300 Million: 551: 1

When considering health care reform, the number "300 million Americans" is often bandied about to hammer home the point about how important this issue is and how many it will affect. But for those "in tune" with the politics of representational democracy, the crucial number is 551, which is the sum of those in government who will actually be in charge of passing and signing that reform (450 in the House of Representatives, 100 in the Senate, and the President). But no, we learn now that apparently there is only one person who gets to determine what will affect all of us so drastically in the next few years (and beyond): Montana Democratic Senator Max Baucus, who is the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

Senator Baucus wants to insure all Americans by MANDATING it, with fines levied on anyone not purchasing health insurance. And President Obama seems warm to this really bad idea, comparing it to mandated automobile insurance for drivers in many states (including my Florida). But driving is a choice and being alive is an inalienable human right. So I have to suspect a violation of our constitutional rights if anything like this is enacted. I mean, what about the homeless? Are the cops going to go around and start slapping fines on them?

As bad as this idea is, Baucus makes it much worse by scrapping the important public option that would allow for some true competition in the area of prices for insurance. Baucus believes more in the idea of a "pool/cooperative" option whereby the various insurance companies would voluntarily work together to create a list of choices. I think that it is unconscionable that a Democrat, representing a party supposedly looking out for the "little guy", would propose legally mandating expensive burdens on people who are already struggling to get by in life. The only winners in his perverse plan: the insurance companies, who by some strange coincidence happen to be enormous financial contributors to Senator Baucus!

I think it's time for the rest of the Democrats, including the President, to give the Montana senator's plan the boot and stop worrying about getting any Republican support for health care reform. Any plan that legally requires Americans to purchase health insurance (which to me seems very questionable constitutionally) MUST be accompanied by a strong public option that offers affordable plans. Otherwise, I think we would be better off with the status quo, as terribly flawed as it is. To me, the opponents of health care reform are railing about the wrong things. If they really want to kill health care reform and make it Obama's "Waterloo" (as GOP Senator DeMint has expressed), then they should seize upon the issue of mandated coverage and abandon all of this other nonsense they've been spouting. But I think I know why they won't: the health insurance companies, big friends to the Republicans, love mandated coverage with no public option that would have kept them honest with their prices. Talk about corporate welfare!