Chart of the Day

I don't really agree. Americans want health reform, but not even a majority could really explain whether or not they want a public option--or even what it is. Heck, I'm fairly well-informed, and I didn't know much about a public option before the recent health care debate.

So yes, a lot of polls show that people support it, but other polls show that support slips if you phrase it differently--and regardless, it's not like people are clamoring for it.

So lawmakers feel like they have a lot of leeway to take into account--quote-unquote--other considerations.

The problem isn't "lame Democrats." It is the constitution.

In the House, health care reform that includes the popular public option has already passed. And this makes sense! The House is the branch of our bicameral legislature designed to directly represent the people. As such, the vote in the House roughly reflects public opinion on reform.

The Senate, by contrast, was designed to represent the states and not the people, and as such is not even remotely representative of the will of the people. By design, it allows the very narrow interests of very small states to block the majority opinions of the people living in much larger states. That, and not some reference to "lame Democrats," explains the problem. Make the Senate more representative, or better yet get rid of it entirely, and the problem would almost entirely go away.

The Democratic Party does not exist to form public policy. It exists to make the world safe for Republicans.

The Democrats are very far from "lame." On the contrary, they know exactly what they are doing: which is to promote the interests of wealthy corporations. Today's Democratic Party is a right-wing organization. Period. They are doing exactly what they're paid to do. The "lame" ones are those who, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, continue to believe that this is some sort of progressive organization, or that they care in the least about the people. One really wonders what it will take for the apathetic minority who continue to aid and abet these criminals will wake up and face reality.

But wonks aren't a large voting bloc, and among people who do vote, the public option is very popular. So, um, why not pass it?
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Because, um you are citing national opinion polls, and senators and representatives who poll this question in their individual states and districts don't get the same results. Matt Yglesias can't seem to figure this out either, so maybe you shouldn't feel so bad

Plus what MuckrakerAP said upthread. Ask five people what the public option is and you'll get six different opinions

Plus poll after poll shows that 85 - 90% of people are happy with their healthcare, they'd just like to pay less for it. Doesn't seem to be working out that way with proposed legislation

Just the same, would the people really be so lame as to give power back to the Republicans just to punish the Dems for being lame? If so, then the lame people are getting the lame representatives they deserve.

Why? Because they ARE terminally lame!

Seriously -- is there any doubt that they are?

They would throw any of us under a bus for an extra $1000 campaign contribution. (The Republicans would do it just for fun.)

When Republicans start crying Democrats will do anything to make them shut up.

It's like when you can't figure out why your baby just seems like he's from some far part of the weirdo gene pool and ten years later you discover there was a mix-up at the hospital.

There seems to be a belief that rural states with low populations are more conservative. So the so called "Blue Dog" senators are representing their constituents by trying to sabotage health reform and especially the public option. But not so fast! The unspoken reason is that small state senators are cheaper and the health insurance lobby shops wisely. A senator from California would need to buy enough TV time to offset misrepresenting 36 million people. That's 50 times the cost of comparable damage control in North Dakota.

It's the influence of Big Money--pharma, health insurance corps, etc.--coupled with a politiician's overriding hunger for re-election.

Until we have real election campaign reform--gov't run and subsidized--wealthy individuals through their Corps and PACs will have undue influence; unions represent millions of people so they might be treated differently. Also gerrymandering is rampant, meaning incumbents have a great advantage over challengers.

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