Claiming that this bill doesn't affect you is like claiming you are satisfied with your current insurance when you've never been seriously ill and had to put it to the test.

You might get laid off.  You might get sick and get kicked off your plan.  You might start a small business and be unable to provide insurance for your employees.  In any number of situations you might find yourself depending on the safety net this bill bolsters.

But even if that never happens, claiming that the bill doesn't affect you is the same individualistic fallacy that leads conservatives to ask "why should i pay for those people?"

Human beings are social creatures.  We all rely on a society so complex that it's impossible for anyone to actually accomplish anything entirely on their own.  You rely on a bunch of people you've never met to continue doing what they're doing so you can continue doing what you're doing.  

If this bill succeeds at covering those who can't afford it at lower cost than under the current "emergency room care for all" system, and it most likely will, we all benefit - economically and socially.

Alloy, you're right to be skeptical.  I'm with you on that.  The bill is an enormous concession to private insurance.  The is no guarantee that HHS will regulate adequately.  

But we have to try this bill because there isn't any other bill.  If we pass the bill and it's terrible, let's elect enough progressives to fix it.  If we fail, and the Democrats remain corporatist, then good - let them eat it.  If the Republicans take over, they aren't going to come up with anything better, so they'll eat it too.

But if the bill doesn't pass, the life-or-death consequences of the status quo will be profoundly tragic.  And who will share in the blame?  Progressives, and rightly so.

It affects you if

by dotkommissar on 03/17/2010 07:41:48 PM EST

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