About NotSoHumble:

Liberal. Leftie. Democrat. Progressive. Whatever label is appropriate, part of being on the left (and therefore, the right) side of the spectrum is that you have a natural openness and willingness to hear all sides of the argument. You're not like them; you don't want to shut opposition out, control information, or spin facts-you want to make the truth plain and clear so people can see it past their whitewash. But therein lies the problem, fellow progressive, fellow liberal: in the process, you're very tolerant, and very..well..humble. Don't bother with that here.

There's no need for you to be humble here. No reason for you to be apologetic. No reason to hold back your vitrol, your venom. We like it. We're all passionate here, including myself, and not afraid to hide it. We don't put up with the people who tell us to settle down-because no movement ever got anywhere by not being uppity, by not being passionate. I tell it like it is, I'll show you the facts, the articles, the talking points, and expose the agenda for everyone to see; regardless of whose agenda it is, including our own. Our agenda is getting to the bottom of things; posting the stories you might not have heard otherwise, and giving you the kind of analysis and commentary that you should be getting elsewhere. Welcome home.

For more info, check the about us page.

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November 2, 2009

Public Option: This Is How It’s Supposed To Work

As much as the far-right and the anti-everything camp would like you to believe that the inclusion of a public option in health care reform is somehow the will of the Congress being bent to the will of the progressive movement, this isn’t about the progressive movement at all – this is about the will of the American people, who overwhelmingly support a public health insurance program that can cover all Americans, give them the choice to opt out if they don’t want to be a part, challenge corporate health insurers to stop abusing their customers, and in the end cut costs of coverage and access to health care and save the American people money.

But you won’t hear that in the shouting, nonsensical talking points from the right, and you won’t hear it from the so-called independent thinkers among the Libertarians and free marketeers – the same folks who would rather let a boardroom decide whether they live or die, eat or starve, or breathe air or toxins, all in the name of the free market, each with their own series of talking points they like to parrot.

The truth is that the American people simply got fed up with the nonsense they saw: people comparing the President to Hitler, shotuing racist epithets at the President of the United States, threatening to kill him, and so on – all from people who claim to be their countrymen and have their own communal best interests at heart. It was clear to the American people that these fringe few were both completely ignorant of the situation, ignorant of their own condition, and ignorant of the facts. And thus the tide turned, and people came out to support universal access and availability to health care for every American man, woman, and child – the American people decided that the costs of such were nothing compared to both the dollars and cents and the human costs of doing nothing.

And the American people spoke:

Today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced he would submit a health care reform bill with a national public option that states could choose not to join.

This is how democracy is supposed to work. The highest ranking member of Senate was able to hear the will of America’s progressive majority over the din of the insurance lobby and the right-wing noise machine, and was responsive to the majority.

But that’s mere idealism. From a practical standpoint, this is how the modern progressive movement is
supposed to work.

In 1993, there was no significant progressive movement putting positive pressure on the Clinton Administration. Many naively assumed having a Democratic president and Congress was enough, the hard work was done, and we could kick back with a Crystal Pepsi and let democracy work its magic.
We learned the conservative minority had many tricks up its sleeve, and was able to smear and fear to death any attempt at major progressive reform.

The election of a uniquely compelling figure in President Barack Obama threatened to bring back some of that complacency. A false notion persists in some corners that the President should be able “ram through” any legislation he likes.

But Obama himself has always stressed that real change is too hard to be accomplished by one person, even the President. Without a progressive movement pushing good ideas, debunking conservative information and countering special interest pressure, any attempt at reform will suffer the right-wing meat grinder, spooking even the biggest congressional majority from acting.

Over the last several years, the infrastructure of a modern progressive movement has been falling into place. There may be plenty of kinks to work out, but the movement has been making its mark.

Bill Scher, writing for the Campaign for America’s Future pins the credit on the American progressive movement, but I’d take that a step further – it has less to do with the American progressive movement and more to do with the will of the American people who – after all – are and always have been some of the most progressive on the planet, despite what conservatives would have you believe.

[ Public Option: This Is How It's Supposed To Work ]
Source: Campaign for America’s Future

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