used with permission of the artist, "Tom Tomorrow"

America is facing a health care crisis, and Democratic leaders seem aware of it, but have decided that conceding every policy point to the Republicans before the legislative process begins is the best approach for achieving meaningful reform. That way, when Blue Dogs and the GOP push back, Congress can produce a meaningless, watered-down placebo perfect for giving the appearance of action while 22,000 continue to die unnecessarily every year. It makes me proud to be an American.

It started when our post-political President developed the framework of reform by inviting the insurance companies to hand over their wish list: mandates for coverage, no restrictions on anti-competitive business practices, and the ability to cherry-pick young healthy people out of the system while dumping everyone else into a public program that will eventually have to shut down for lack of funds. Congressional leaders then showed remarkable courage by placing the most meaningful reform option off the table: no nasty single-payer system. After all, a policy supported by only 59 percent of Americans absent any positive propaganda whatsoever is clearly a pie-in-the sky political non-starter. How dare 300 million mere citizens and taxpayers think that their lives and health are more important than the profits of tens of thousands of shareholders (i.e., people who matter)? The nerve of this rabble!

So instead of stupidly solving the problem of preventable disease, spiraling costs, 50 million uninsured, and about 75 million more insured in name only by risk-pooling and lifetime coverage, our paladins of Change are wisely choosing to construct another giant giveaway to industry sure to move this nation’s insolvency date just a little closer. Boy, I sure am glad none of those unrealistic nut-jobs were able to derail this sober political process!

After all, it worked for Global Warming!