Well, today the House approved final passage of H.202, our roadmap to single-payer, by a vote of 92-49.  That's similar to the previous roll call (for a third reading) in the wee hours this morning, with a few more Yeas and Nays from the members who had been absent.  

As expected, my Republican representative, Lynn Dickinson, voted against the measure. I admit to being a little surprised that Franklin-2's other rep, Blue Dog Dick Howrigan, who had voted for an amendment that would essentially derail and delay our current efforts, ultimately supported the bill.  Anyway, it's off to the even more Democratic Senate, where I'm confident we'll get what we want even after the sausage machine does its grinding.  

I guess at this point I shouldn't be disappointed that those on the wrong side of history would double down on their misguided rhetoric, but I am once again.  When S.88 was passed last year, Republican Senator Randy Brock dug out the old red baiting playbook, which was used again by freshman Tom Burditt who upped the ante by invoking fears of Islamofascism for good measure.

As eye-rolling as that is, what bothered me the most when listening to the debate were two other claims that could at first blush sound almost reasonable.  You can see the frothing mouths of folks who cry about Communists and Muslims, so in contrast hearing that businesses don't like “the uncertainty” and the process is moving “too fast,” you could be forgiven for thinking that it makes a bit of sense.

Hey yeah, if businesses don't know exactly what the world will be lke in 2014, well…um,  they won't create jobs, or they'll lose sleep at night, or something just as bad!  And it's awful that we're rushing through this legislation with so little time for the public to weigh in, so we should down to hammer out a few more details to the satisfaction of people who don't want universal healthcare in the first place!

The uncertainty canard is just a cartful of dung and has been a favorite of regressive pols at the national level for some time.  So glad to see it make it's appearance in our state.

Same goes for the “whoa, sloooooow down” crapola.  I guess it might seem like breakneck speed to somebody who fears the inevitable and hopes to throw a few more monkey wrenches into the works.  But let's be honest: we've been debating this stuff for a long, long time, and the People have driven our progress through it all.  

There were myriad public forums and legislative hearings during the debate on S.88.  We had reports from Dr Hsiao's team during the design study phase.  There was a 15 day public comment window after recommendations were announced.  The current bill was introduced almost 2 months ago and since then there have been even more hearings and forums all across the state.  We've had plenty of time for letters to the editor, phone calls to representatives, lobbying by businesses and consumer groups.

It is a bit of a puzzlement to me that people who decry uncertainty also want to keep the process lingering.  If you want to certainty, finish the job.  The time to dither is over.

ntodd