More Pragmatism

Washington Post columnist Steven Pearlstein argues pragmatically today that "It's Time To Give Up On the Public Option."  I've written in strong favor of a "public option" insurance plan in the past, but as a pragmatist myself, I certainly wouldn't fall on my sword over a public option IF a  different mechanism could achieve similar results. 

Pearlstein argues that serious reform can still evolve from current efforts if "public option" is dropped, but he admits that some of the ideas he mentions have not even been proposed in any of the draft legislation to date.  Further, he relies heavily on the power of cooperatives - inherently weak in bargaining power, untested on a national level, offering no effective competition to the powerhouses of the industry.  I'm not convinced, but I'll keep an open mind (while noting that anti-reform forces are already bad-mouthing cooperatives, too.)

Comments

[Joseph Lott]

An interesting note about the "public option" - when polled, Americans are split about 50/50 on the public option. When the term is changed to government option, they are opposed about 90/10. I believe most Americans don't really understand what is being proposed. There has always been distrust of government, but I think the current generation goes back to Reagan who declared that government is not the answer, it is the problem. I prefer the more Jeffersonian statement that government works best when it governs the least. However, the Reagan view has become so ingrained in American thinking that a fair number of citizens are convinced that government can do no good whatsover. It is sad that so many Americans fail to recognize the times when government ought to step in - for example Medicare for the elderly and support for civil rights. In the current health care debate (or lack thereof), why don't we agree that 47 million people uninsured is unacceptable? that having the lowest life expectancy and highest infant mortality rate of the industrialized nations is unacceptable? that health care per person costs more in America than anywhere else in the world is unacceptable? I want my government to fix this problem and to do it now.