Monday, September 28, 2009

Climate Change and Why the Time for Single Payer Advocacy has Passed


I’m going to venture out on a frail and fragile limb; one that I’m sure will bring me some warranted criticism from my fellow liberals. So, here it is. Continuing to push for single payer health care reform, as modeled in HR 676, must not be made at the expense of attaining an expedient resolution on health care reform. This sense of urgency is especially important, given the need for progressives to start turning their energies toward other pressing issues, namely climate change and the Copenhagen Conference. Rather than spending precious resources on an agenda that will not get Senate approval anytime soon, liberals must focus on quickly getting the already threatened public option passed into law.

Do I think single payer is a bad idea? Absolutely not. Single-payer, whether modeled along the Canadian socialized insurance model or the Scandinavian socialized medical systems, would go further than the current public option plans in reigning in costs and providing quality and affordable health care coverage for all Americans. Do I think single payer is political suicide? Not necessarily. Agreed, it may be a tougher sell, despite the oft cited poll suggesting that the majority of Americans would favor extending Medicare to all citizens. But, the time for selling single payer has long since passed.

The reality now is this. First, single payer has no hope of passing without Obama’s advocacy within a Congress and toward the public generally. The time for this advocacy was found in the euphoric weeks following his decisive election victory, where the ability to define health care reform as synonymous with Medicare for all would have been aided by a receptive and focused political milieu. Secondly, for Obama to now take on single payer as the health care reform center piece will also mean starting the health care reform process over from scratch and ultimately delaying any resolution on health care. In order to keep health care reform as the main legislative agenda and media focus, liberals would in turn have to spend the coming months fighting tooth and nail. Failure to do so would mean having to resurrect health care reform again, possibly at the less then optimal time when members of Congress are seeking re-election.

TckTckTck! We don’t have the luxury of time to fight the health care battle through the end of the year. Indeed, the rest of the world is watching us and waiting to see how the administration approaches the United Nations climate change conference, to be held in Copenhagen this December. It is incumbent upon us to ensure we make the tactical choices which guarantee something meaningful comes out of this conference.

What does Obama need to do between now and December to help ensure that robust measures are taken for dealing with what is perhaps the biggest and deadliest challenge of our lifetime? At the very least, he has to come to Copenhagen with the ability to make credible deals. Few countries will feel the moral obligation to make the necessary sacrifices for addressing climate change unless the US is willing to credibly bind itself to making ambitious cuts in C02 emissions, investments in renewable energy, and adjustment aid to developing countries. Deal-making credibility will be strengthened best by having some Congressional resolutions on what the House and Senate would be willing to pass in order to effectively deal with climate change. In order to do this, both Houses will need time to deliberate under the purview of intensified liberal pressure. If health care deliberations and advocacy remain at the forefront of our attention into November and December, it will weaken the chances of sending Obama to Copenhagen with a clear mandate to deal effectively with climate change. Stated differently, without a clear mandate, the U.S. will once again fail humanity.

As liberals, our emphasis is on bettering humanity not just for Americans, but also improving humanity for our brothers and sisters that share our planet. This is our progressive calling! What we need now is a united and sustained effort to pressure Congress to come to an expedient health care resolution WITH a public option, and nothing less. Humanity begs us to do this!

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