Paul Krugman, always the tolerant one, has a post up today in which he attacks the center for failing to rally behind the health care bill. Speaking as a moderate who has been open minded to the proposals I am quite offended by his tone and thought I’d give him my own view.
I do think we need health care reform and as TMV readers may recall I was favorable towards the Baucus proposal and many of the provisions currently being discussed. I can’t speak specifically to the current Senate bill since we don’t yet have one but I am supportive of a number of ideas including:
- Making it mandatory for people to get health insurance
- Providing subsidies to those who cannot afford it
- Prohibiting denial of coverage for pre exisiting conditions
- Limiting or prohibiting caps on lifetime or annual coverage
- Increasing funding for local health clinics
- Requiring coverage for annual physicals and preventative care
I am more reticent about public options and feel that we should perhaps start with this step and then examine more extensive reforms later. I also have issues with placing so many surtaxes on current so called “Cadillac’ plans. I realize that it is probably neccessary to place more of a burden on the wealthy but despite the fact I am not part of that group I have concerns about putting too much on them.
I am also concerned about the extent of abortion coverage in some of the plans, though I do not go as far in that area as some on the right.
In short I am favorable to the basic concept of reform and supportive of large portions of it.
But for Mr. Krugman and company, if I don’t fall lock step in with every single part of their own plan I am somehow either weak and without principle or worse yet an evil and almost satanic monster who wants people to die. If I question the cost or effectiveness of certain parts of the plan I am cold hearted and mean. Not exactly the way to get people on your side.
This whole situation is somewhat deja vu to me as I had similar problems with tax cuts and war policy during the Bush years. I was generally supportive of the broad proposals but had issues with some of the details and I was similarly lumped into a harshly condemned category (in that case by the right).
So Mr. Krugman, if you want to get people on your side perhaps a way to do it would be to actually listen to them and accept their right to have a different opinion. I realize that this is difficult for ideologues on either side of the fence, they tend to think that only they have the correct and compassionate view.
But before you go after me for not rubber stamping what you want, perhaps you might check out the log in your own eyes.
Just a thought.