is non-partisan reporting of material taken right from estimates by the Congressional Budget Office. However, the article continues with: "For now, these bread-and-butter concerns take a back seat to more pressing issues for Democratic lawmakers trying to deliver on President Barack Obama's signature issue."

Great. That's just fucking de-LIGHT-ful. Let's do the sniveling, cheap-ass thing…let's "claim a victory" and say "Gee, at least WE did something!" That always helps. Er…not.