The public option: how many of us remember when and why it died?

[brooklynboy49]

15. I must have missed these

Was the back room deal with big pharma causally connected to Kennedy's death?

Was the failure to at least propose single payer causally connected to Kennedy's death?

Was putting Social Security on the table, when it hadn't even been sought by the Republicans, causally connected to Kennedy's death?

Was the failure to include a Medicare buy-in causally connected to Kennedy's death?

I could go on, but won't.

I don't dispute the accuracy of the description of the course of events set forth in the OP. I am merely pointing out that, IMO, we have been saddled with a weak and naive president whose number one priority during his first term was some lofty goal of civil bipartisanship. Which, of course, wasn't achieved. And a golden opportunity was blown. We never would have gotten single payer at this point in our history, but you put it on the table as your starting point and negotiate down from there. You also grease the skids by getting it into the public debate, making it easier to implement five or 10 years from now. And you don't let Lieberman singlehandedly sabotage the Medicare buy-in.

But the deal with big pharma? Unforgivable. Putting SS on the table? Even more unforgivable.

There is a "D" after Obama's name, isn't there?

Coulda fooled me.

P.S. Yes, of course he's infinitely better than McCain or Romney would have been. But, that begs the issue(s).