It's Health Care Deform Time: Do You Know Where Your Blue Dog Stands?

Summer's here, and the Blue Dogs are bored. What to do, what to do? Hey, let's fuck up Obama's shit - it's been weeks since we did that!

Remember how they fubared the stimulus plan? Guess what - they're getting ready to do it again to health care reform.

House Blue Dogs today (June 4) released a statement of principles for what they call "responsible" health reform, specifically addressing what they view as acceptable terms of the public option.

Buried at the bottom is this caveat. "The availability of a public option would occur only as a fallback and in the absence of adequate competition and cost containment. Fundamental insurance market reforms and increased choice...should improve access and contribute to lower costs. However, should the private plans fail to meet specific availability and cost targets, a public option would be triggered and be allowed to compete on a level playing field subject to the conditions outlined above."

Translation: "Anything that endangers the stranglehold insurance companies have over health care in this country will pass over our dead bodies."

The one and only thing that makes health care legislation reform rather than a giveaway to private insurance companies that will make the super-pork Medicare bill look like a tax increase is the public option.

Only a public option will force the private insurers to actually compete with low-overhead nonprofits.

Only a public option will force private hospitals to treat everyone with the same care and for the same price.

Only a public option will cut health care costs by covering preventive care for everyone and making doctors, not emergency rooms, the front line of health care.

Only a public option will put a stop to absurd medical bills forcing working people into bankruptcy.

Only a public option will take the burden of providing health care insurance off of American business and allow the economy to thrive.

Only a public option is a path to the single-payer plan enjoyed by every other industrialized nation on the planet.

Only a public option offers a genuine chance for the U.S. economy to avoid a Depression that will send Americans sneaking south across the border to find illegal jobs in Mexico.

Tell 'em point-blank: Congress critters who oppose the public option in health care reform are anti-health care, anti-business, anti-strong economy, and plain un-American.

Read the whole thing.

Cross-posted at They Gave Us A Republic ....