Saturday, July 18, 2009

Shumer Says Senate Health Care Bill Focused on Cost Cutting

I think the wealthiest among us can stand more of a tax burden but taxing them for the purposes of paying for health care reform (what the House wants to do) just ain't right. That would be taxes on top of taxes. Shumer says the Senate bill is focused more on cost cutting, which seems like the right thing to do.
Shumer says the August deadline on health care is important to strive toward. A group of six senators is asking for more time to achieve a bipartisan bill, including Sen. Olympia Snowe, whom Shumer says, in the video below, Obama respects. Paul Krugman says that's not a good idea. He calls the six senators (including two republicans) the "destructive center." Krugman views them as caving on principles (he says the center also watered down the stimulus). The left views it as a blow to reform.
But that seems a bit ideological to me. Obama is insisting it will get done this year and haven't we had enough of ideology, whether it comes from the left or the right?
I think the centrists have it about right. The left wants to do the right things but they don't ever consider costs and they always view business as the bad guy. I don't think Obama is striving for bipartisanship for the sake of bringing everyone together.
Rather, being more inclusive brings more ideas (and sometimes better ones). That's the best part of the Democratic Party--it's a big umbrella. The only folks left under the republican umbrella is the Sarah Palin base and a few stragglers hoping for change.