Republican “Public Option” Gimmick

Two of the dullest tools in the shed — Senators Tom Coburn and David Vitter — have offered an amendment that’s supposed to derail the public option. Their amendment would require all members of Congress to register for public health care if the public option becomes law.

The theory was that those elitist Democrats would be afraid to actually use this lowly socialized health program themselves, since they’re only pushing it for the riffraff.

Surprise! So far, Senators Sherrod Brown, Chris Dodd, Al Franken and Barbara Mikulski have added their names as cosponsors of the amendment.

Aetna has — unintentionally of course — just come forward with an excellent case for health coverage reform. As much blood money as Aetna “earned” in 2009, they realize they can “earn” even more next year. All they have to do is raise their premiums even higher and throw 650,000 sick people onto the garbage heap.

Aetna CEO Ron Williams said:

“The pricing we put in place for 2009 turned out to not really be what we needed to achieve the results and margins that we had historically been delivering. We view 2010 as a repositioning year, a year that does not fully reflect the earnings potential of our business. Our pricing actions should have a noticeable effect beginning in the first quarter of 2010, with additional financial impact realized during the remaining three quarters of the year.”

With millions of angry, desperate, armed and dangerous Americans out there, why isn’t this pukebag in somebody’s crosshairs?

And now let’s hear it for Comcast. They may be one of the villains on other issues (i.e. Net Neutrality), but they’re on the public’s side when it comes to health care reform.

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts has sent Obama a letter saying “enactment of comprehensive health care reform legislation is, in my judgment, critical to putting this country on a path of sustained growth and prosperity.”

Supposedly a lot of large employers are in favor of health care reform since it’ll reduce their own expenses. Let’s hope more of these companies start coming out publicly in favor of it.