Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

Then there was the open courting of Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine, a process that included numerous White House meetings.  This weekend Snowe indicated she could not support the bill before the Senate because it involves too much meddling by the government.

Observe Snowe's recent comments.  They reveal someone referring to the federal government as a cancer threatening to tear out the vitals of the nation.  She conveniently ignores that the Veterans Administration is run in the same manner as the British health care system that Snowe, Grassley, and Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky abhor.

Also, Medicare is a federal program.  Tell us, Olympia.  Are you for scrapping Medicare?  Tell us also, Olympia, are you for scrapping Social Security?  That is also program run by the federal government.  

How about the conservation policies of your famous Republican President Theodore Roosevelt, Olympia?  Shall we scrap all that federal government activity such as the parks program in which the Rough Rider of San Juan Hill was immersed?

The Grassleys and McConnells, operating on behalf of the health care lobby they rigorously serve, have been spreading all kinds of misinformation about the single payer system.  

One canard has been to point a finger at Canada and proclaim that there is an acute doctor shortage and that citizens are forced to endure long waiting lines for surgery.  The Fox propaganda machine has tenaciously pushed this scare tactic.  

The Canadian doctor shortage issue has been studied.  What happened was that, to prevent the profession from overcrowding, a miscalculation was made and the result was that currently there is a shortage that Canadians are seeking to correct.  This shortage does not stem from deficiencies in the current single payer system.

So here we are with a crazy quilt measure that, according to progressive sources who have examined it, will in the final analysis cause a multiplicity of problems.  The key point is that the stranglehold of the special interests will not be broken.  One grave fear is that among older insured citizens that costs will skyrocket.

The lament from millions is that the U.S. is a nation held captive by special interest lobbyists.  Can you refute this charge, senators Grassley, McConnell and Snowe?  Are you instead an inherent part of this unconscionable process?