The public option is already a compromise. Giving it away is a cave-in. So says former Labor Secretary Robert Reich. What he doesn’t mention, btw, is that the public options (they differ in form a bit) contained in the four different bills coming from the three House committees and from the Senate HELP Committee, respectively, are extremely limited — only a very limited number of people could choose them anyway. Wouldn’t want to “destabilize” the private insurance industry. So they’re not just a compromise, they’re a compromise of a compromise.
And this from Ezra Klein, a Washington Post blogger: Per person, health care in Great Britain, where it is “fully socialized,” costs $4,298 less than it does in the United States. For better results. Gee, we wouldn’t a system like that, would we?
