The polls surely show Americans are fed up with our health care system. They also show, fairly clearly, that Americans are fed up with legislators who are bought and paid for by corporations.
What you say makes sense ... as far as it goes. Sure, we should be happier with what works better. But, really, is that the best we can do?
I say these things to you Dr. Dean because you are the best hope I have that someone with "access" will hear it.
How about if we skip the incremental change meme and ... you know ... actually make changes in what is clearly broken. Yes, yes, I understand that's just not the way our Congress works.
But, I must ask you ... how much longer do you think the American people will peaceably allow themselves to be played for fools? Ultimately, Congress serves at the pleasure of the people and most of those people are not happy. How much longer can Congress pretend to be working in their interest while doing the exact opposite.
Dr. Dean, I am not questioning your sincerity. It's just that your comments sound ... a bit removed from the reality that most of us are now living.
Incremental change isn't a bad thing in a nation that is chugging along and doing pretty well. But, that is not the state our nation is in. It's not chugging along, it's rapidly going down the tubes because the middle-class is rapidly going down the tubes.
Incremental health care relief that kicks in 1, 2 or three years from now is simply not good enough and not fast enough. A jobs program that kicks in 1, 2, or three years isn't good or fast enough.
And make no mistake about it. The middle-class is in crisis NOW. If the middle-class crashes, there is no amount of money the government can pump into small business, or even major banks, that will prevent a depression that will make 1936 look like a walk in the park. Our manufacturing industries are a shambles. We are nothing but the (crooked?) bookkeepers to the world, a condition the rest of the world is rapidly coming to recognize.
If American people don't begin going back to work in the next six months, the U.S. will likely be a cesspool for 25 years ... if we're lucky.
I have some knowledge in this area and, more importantly, live in the real world (you know, outside the beltway).
Too much, too soon, can't be soon enough. Deficits and inflation are not immediate problems. They can be dealt with later. A discouraged, unemployed, indebted middle-class cannot be fixed by banks and lawyers and will take generations to fix. Without rapid, radical action, that's exactly what we face.