Obama - what a disappointment (that is still better than McCain)

There is talk coming down the pipeline of democrats weakening once again, with the public option likely to be dropped and the health reform plan so watered down, it is basically the status quo. What kind of reform will this be if it creates no change?

How is this most recent proposal any different than status quo? The only difference is the potential mandate, which is even worse than no change at all. Now lower income family will have to forgo food and be forced to pay for expensive health insurance, forced into the open arms of private insurance companies who now claim the newly open market of the uninsured. Public option will be dropped in exchange for an allowance of not-for-profit co-ops, which we ALREADY HAVE. Big not-for-profit providers? Sounds like Kaiser Permanente - I'm not sure if there are subtle differences I'm not aware of. Anyone who does - please enlighten me.

I won't go into the terms fascism, communism that are thrown around the debate - please read this post as I hate to glorify these terms as if they were valid. Let's just say - I see people in USPS, they don't seem to be complaining, and still FedEx did not get push out of the market. Everyone loves the fire department, our beloved heroes from 9/11. Some seniors would rather die before the public option is passed, yet they love their Medicare - I don't understand how these things do not compute in their heads. Many countries around the world has the single-payer system, and they are much happier and healthier than we are - really, what could be SO bad about it compared to the mess we are in now?

Not to mention reimbursement for end of life discussions will be dropped. How do we let idiots (for lack of a better term) like Sarah Palin push this out of the bill? It boggles my mind - I hope any health care professionals agree that end of life discussions are extremely important and are really one of the most difficult things you'll have to do as a physician. Anyone who has participated in the discussion or has actively dying relatives - I hope you agree that the discussions were helpful. This is really a huge setback for palliative care, which in many circumstances heal patients and their family more than any medications we can offer.

Obama is no Kucinich - Obama has no uncompromising integrity that Kucinich possesses, which explains why one is the president and the other is only a senator. The strength of Obama's message for change before the election has vanished. The public option is really one of the main pieces of his health care proposal, now claimed to be only a "sliver" of the whole reform. What a 180.