Obama v. Obama on Health Insurance Reform

Ezra Klein over at the Washington Post has an interesting article up on how the emerging health insurance reforms (including what's coming out of the Senate) aren't all that different from what Obama campaigned for while running for President. I'm inclined to agree with Ezra, and not just because that's a kick-ass name.

During the campaign I was a "late-adopter" when it came to Barack Obama, having decided early on to support John "Love Child" Edwards. I didn't really think he was going to win, but I felt like Edwards really had the best plans when it came to fixing our health care system. Next thing I know, Edwards is out, I'm absolutely behind Obama 100%, and he becomes out President. Next, as you may be aware, Barack Obama tackled Health Insurance Reform. It went crazy around August with ultra-conservatives driving the debate into the ground. Now we've got two bills, the House bill, and the Senate bill, and some liberals are pissed as Hell about the version coming out of the Senate, most notably Howard Dean, Keith Olbermann, and the folks over at FireDogLake.

What Obama's got now, however, is damn similar to the Edwards plan [pdf] which I was a fan of, back in the day. Would I have liked a radical change added to the Senate bill, in the form of a kick-ass public option, Tom Harkin's 55+ Medicare extension, or even Thom Hartman's Medicare Part-E [the "e" is for "everyone"]? Yeah, of course. Those are awesome ideas that really should be allowed honest open debate. But hey, it's the Senate. As long as we've got people like Tom Coburn and Sam Brownback scaring the living daylights out of the folks in their neighboring states with Democratic Senators, we're not gonna get something that massive done.

Is there still the possibility of getting things [like the Medicare extension] done through the process of reconciliation at a later date? Yes. Absolutely there is, but why do that first (and piss everyone off in the process) before getting the important laws enacted. What good is a public option if those without it can't get medical insurance because they were sick once-upon-a-time? That's ridiculous and needs to stop.

The bill we've got now, while certainly not perfect, is a giant step in the right direction for this country.

P.S. And don't even get me started on how good passing the bill is regarding next year's midterms.