Blog Focus On Health Care, Vol. 1
Blog Focus is Technorati's daily roundup of the top stories as told by the bloggers of the world. Each day five posts, no matter how popular or nascent, will be selected by editors to portray a general unscientific reaction to discussion points around the 'Net.
It's the de facto "nothing else is happening story," and yet at the same time health care has been THE hot button issue this summer. With the Senate Finance Committee passing their version of the "Baucus bill" on Tuesday, now they just have to get their opponents on board. Oh, this always ends up so well. So let's see how the bloggers are shapin' up what's shakin' down:
• New York Times Prescriptions Blog — Now squaring off on Capitol Hill, it's Harry Reid (in witness form) vs. insurance companies, who Sen. Reid claims flourishes under a loophole of the McCarran-Ferguson Act of 1945. As David M. Herszenhorn reports, Reid is in for a fight against the antitrust-ridden industry, as long as the insurance companies are able to team up with Big Pharma to crank out some massive profits. (Previously Big Pharma was the ringside tag-teammate of the late great Lou Albano.)
• The Hill — Eric Zimmermann zeroes in on Senator Olympia Snowe, fresh outta Maine, who is not ready to yield to a public option. But she may be in the minority; Reid just might throw the PO in the final bill. Snowe has not yet agreed to wrestle anyone over it on the floor of Congress, although all told that would make one hell of a filibuster.
• Born Again Redneck — Patrick Joubert Conlon can't believe he's siding with Sen. Chuck Schumer in a plan that'd let states reject the public option. "Let the other blue States follow suit and just leave the Feds out of it altogether," Conlon writes. Wow, states rights and universal health care in the same bill? Something in it for everyone! That's like "abortions for some, miniature flags for others."
• Right Wing News — The Obamacare opponent folk like John Hawkins are having some fun with an article circulating the rounds that, under the recent bill passed, you'll be able to obtain government health care from, among other government offices, the Department of Motor Vehicles. That's not an interpretation; it says so. While it's kind of a silly — almost whimsical! — stipulation, it's not really any kind of strong criticism of government-run health care, other than they just don't like it. Hey, you can get lattes at McDonald's and health insurance at the DMV. (And you can blog on Technorati.) What a topsy-turvy world.
• The Plum Line — "When it comes to health care, reality trumps national pride pretty decisively." Hey, Greg Sargent is only the messenger in bringing to you the Pew poll data about how 28 percent of Republicans, 9 percent of Democrats and 12 percent of independents assert that the USA is No. 1 in health care ... IN THE WORLD. That averages out to a slim sleek 15 percent, or about one out of every seven people. So, look around you. If the six other people in the room want better health care, then your mind is probably made up.
Follow Technorati